IT WAS hardly all quiet on the Weston front last weekend, as over 1,000 quads, sidecars and motorbikes created a vacuum of noise to accompany the start of the world's biggest motorcycle event.

Weston-super-Mare's annual beach race weekend, which included the 21st Regency Enduro, dominated the seafront on Saturday and Sunday as a record-breaking crowd of over 20,000 fans gathered for the bikefest.

The highlight, Sunday's three-hour Enduro solo race across the beach, made for a thrilling spectacle as the world's top drivers battled it out amid sky-high sand dunes and frenzied spectators.

Competitors from all over the world took part over the course of the two days, testing their skills against 40 man-made sand mounds and various obstacles that littered the three-mile beach track.

The mounds, ramps, bridges and blocks had been put together over the ten days prior to the event, creating an intimidating and challenging course for what is essentially a gruelling endurance race.

The weather was ideal for the thousands of spectators who watched the three hour races, in which riders have to complete as many laps as possible in this time. Spectators and riders waited in nervous anticipation for the green flag to start the race and fuel the terrifying mass start, in which hundreds of machines thunder along the one-mile straight This sight, together with the deafening noise that accompanies the start, is truly awesome, and remains one of the most enduring experiences to come from any major sporting event.

Competitors came from all over the world to race, but there were also many representatives from within the region. Nick Selwyn, from Stroud, finished third in the quad race, while a family trio from Eastington all rode Yamaha 660cc machines. Clive Spencer, his son James (17), a pupil at Dursley's Rednock School, and cousin David Vines (20) were all a part of the action during this breathtaking weekend.

In the end, Isle of Man rider Juan Knight won the solo motorbike competition in front of an adoring audience, as bike fans from around the globe basked in the glory of this rip-roaring beach battle.