Newtown could soon have a world champion in its midst.
Town based Tom Sagar, 29, is British and European Enduro champion and now has his sight firmly set on the world championships.
At the age of 5 Tom Sagar hopped on his first motorcycle and he has never looked back.
Tom started competing as a young trials rider, competing in the Youth British trials and rose to fame as a British and European Trials Champion.
However, it is Enduro that has seen him achieve most success and he now has his sights set firmly on the world championship.
Tom, originally from St Martins near Oswestry and now lives in Newtown, said: “I have worked hard at my sport and received great support.
“To become British and now European Enduro Champion has been a dream come true, but my ultimate goal has to be to become world champion.”
He added: “I am gaining experience with every competition and the season has just started with the first round of four in the GBXC series at Selatyn near Oswestry, followed by the first round of the British Enduro at Elgin in Scotland.
“Then I am off to Italy to compete in the first of four rounds in the European Enduro, defending my title.”
It is a life on the road for Tom and his team mechanic, Lee Leightwood as every week brings a fresh challenge.
Tom has two KTM 450 EXC bikes provided by KTM UK and he needs to transport the bikes and all of the technical assistance that could be needed at a race venue around Britain and Europe.
In a new sponsorship deal with Greenhous Volkswagen Commercials of Shrewsbury, Tom and Lee now travel in style in a VW Transporter DSG automatic Hiline model.
Howard Rowlands, service manager of Volkswagen Commercials, explains that comfort was a priority for the team facing so much travel time and a need to use the vehicle as their base on site at race venues. “It is a vehicle with a high specification of comfort level in the cab, a sport line lowering kit, front and rear spoilers and a long wheel base to accommodate the bikes and equipment the team carry to each race. It looks fantastic and is sure to attract spectators and admiring glances from Tom’s competitors.”
For the team that added comfort and ease of access to all of the equipment is most welcome as Lee says: “Getting to the race track can involve many hours of travelling and once we are there we have to set up our ‘station’ where we can work on the bikes before and after races.
“The Transporter is a wonderful vehicle for us and we are really grateful to Howard and Simon Griffin from Greenhous for helping us this season.”
On behalf of Greenhous Volkswagen commercials head of business, Simon Griffin, reflects on the delight that he and his colleagues have shown to be sponsoring a potential world champion. “Tom is a young man with incredible talent. He has shown his worth by achieving his present status as British and European Enduro Champion. We will eagerly follow his progress and fully expect him to be a strong challenger on the world championship stage in the future.”
If you would like to view Tom in action follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuUJd8eabW0
