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Knighter wins WEC opener - Results

KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight started the defense of his Enduro 3 world championship in the best possible way at the opening round of the '06 World Enduro Championship staged in Ostersund, Sweden where the Manx ace topped the E3 class on both days ahead of his KTM team-mate Marko Tarkkala. Having spent just one week testing and training with spiked tyres prior to the race in Sweden, Knighter showed that a rider from outside of Scandinavia could win the WEC's first ever winter enduro - something few believed was possible.

Starting steadily on day one Knighter was soon up to speed and locked in a close battle with Finn Marko Tarkkala - the rider who finished second to him in the '05 E3 world championship. Winning seven of the day's 14 special tests, David never finished lower than third in class and steadily edged ahead of his team-mate. Showing just how well he had adjusted to the challenging conditions David opened up a commanding lead and finished 22 seconds clear at the top of the class as well as narrowly beating E2 class rider Samuli Aro for the overall day win.

Knowing that he had the speed to win following his day one victory David started day two in the exact same way he started day one - steadily, not wanting to make any mistakes that might spoil another 25-point class win. Going on to win 10 of the second day's special test in the E3 class he rode without mistakes to open up a gap between himself and the hard charging Tarkkala. Easing off having been told that the Finn had been awarded a one-minute time penalty, Knighter then had to up his pace during the closing stages of the event after he found out that Tarkkala's penalty would likely be scrapped. Riding cautiously for fear of throwing a chain in the icy ruts that littered the extreme and motocross tests, David claimed an eventual 15 second winning margin.

After the first of eight rounds of the '06 World Enduro Championship David sits six points clear of Marko Tarkkala in the Enduro 3 class with Sweden's Björne Carlsson third.

David's next event will be the second round of the British Enduro Championship in Scotland on April 15/16

David Knight: "This is exactly the start I hoped to get to this year's world championship, but wasn't sure I could. I had to try and fit the 20 years of riding experience the Scandinavians have in these conditions into just the one week of training I did before the event and thankfully everything worked out perfectly. Winning on both days, and topping the overall on day one, is great. I couldn't have asked for more. "I started off pretty steadily on day one because I wanted to get used to the conditions before really pushing hard but I felt good right from the start of the day. I put in good times on all three tests and I really enjoyed the enduro test. I made a few mistakes not knowing how hard to push on the ice sections of the tests, but thankfully not any big mistakes. I'm over the moon to have beaten the riders from Scandinavia. I did a lot of training during the week before the race but I still didn't think that I'd be able to win." "The conditions seemed to change all the time on day two, which made each lap different. The first lap was quite tricky, my bike seemed to be moving around a lot more than on day one. There wasn't much between myself and Marko in the morning when the tests were reasonably smooth but when they got rougher I was able to open up a lead. Once I had a good lead I eased off a bit so that I didn't crash. I was really worried on the last lap that my chain would come off because of the frozen ruts. "I spent one week trying to figure out how to ride with spiked tyres and it seems to have worked. I've really enjoyed learning how to ride on a different type of surface and terrain and I think having a winter enduro as the first round for the WEC has been a success. It's the perfect start for me. I just hope that I can continue winning now." More from KTM News 

Promising start to '06 WEC series for Stapleton and McConnell

Electraction TM UK riders Jake Stapleton and Euan McConnell both made promising starts to their '06 World Enduro Championship campaigns with Jake placing in third and fourth positions in the Enduro Junior class and Euan claiming 10th and 16th place finishes in the Enduro 2 class at the opening round of the series in Ostersund, Sweden.

Setting himself the goal of winning the '06 Enduro Junior world championship after his impressive runner-up class finish in '05 Jake was well aware that the slippery Scandinavian conditions wouldn't suit him. Still determined to give the event his all, and posting some impressive special test times along the way, the Australian youngster was also well aware that he would find it hard to place on the podium - especially when competing against Swede Joakim Ljunggren, the factory Husaberg rider with years of experience of racing in winter conditions. Despite a cautious start to day one, and more than a few spills along the way, Jake managed to place second to Ljunggren on four of the opening day's special test and finished on the podium in third place.

On day two Ljunggren was again the rider to beat in the Enduro Junior class while a slow start to laps one and two saw Jake with a lot of ground to make up during the second half of the race. Again managing to place second to the Swede on several of the day's tests some below par rides on several of the other special tests saw Jake place fourth at the end of the day. Despite being disappointed not to have made it onto the podium on day two Jake now sits joined third in the Enduro Junior world championship standings with seven rounds remaining.

