Enduro News - WEC 06 Rd4

WEC Rd4

The 4th round of the World Enduro Championship took place on the 4th and 5th June around the historic town of Gernika in Spain. Located between San Sebastian & Bilboa in the heart of the Basque country, Gernika was heavily bombed during the Spanish Civil War & it's suffering was immortalised in a famous painting by Pablo Picasso. Through optimism & enthusiasm the town has re-built itself & the same character has driven the Gernika Offroad Club to host a World round. The 47kms lap had to be ridden 4 times each day. There was a MX & a cross country test which were both on grassy slopes & a man made extreme test located close to the finish in the town centre. This was the 2nd Championship round held in Spain this year saving local favourite Ivan Cevantes a couple of bob in bus fares. Less than a month after undergoing an emergency operation on his spleen following a crash Stefan Merriman surprised many people by riding & surprise turned to amazement when the tough Australian won the E2 first day. David Knight won the E3 class. On Day 2 the 3 class leaders repeated their wins. Paul Edmondson finished E1 5th & 4th.

Knighter cleans up at WEC round 4

KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight claimed his fourth double Enduro 3 class win of the ’05 season at the GP of Spain in Gernika to extend his lead at the top of the E3 championship to 39 points. Comfortably winning the Enduro 3 class on both days, Knight also finished the event as the fastest overall rider, irrespective of class, on both days.

Just one week after claiming victory at the gruelling Erzburg Rodeo in Austria Knighter arrived at the WEC’s second Spanish event confident of maintaining his world championship winning streak – and he did. With the event featuring three very different, but also much shorter, special tests than previous rounds of the series, fine weather and four laps of an enjoyable course made for some of the championships closest racing yet.

On day one Knighter soon found his rhythm despite thinking on occasions that he was still racing aboard his 300cc two-stroke. Overshooting a couple of corners during the opening two laps, David steadily opened up what would become a 30 second winning margin. Making no major mistakes during the opening day’s competition Knighter again proved too fast for his competitors.

On day two David again set the pace in the E3 class winning all but one of the day’s 12 special test. Even faster than he had been on day one, David placed his KTM just under one minute ahead of his nearest rival, Finn Marko Tarkkala. With the ’05 WEC series all but at the half way stage David now sits comfortably at the head of the E3 championship, some 39 points clear of his Finnish team-mate. In winning the E3 category in Spain Knight also played an important part in ensuring that the KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli squad topped the Team competition.

David Knight: “It’s been another great weekend for me although I kept overshooting corners early on day one. I think it was because I raced a 300cc two-stroke last weekend at Erzburg and didn’t have any time to go training on my 500 before this weekend. Once I’d ridden a few laps I was ok and didn’t have any more problems. With the special tests being quite short I really thought that there would only be hundredths of seconds between the top riders, so to win by just over half a minute on day one was good.

“I found day two was a bit easier, I think it was because I was getting used to the bike again. The only problem I had was that I kept going for a kick starter thinking it was my 300, forgetting that my four-stroke race bike has a button! I nearly hit a fox in one of the enduro special tests but apart from that I didn’t have any problems at all. The event got better as it went on. The tests were good fun and winning again just made it better.”

Good results for HRFE team riders Paul Edmondson and Si Wakely at WEC round 4

Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes rider Paul Edmondson finished the fourth round of the '05 World Enduro Championship with fifth and fourth place results in the Enduro 1 class lifting the 250cc four-stroke Honda rider to fifth in the E1 world championship standings, where he now sits just four points behind fourth placed rider Alessandro Belometti.

Disappointed with his results at the third round of the series in Italy Edmondson made sure of good results in Spain and finished day one only 26 seconds behind class winner, and championship leader, Ivan Cervantes. With the slightest mistake proving costly in Spain Edmondson spent much of the opening day battling with Farioli KTM rider Alessandro Belometti, eventually ending up just seven seconds behind the Italian. On day two Edmondson improved his result by one position finishing in fourth place, again having spent much of the day battling with Belometti.

The fourth round of the WEC series also proved to be a good one for Enduro Junior class rider Si Wakely. Having not yet shown his true potential in this season's series, Si finished in eighth on day one and then improved to sixth on day two, his highest ever world championship placing. Struggling a little on certain areas of the motocross special test on day one, Si made no mistakes on day two and thoroughly enjoyed the Spanish event.

After posting some impressive results at the third round of the WEC series HRFE team rider Euan McConnell had a frustrating weekend in Spain placing 14th and 10th in the Enduro 2 class. Not really sure why he wasn't riding as well as he could, and having made no big mistakes during the weekend, Euan finished the race unhappy with his results but having enjoyed the event.

