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 Barcelona Indoor Enduro, RD 1 Indoor World Cup
David Knight wins in Barcelona Endurocross report by Jonty Edmunds Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team rider David Knight leads the 2007 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup following three highly impressive performances at the opening round of the three-event series held in Barcelona, Spain. Reverting to two-stroke machinery having clinched the 2007 AMA Endurocross championship just a few weeks earlier aboard a 450cc four-stroke, Knight claimed two wins and a runner-up finish to take an early championship lead in the first ever FIM sanctioned indoor enduro series. Finishing behind David in the overall results was Finland's Mika Ahola, who currently holds the runner-up spot in the championship, with Spain's Xavi Galindo third. This year's Barcelona Indoor Enduro provided exactly the type of action packed racing that has made the Spanish event such a popular one with both enduro fans and riders alike. With its seamless mix of demanding technical sections and high-speed straights this year's course proved difficult for all riders, with even Knight coming unstuck on a few occasions. With a series of qualifying heats and LCQ races determining which riders would participate in the main events, this year's Barcelona Indoor Enduro featured three finals, with points from each shaping the event's overall results. Winning both of his qualifying heat races Knight passed trough into the main event with ease. Making the challenging Barcelona track look much, much easier than many of his rivals David took an early lead in the first final and along with KTM team-mate Taddy Blazusiak pulled away at the front of the race. Not wanting to take any risks David remained calm and when Taddy hit a rock and broke his chain guard the AMA Endurocross champion cruised to a comfortable win. Race two proved to be a very different story for David. Clipping Xavi Galindo's rear wheel in turn one Knighter was sent crashing to the ground and was forced to start the race dead last. Quickly catching the rear of the field David worked his way forward passing riders during each of the four laps, managing to work his way up to second at the chequered flag.
David now heads to Texas, USA where he will defend his Last Man Standing title before returning to Europe to compete in the second round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup in Munich, Germany. David Knight: "It took me a while to get used to racing a two-stroke again, as I wasn't revving the bike hard enough half the night, but things worked out great and it's fantastic to have won the event and taken an early lead in the championship. My heat races went well. In the first one I got a good start and just got my head down and stayed ahead of Johnny Aubert. You had to watch some of the rocks because they were pretty unforgiving. In the second heat race the track started to get really tricky in places so after another good start I just made sure I kept out of trouble and moved through into the finals without too many problems at all." "The first final was very similar to my first heat race I got a good start and just took my time in the opening laps. One of the rock sections had changed a little so the line I had been using was no longer the best. Taddy Blazusiak started to push me a bit but I knew that it would be hard for him to go faster than I was and not make any mistakes even if he did pass me. I just tried to build on my pace steadily and when Taddy broke his chain guard I won easily. "I enjoyed the second race of the night the most despite crashing in the first turn. I tried to be safe and it backfired on me and I went down. I was able to get passed most riders in the rocks but then fell when some other riders crashed in front of me. I managed to get passed Taddy and into second and just ran out of laps to get into the lead. Considering I was last to finish second was pretty good. "I had another good start in the final and managed to pull away and win that quite comfortably. I'm really pleased with the way I rode and despite not winning all the races I think I showed that I was the best rider. I really liked the three final format because it gives you the chance to have a bad race and still do well. It's a great start to the championship and I'm looking forward to seeing what the event in Munich will be like now.
Tom 7th in Indoor Debut The original indoor Enduro in Barcelona is now part of a 3 round FIM sanctioned Indoor World cup championship and most of the WEC teams have representation, KTM are fielding a 4 man Factory team of David Knight, Taddy Blazusiak, Alesandro Belometti and our own Tom Sagar all riding 2 strokes EXC 250's and 300's. Over 33 of the world's best off-road racers had to qualify via 2 heat races for the 11 rider finals. Tom had a bad luck in his first heat when he made a bad start and then got held up in a rock section by a fallen rider, most of the course was trouble free with exception of the big rock section which decided many race results and at times was blocked with fallen and stuck riders. In his first heat he finished 7th and in heat two he rode a trouble free 3 laps to finish 3rd. But his two combined heat results weren't enough to qualify and he had to go directly into the last chance qualifier, only the winner would be transferred to the finals. This LCQ race was very exciting as Tom battled with Marc Germain and each rider had several problems in the rock sections, but Tom finally got the better of Germain and won. The final consisted of 11 riders on a 9 row starter gate, unfortunately because Tom qualified via the LCQ he had to start from row 2 and in each of the 3 final races , he was also further handicapped by a arm injury which he picked up at the 6 days and stopped him from riding at his normal level. But Tom just kept out of trouble and picked of riders as they made mistakes and had 3 consistent rides to finish joint 6th overall in his first ever Indoor Enduro and now look's forward to the next round in Munich.