Euan McConnell's '06 WEC season started well in Sweden when the Scot placed in 10th in the highly competitive Enduro 2 class. Like most non-Scandinavian riders in the event McConnell was pleased to find out that conditions weren't as winter like as expected. Placing in and around the top 10 of the E2 class on all but one test Euan ended the day 10th. On day two Euan's results took a slight turn for the worst having failed to fit a new front tyre at the end of day one. Struggling for front-end traction during day two Euan fell several times and placed in 16th. Despite his frustrating second day Euan was pleased with his performances in Sweden.

Jake Stapleton: "The weekend hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be. To be honest the hardest part of the weekend was the trails between the special tests. It didn't matter what technique I tried I just couldn't master how to ride legs out with both feet sliding on top of the snow with my bike in the big, long snow rut. The terrain was really unpredictable, I didn't know when I could push hard with the front end and when it was going to start moving around on me. All up though it's been a good weekend. "I was going ok on day one but I crashed on the motocross test on two separate occasions and then got stuck on the extreme test as well. I was pretty fortunate to salvage what I did on day one really, it could have been a lot worse. "I didn't really get into things on the first few laps on day two, I went pretty slowly for some reason. I then spent the afternoon getting my head down and trying to make back what I lost in the morning. I'm really happy with the way the weekend went because it was a damage limitation exercise really because I knew that I wouldn't be that fast in these conditions. It's certainly not my thing so it's better than I expected. I'm looking forward to getting back to the dirt now."

Euan McConnell: "It's been a pretty good weekend. The race wasn't as extreme as I was expecting it to be - it was pretty much just like riding on hard pack only with different tyres. Riding in the deep snow was a bit different to anything I've done before but there wasn't too much of that, which I guess was a good thing. I guess I've had a good steady start to the world championship. I wasn't all that quick this weekend, although I did put in a few good test times on both days. I'm still adjusting to the four-stroke so that, on top of trying to get my head around riding in the snow and ice, has made for an interesting weekend. "I went way too soft with my suspension expecting the weather to stay cold and icy, which it didn't. I really suffered with that at the end of both days, especially day two, because my bike was bouncing around all over the place. I didn't change my front tyre at the end of day one, which was a mistake. I ended day two with no spikes on either side of my front tyre on day two, which isn't the one when you're trying to ride in these conditions. I spent a lot of time either crashing or nearly crashing as a result. No, on the whole I'm happy enough with how it all went - I just wish I'd have had a better tyre on day two so I could push harder."

Aubert 3rd in WEC Debut

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert finished the opening round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship with two impressive third place positions in the competitive Enduro 2 class. Making his WEC debut at the Swedish event, the former motocross rider showed that not only is he a fast learner, but that he has the speed to challenge the series' more established riders for podium positions. Placing less than one-minute behind class winner Samuli Aro on day one, Aubert managed to win one of the day's special tests while remaining smooth, aggressive and consistent. On day two the Frenchman again rode well finishing just 37 seconds behind Aro, who again claimed the class win. In finishing in third position on both days Johnny is currently in third position in the E2 world championship standings, just 10 points behind Aro and four points behind runner-up Mika Ahola.

Disappointingly the season opener wasn't a good one for Australian Stefan Merriman. After injury wrecked his 2005 season the former world champion hoped to get his 2006 campaign off to a strong start but struggled to master the challenging conditions in Sweden. Placing fifth on day one Merriman faired even worse on day two and despite not making any serious mistakes on either of the event's motocross, enduro or extreme tests he placed in sixth.

Johnny Aubert "It's been a great weekend for me. Finishing third on day one was incredible for me, a great surprise. I hoped to learn during the race and before the race I hoped to finish inside the top 10. I am not sure why I was so fast because I didn't make so much training in these conditions. I enjoyed day one but it is so difficult adjusting to the conditions.

"Although I finished third again on day two I didn't feel as good as I did on day one. I rode consistently all day, which I think really helped me. I didn't make any big mistakes and managing to finish on the podium again is great - a perfect start to my first world championship enduro season."

Stefan Merriman "The best part of this weekend for me has been the finish of the race because I have had two very disappointing days. I really struggled on both days to be honest, I couldn't ride like I wanted to on day one and just paddled my way around the tests as best I could. It feels to me like you have to ride almost out of control, with little control of the front wheel. I like to ride knowing exactly what the front wheel of my bike is doing. If I don't have a good, positive feeling from the front wheel I don't have the confidence to push hard. That's exactly what has happened this weekend, I haven't had the confidence to push hard.

"I didn't have any crashes on the tests but I had several in the checks. I did try making some changes to my bike for the second day but they didn't make any real difference. No, it's not been the best of weekends for me."

David Knight claimed top honours on both days in the Enduro 3 class finishing ahead of Finn Marko Tarkkala with Sweden's Bjorne Carlsson claiming third on both days.

Results - Merriman & Stapleton in MCNews.com - WEC Preview (fullnoise)