Paul Edmondson: "It's been a good weekend for me. The tests were good; it was like racing in Wales with better weather. I would have liked the motocross test to have been a little bit more technical but both the enduro and extreme tests were great. I wanted to finish on the podium but I'm happy because I'm riding better than I was in the first three rounds of the championship. Ivan is riding really, really well at the moment so I'm just trying my hardest to get onto the podium. My bike was great; I didn't make any mistakes, so I'm happy. With the class being so competitive you really have to be on your toes. I was only three seconds behind third with two tests to go on day two, which shows that my speed is good. I'm certainly riding as hard as I can, like all riders are. I'm really happy with the way things went."

Euan McConnell: "It's not been a good weekend for me. Day two was a bit better than day one but not much. On day two in Italy good special test times were coming really easily for me. I've been grafting all weekend with nothing much to show for it here in Spain. I don't know why but I just couldn't get it together on the tests. I don't know why I haven't been able to ride as well as I did in Italy. I was trying my hardest but I just struggled to get the times."

Si Wakely: "I've had a really good weekend. On the first day I felt that I was riding really well. I messed up one of the climbs on the motocross test on two of the timed laps, which certainly didn't help me but apart from that the day went well. I would have finished in fifth if I hadn't have made the mistakes. On day two I felt really confident and pushed as hard as I could. I didn't make any mistakes and was able to put in some really good test times. I was really happy with the way I rode, it's the best I've ridden this year."

Bolter wins Enduro Junior class at WEC Rnd 4

Husky Sport Husqvarna rider Daryl Bolter, racing for the Italian Mucci Racing Husqvarna team, claimed his best ever Enduro Junior World Championship result finishing as runner-up in the EJ class on day one and then winning on day two. In doing so Daryl claimed his first ever world championship victory.

On day one Bolter started as he meant to go on and posted the fastest time in the Enduro Junior class on the opening motocross test, setting himself up for his memorable result. Going on to finish no lower than fourth in class on any of the opening day's remaining special tests, Daryl found himself under pressure from French Husqvarna rider Marc Bourgeois. Unable to match the pace of the EJ championship leader, Spain's Cristabal Guerrero, Daryl remained ahead of Bourgeois to finish in the runner-up spot.

On day two Daryl started as he had on day one - determined to equal or better his runner-up spot from day one. Managing to remain close to Spaniard Guerrero during the opening lap, a mistake by the factory Gas Gas rider meant that Daryl was handed the class lead. Once again under pressure from Frenchman Bourgeois, Daryl remained at the front of the Enduro Junior class to claim his first ever WEC win.

In finishing in second and first positions at the fourth round of the WEC series Daryl now lies in third in the '05 Enduro Junior World Championship standings just one point behind second place rider Oriol Mena and 24 behind class leader Cristabal Guerrero.

Daryl Bolter: "I'm over the moon to have won my first Junior World Championship race. Day one went really well, I'm just so happy to have won. Finishing in second was great because up until then it was my highest WEC result. I really enjoyed the race - the course and the special tests were all excellent. I didn't have any crashes all weekend and rode as well as I have at any other race this year. "I wasn't too far behind Guerrero on day two but then he crashed and hurt his leg. Unfortunately that's racing, so I just pushed as hard as I could to win. I didn't have a big lead during the day because it was hard to open up a big lead, but I just made sure that I didn't make any mistakes. I was pretty nervous on the last few tests because I didn't want to crash, thankfully I didn't. It's great to have won my first Junior World Championship race."

Paul Whibley writes: Hi all, We have just arrived back from Spain where the forth round of the WEC was held. The plan was to go over on a boat from Portsmouth to Bilbao, giving us a 24 hour boat trip but the boat was fully booked. We instead had the usual day and a half drive down through France. With us living out of a van at the races, we are pretty mobile. When we want to park up to sleep at night we just pull into a service station. In the morning I usually start driving before Katherine is awake/up. Typically drive an hour or two before she pokes her head over the front to see where we are. The race in Spain was held in Gernika near Bilbao. There was three tests again. One cross, one enduro and one extreme. The cross and enduro test were nice, with with grass and forest sections. Although the grass cut off in the cross test, leaving a hard pack base in some corners. The extreme test was well layed out and a lot of effort had gone into making the rock sections and water splashes. The race for me was pretty uneventful. On Saturday I had a mixed bag of test times, eventually finishing 12th. Two seconds behind my team mate Miska Aaltonen on the 450. Miska is a cool guy and we get on really well. He was a team mate with DK on the factory Huskys in the MX GPs a few years ago. On Sunday I wanted to push on into the top ten but the harder I pushed the more mistakes followed. Eventually finishing 14th. Next round in early July is in Czech Republic. ps Katherine would like to add that she drove most of the way to the race and half of the way home. So she was entitled to sleep in!

Results Day 1 E1 E2 E3 Junior Team Day 2 E1 E2 E3 Junior Team