26th November 2006 Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain Reigning Enduro 3 world champion David Knight has dominated the VIII running of the Barcelona International Indoor Enduro held within the Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain. Recording a qualifying time four seconds faster than any other rider Knight went on to top each of his four Enduro 3 class heat races to win the E3 category with ease before dominating the end-of-night four-lap Superfinal. Placing in an uncustomary third position at the ’06 Endurocross event in Las Vegas one week prior to the Barcelona race Knight was determined to get back to his winning ways and didn’t disappoint the sell out crowd inside the Palau Sant Jordi. Considerably faster than any of his E3 class mates during qualifying Knight had muscled himself into the lead of each of his four E3 class races by the time he reached turn two and never looked back. Despite coming up short on one of the tracks double jumps during his second heat race David remained unchallenged and claimed four well deserved class wins. In the super final Knighter simply repeated what had worked so well for him in his E3 class races. Slow out of the gate the KTM Enduro Factory Team rider out braked his rivals into turn one to hit the front before putting on a focused charge during laps one and two. With his closest rival Ivan Cervantes some eight seconds behind Knight eased his pace en route to claiming his fifth win of the night. David’s next event will be the second running of the Red Bull Last Man Standing event in Texas, USA next weekend before he returns to his Isle of Man home for a well earned winter break.
“Each of my E3 races were pretty similar. I got good starts and then tried to open up a good lead. I had a close moment in the second heat when I nose dived over a double and then went off the track but apart from that all went well. Xevi Galindo: “The Enduro 2 races were really great for me. I crashed in the second race but was still able to work my way back to second, which I was very happy with. In the last race I crashed in the water but I managed to finish fourth to win the E2 class. I had a really good feeling in all the races. “The Superfinal was also good for me. David and Ivan were very fast but I had a good start. Some riders made some mistakes, which helped me, but again I was able to ride well and finishing third is a great result, and a great way to end the night.” Ivan Cervantes: “It has been a fantastic night for me. It was a difficult evening because I arrived back from New Zealand after 29 hours of flying just three days before the race, so I wasn’t in my best physical condition. This year has been such a great season for me so I just wanted to ride as well as I could at my home race in Barcelona. Winning each of the four E1 races was perfect. “I didn’t start so well in the Superfinal because with the smaller bike it is difficult against the E2 and E3 machines. I then also had to stop in the first set of rocks, which lost me two more places. But I knew that four laps would be a long time so I just tried to push hard and catch the other riders. I was riding well and arrived in second position quite quickly. I knew that it would be hard to beat David so I just tried to ride as hard as I could for all my fans that came to support me.”
Maximum Solutions Off-Road Team rider Paul Edmondson finished a strong second overall at the VIII running of the Barcelona International Indoor Enduro, staged inside the Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona. Competing internationally for the first time aboard his new Maximum Solutions Off-Road Team Honda Edmondson placed in second, fourth, third and fourth to finish second in the E1 class results. Qualifying for the end-of-night Superfinal Paul finished a creditable sixth and as the second placed E1 class rider. Away from international enduro competition for some time Edmondson was keen to re-establish himself as one of Europe’s strongest indoor enduro riders and following four consistent rides placed a solid second to Ivan Cervantes. Aiming to finish the night on the E1 class podium Edmondson event got off to the best possible start when he claimed the runner-up spot in race one. Then placing fourth in race two, third in race three and a safe fourth in race four Eddy showed that he had what it took to beat all but the reigning E1 world champion. Despite being a little underpowered off the start in the Superfinal Edmondson kept himself out of trouble during the opening laps and in contention with the leading riders. Again not wanting to try too hard and risk crashing Paul instead took his time and finished as the second placed E1 class rider and sixth overall to finish off a very successful night’s racing. Paul Edmondson: “It’s been a good evening. I wanted to try and get on the podium in the E1 class and I did that, which is great. Ivan was clearly faster than everyone else but after that I knew I could get a good result. I was never outside of the top four in any of my E1 class races and placed second in the first race, which set me up well for the night. “I didn’t get the best of starts in the Superfinal but I just hung in there really. I tried to pick my way though the first set of rocks without making any mistakes and then just settled down into a pace I was happy with. Obviously, the lead riders had gone but I was holding my own with the riders around me. Cervantes didn’t pull that much time on me, which I was pleased with. I really enjoyed the Superfinal although it was tough as it was the last race of a long night.” “Everyone knows that I love two strokes but with my new team I’m confident that in the E1 class, with my experience, I can be competitive in the world championship. I’m not realistically expecting to win but I know I can get onto the podium. This has been a great start to my ’07 preparations.” NB Paul was helping kids at a WOR Race Experience Day in Wales the day before (below).
