ROUND three of the GH Motorcycles/Husqvarna/ACU Eastern Enduro Championship proved to be a scorcher.

Organisers Sudbury Motor Cycle Club laid on a very long lap at Foxborough Quarry in Sible Hedingham to cater for the whole entry competing in the three-hour marathon.

The Championship class set off first and at the end of the first lap they were all together being lead by Jamie Roper (Sudbury).

However, the volume of riders confused the transponder timing system, which froze for several seconds and when it cleared it was Rick Roper (Sudbury) in the lead followed by his brother.

Some of the fancied riders were further down the field but they were pacing themselves for the three-hour session.

Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) eventually took over the lead pulling away from the rest of the field but Jason Morland (Halstead) was having none of it and he upped his pace tyo slowly gain on Braddock.

After two hours, Morland caught Braddock and after passing him before increasing his lead.

Chris Hockey (Sudbury) was also now on the charge, moving up six places into third place, while Jamie Roper was falling back as the finger that he injured a few weeks ago was causing him problems.

As the clock ticked down there was still drama, as Braddock’s chain came off and in the vital minutes that it took to fix it, four riders passed him.

At the chequered flag, seven riders completed 23 laps with Morland first, Hockey second, Brendan Mayers (Halstead) third, Jamie Roper fourth, Rick Roper fifth, Braddock sixth and Craig Roper (Sudbury) seventh.

Jamie Roper still leads the Championship Class on 48 points, but Morland and Hockey are now on 42 points and Mayers is on 30 points.

The Expert class proved to be a three-way battle throughout the whole three hours between Stowmarket team members Jake Gregory and Ed Pooley with Sudbury's Alex Rampton also in the mix .

All three riders completed 21 laps, with Rampton taking the win by 36 seconds from Gregory with Pooley third and a further 12 seconds behind.

Expert Veteran Class leader Mark Chapman (Diss) had to settle for second place as he was beaten by contest sponsor Gavin Hockey (Sudbury) by three minutes 27 seconds.

Jason Warren (Castle Colchester) was third, Arran Nicoll (Halstead) fourth and Gareth Young (Sudbury) fifth.

Nigel Ross Chapman still leads the overall class standings on 57 points, with Hockey on 54 points with Michael Ridge (Stowmarket) on 38.

Alex Walton (Sudbury) completed 21 laps in the Clubman class to take the win, while the next five riders completed 20 laps.

Second went to Dan Willis (Stowmarket), third to Ben Ramus (Sudbury), fourth to Tom Sargent (Bury St Edmunds), fifth to Kevin Palmer (Norwich) and sixth to Jamie Lagden (Sudbury).

In the Clubman Veteran class, Mark Green (Sudbury) was first, David Stokes (Aldermaston) second, Peter Andrews (Woodbridge) third and Dean Curry (Sudbury) fourth.

Andrews now leads the Class on 43 points, with Jeff Turner of Sudbury second on 38.

It was a great day for Nigel Ross (Sudbury) with a first win in his riding career coming in the Clubman Super Veteran class.

Graham Mays (Sudbury) was second, while third went to Nick Airey (Newmarket), fourth to Les Rampton (Sudbury) and fifth to Michael Harrison (Diss).

Mays still leads the class on 52 points with Rampton and Ross on 41.

Round four is set to take place on June 19 at Little Hadham in Hertfordshire.