The Phoenix trio that stormed to a convincing 1st place at the Fowlmead Enduro in early July, achieved an excellent 3rd place at the ‘Brighton Big Dog’ 6 hour race in Stanmer Park on Sunday, making light work of the challenging 8 mile course.

Stuart Lockyear, Gary Lingard and Matthew Webber (known collectively for ‘The Big Dog’ as the “London Phoenix Pussies”) completed 8 laps of a very technical and hilly circuit, fending off a terrifying wasp attack – 6 nasty stings for Stuart – and a friendly but disconcerting high speed chase by an actual big dog.

Stuart ‘The Skipper’ Lockyear recalls, “I was feeling rather rounded and sluggish after a 2 week summer holiday, and those climbs on the first lap were a real wake-up call, but the combination of Gary’s true grit, my years of experience and Matt’s transport facilities assured us our 2nd podium place of the summer. Unlike Matt’s van, the Pussies are a well-oiled machine.”

Gary ‘the Linchpin’ Lingard lived up to his name, putting in some incredibly fast laps – almost as quick as the fastest lap of the day. Sadly, his heroic last-gasp-lap was not quite quick enough to count towards the final tally, but it mattered not, as third place was already secured.

Elsewhere on the course LP’s own Nick Morrison (racing in the men’s pairs with Neil Cooper, a possible future Phoenix!) just missed out on 10th place after a mechanical problem hampered their final lap. An excellent result nonetheless, in a hotly contested category consisting of more than 60 teams.

Free beer and a glamorous and generous prize-giving rounded off a great days racing, and the Phoenix contingent have vowed to return next year…