News just in that the 2017 British Enduro Series has been cancelled leaving the UK without a national enduro series after the folding of UK Enduro last year.
Series Director Si Paton has just released news that the 2017 British Enduro Series has been cancelled. Citing low entry numbers, financial issues and a young family as causes, the UK’s premier enduro series will not run this year.
Shock news this morning that there will be no British Enduro Series for 2017 after what was a difficult 2016. What will this mean for the state of enduro in the UK?
With the Dyfi round acting as a World Enduro Series qualifier, will we see riders flooding elsewhere to get that much needed step onto the world stage? With only two other qualifying events on the calendar in the UK, and only a single before the season starts in earnest (UK Enduro Championships, 30th April), this is a big blow for those looking to up their enduro racing game.
Look out for an interview with the man himself in the not too distant future.
British Enduro Series – BES Cancelled for 2017.
“It is with great regret to inform you that the 2017 BES is to be cancelled due to a number of factors.
The series was a great success in many ways, riders benefited from; Live Timing, £7k cash in prize money, Free Race Support from Shimano, SRAM, Hope Technology, Crankbrothers, onsite retailer Tred-Shop and GT85 with their Bike Wash, Air Hoses and Lube Station and a large media presence.
The downfall was the number of riders entering, as low as 120 at Afan round 3. We appreciate the series was diluted with UK Enduro taking a slice of the riders and when that folded we offered all of their riders a free entry to the BES but even that never really worked.
We were all geared up for a successful 2017 season but with the recent loss of a few key sponsors that we have been unable to replace (Brexit is hitting the marketing budgets hard) and very low rider entry numbers to date.
Then note the series unfortunately lost a lot of money last year and the time constraints involved in the running of the series. The stress and pressure that has delivered as you can imagine has sent my personal family life beyond breaking point, which I need to repair being the father of two young children.
It was a real pleasure to meet all of the riders last year at the events and I am deeply saddened that I have failed to deliver to you. I would like to highlight the work done by the British Enduro Series team and marshals that delivered last season. Their commitment, hard work and unwavering attention to detail, allowed us to safely and successfully deliver the events.
All riders currently entered will be refunded in full including the online booking fees. Active Network the online payment company will refund everyone directly for both the race fee and booking fee in two separate transactions. Anyone who took out Booking Protect will also be refunded in full.
Please note this will take several days to be completed.”
