However, this year's competition proved an upset for record-breaking eight-times Wild and Woolly champion, Ryan Griffiths, after clutch failure dashed his hopes of winning the world's oldest off-road race for the ninth time.

The stunt rider from Oundle, who has competed for the last 15 years, was pipped to the post according to provisional results by Richard Main, leaving the father-of-two unsure of his future in the annual event.

Mr Griffiths, who broke both ankles and his jaw in 2004 in a world-record stunt attempt, said: "You can't win them all. In the later stages, my clutch went and it got worse and worse for the last three or four laps.

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"I made a mistake and it took me a long time to get the bike started.I clawed it back but I ran out of time and that was it. I'm not 100 per cent sure whether I'll do it again next year now.

"I must admit, I would like to win 10 and I just love it. It was one of those races that as a kid, I always wanted to do so I suppose I will be back."

The race saw more than half of the competitors finish the course, with 29 out of 49 entrants completing at least 10 laps in an hour.

Peter Griffith, chairman of the Northampton Motorcyclists' Club, said: "It went off very well and there were no rider injuries – they were just dirty and tired.

"We got between 3,000 and 3,500 spectators, who come once a year to talk to other people and it's a bit of a spectactle. This is the oldest motorcyclists club in the country since 1907. Everything went well and everyone enjoyed themselves."

See Friday's Chronicle & Echo for a Wild and Woolly picture special