Enduro club nears Willare start line

Kimberley Enduro Club is picking up speed in Broome after receiving Motorcycling Australia approval and becoming incorporated last week.

The organisation, which started forming late February, aims to organise the 2016 Willare Enduro on September 9 and 10, create ride events, raise awareness about the health benefits of riding motorcycles and give local riders more options.

KEC representative Rob McGregor said the organisation’s first year would be development-based before hosting proper race rounds to improve the quality of off-road riding in Broome.

“We established a Facebook page and applied for incorporation through the Department of Commerce — since that time we have been approved by Motorcycling Australia and become incorporated,” he said.

“We are targeting to get about 50 riders for the Willare Enduro, which is 45km long and is held on Yeeda station — when the KEC is structured the Enduro will just dissolve into a club event.”

The club is expected to mimic the current Perth Trail and Enduro Club membership system with a similar fee structure when membership details are released next month.

Mr McGregor said there was a lot of work to do in replicating what’s on offer down south but the KEC would fill a vital need for semi-endurance riding in the Kimberley.

“We’ll use them as guidelines on how they run their events, although they are doing legitimate enduros with electronic transponders on the bikes and stuff, we are way off that mark yet,” he said.

“Currently there’s no structured enduro rides anywhere. In order to ride an enduro you’re either at Willare or the desert races and there’s no formal rides in the Kimberley.”