Wayne Braybrook's debut GAS GAS ride was at Sundays Bracelona Indoor Trial at the Sant Jordi Stadium... THE EVENT WAS AWESOME and MUST be done in the UK! The course was a perfect balance of technical parts and MX track with some nice jumps etc. Riding against the best Enduro riders in the World, first time out on a GG and first Indoor Enduro was an awesome experience for both Wayne and myself to see. He finished a VERY creditable 4th place in the E2 Class after the 4 heats just missing out on the podium. As expected Wayne was super smooth but maybe not as aggressive as he could have been in the opening heats. After the heats Wayne went into the 'Last Chance Qualifer' for a place in the superfinal... He led this race from start to finish and was good to see him dominate this race in front of GAS GAS Factory personnel. The superfinal didn't go as planned with an average start but battled hard with Fast Eddy for a while until he miss-timed a jump on the last lap and went down pretty hard. Summarizing the event Wayne had a very good night, 4th in E2 and winning the LCQ was a fantastic debut with GAS GAS. Waynes next event is this coming weekends 'Last Man Standing' event in Texas which i thank again TBM for helping out...Good luck buddy...'Regards Shirty Results – VIII Barcelona Indoor Enduro Superfinal (E1, E2, E3) 1. David Knight (KTM) 5:27.89; 2. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 3:32.91; 3. Xevi Galindo (KTM) 5:4252; 4. Cristobal Guerrero (Gas Gas) 5:46.53; 5. Mika Ahola (Honda) 5:48.99; 6. Paul Edmondson (Maximum Solutions Off-Road Team Honda) 5:57.30; 7. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 5:59.43; 8. Samuli Aro (KTM) 6:04.55; 9. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 6:08.63; 10. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 1:22.04; Enduro 1 class 1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 4 points; 2. Paul Edmondson (Maximum Solutions Off-Road Team Honda) 14; 3. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 21; 4. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 22; 5. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 27; 6. Gerard Farres (Yamaha) 27; 7. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 27; 8. Rafael Garcia (Husqvarna) 36; 9. Gregory Eyries (Yamaha) 36; 10. Joan Jou (Yamaha) 36; Enduro 3 class 1. David Knight (KTM Enduro Factory Team) 4 points; 2. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 9; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Gas Gas) 14 points; 4. Kari Tiainen (KTM) 17; 5. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 26; 6.Lucas Puerta (KTM) 26; 7. Alessio Paoli (TM) 28; 8. Seb Guillaume (Gas Gas) 28; 9. Marc Puigdemont (TM) 30; 10. Jean_Etienne Memmi (Sherco) 38
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Race three was similar to the first in as much as Knight nailed the
start and was then never headed. Simply keeping himself out of trouble
during the opening laps of the race David built up a commanding lead and
claimed his second win of the night, which gave him the overall win and
sees him lead the 07 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup standings with two
rounds remaining.
Barcelona Indoor Enduro, RD 1 Indoor World Cup
on 2nd December 2007 
Results 2007 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup, Rnd 1, Barcelona, Spain
Knighter
wins all at VIII Barcelona Indoor Enduro
David Knight: “It’s been a great night. I put in the fastest
time
in qualifying, won my four Enduro 3 class heat races and then the super
final, it couldn’t really have gone any better. I wasn’t the fastest
rider off the start in any of my races but I managed to get into the lead
by out braking the others into the first corner. I tried to do the same
thing in every race – get a good start, push hard for two laps and then
ease off a bit. That worked in the final perfectly. I opened up a big lead
in two laps and then eased off. It was horrible because I wanted to attack
but I didn’t want to risk crashing.
Edmondson
runner-up in Enduro 2 class at Barcelona
Braybrook
just misses out on podium in Barcelona...