SUDBURY Motorcycle Club's long-awaited first event of the season dawned bright and chilly after a record sell-out of entries in eight minutes.

A venue change was made to accommodate a record number of 80 team entries in the two-man Enduro across three classes for the first in the Eastern Championship Series.

The recent warm dry weather in the weeks leading up to the event meant the 2.8-mile course over established farmland and woodland was fast and dusty.

The bog claimed a number of brave entries who succumbed to its depths,

Normally a big crowd pleaser in more normal times, the riders had to resort to brutal strength sapping ways of getting unstuck without the usual help from marshals and spectators alike.

Championship-winning team Jamie Roper and Shalford-based partner for the day Craig Roper made the bog look easy and sped across the black mass of deep ruts on each lap, clocking up the most within the four-hour race.

James Cotterell and Dan Cummings were just three laps behind and third-placed Ben Cole and Luke Parker were penalised by going over the allocated time, despite clocking up 30 laps.

Expert-placed riders Adam Durkin and Tom Sargeant were fractionally ahead despite identical times for the special test section and were closely followed by Shaun Palfrey and Toby Rogers.

Archie Gunton and Barnaby Knight repeated their two-man Clubman win from March 2020 at the same venue, in much wetter conditions.

They were keenly pursued by Lloyd and Luke Barker who came second and Nigel Ross and Graham Mays third to them, with just seconds in the special test separating the top-three teams.

At the Sudbury MCC's event, the passing of member Stuart Cooper of Great Cornard, former competitor and supplier of photos to go with the club's event reports was noted and reflected upon, as was that of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Since 1952, his Royal Highness has been Patron of the Auto Cycle Union (ACU), the national governing body of Motor Cycle Sport to which the Sudbury club has been affiliated to since 1958.

Results: Championship: 1st Jamie Roper and Craig Roper 31 Laps, 2nd James Cottrell and Dan Cummings 28 laps, 3rd Ben Cole and Luke Parker 30 laps.

Expert: 1st Adam Durkin and Tom Sargeant 28 laps, 2nd Jake Roper and Phil Roper 28 laps, 3rd Shaun Palfrey and Toby Rogers 24 laps.

Clubman: 1st Barnaby Knight and Archie Gunton 24 laps, 2nd Lloyd Barker and Luke Barker 24 laps, 3rd Nigel Ross and Graham Mays 24 laps.