Enduro News - WEC Round 5

Double victory for Knighter at GP of Canada

KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight claimed two more Enduro 3 class wins in the ’06 World Enduro Championship this time claiming victory on both days of the GP of Canada staged at Parry Sounds, two hours north of Toronto. Arriving at the start of the first ever WEC event to be held outside of Europe having not ridden a bike since the GP of Italy Knight quickly settled into his winning ways and topped each and every test in the E3 class.

With conditions on day one in Canada extremely hot and humid David started the event feeling less the 100 per cent but quickly settled into his rhythm. Faced with three very different and very challenging special test, including an extreme test that in part ran along the rocky shores of a lake, David once again made light work of his class rivals and topped the opening day by close to three and a half minutes.

On day two David managed to up his pace and having finished as the second fastest overall rider in the event on day one went one better and finished as the fastest rider in the event, as well as topping the E3 class by close to five minutes. Conditions on day two were extremely rough, especially on the enduro, but Knight failed to put a foot wrong and extended his world championship lead.

David currently sits at the top of the Enduro 3 world championship, 61 points ahead of his closest rival Seb Guillaume from France.

David Knight: “I hadn’t been on a bike since the last world championship race in Italy so I felt a little rusty early on day one. I started off steadily and just built up my speed. The enduro test was really difficult because there were so many tight corners, rocks, tree roots and ruts. I also felt a little groggy during the first half of day one, which I think was because of the heat. I still managed to win all of the tests in the E3 class, which was good. I started to feel a lot better from mid-day onwards and only made a few small mistakes.

“I felt good right from the start of day two. The bike was new for day one and it felt a little better on day two. I managed to get all the lines I wanted on the tests and each of my three cross-country test times were within two seconds of each other. I also put in three good times on the extreme test. I knew that I had a good lead in the E3 class but things were pretty close between myself and Aro for the overall.

“I think the event was great – one of the best races we’ve had this year. It was a lot more enjoyable that the event in Italy. Three laps each day was plenty and the mix of challenging special tests with a not so difficult course was great.”

Double podium finish for Stapleton at GP of Canada

Electraction TM UK rider Jake Stapleton finished in third position on both days in the Enduro Junior class at the fifth round of the ’06 World Enduro Championship staged in Parry Sounds, Canada at the end of what was an eventful weekend for the Australian rider. For Jake’s team-mate Euan McConnell the event proved to be a disappointing one as numerous crashes and small mistakes resulted in him failing to finish inside the top 10 of the Enduro 2 class.

Finishing just 17 seconds behind Enduro Junior class winner Marc Bourgeois on day one Jake topped two of the day’s special tests in the but struggled to master the enduro test, which ultimately cost him the class win. On day two Jake again found himself battling with Swede Joakim Ljunggren and Frenchman Marc Bourgeois and suffered a big crash on the enduro test, which affected his result and knocked his confidence a little. Still finishing no lower than fourth in class on any of the day’s special tests Jake ended up third to make it two podium finishes for the weekend leaving him sitting in second in the Enduro Junior championship, eight points behind class leader Joakim Ljunggren.

In the Enduro 2 class Euan McConnell had a frustrating weekend as mistakes on both days resulted in him finishing outside of the top 10. On day one Euan stalled his TM on the first test of the day and struggled to reclaim the lost time. Stalling his bike on more tests later in the day McConnell ended up in 13th position. Frustratingly day two didn’t get much better for Euan as a big crash on the enduro test was followed by a swim in the final extreme test of the event when he parted company with his bike and ended up in one of the many lakes that surrounded the town of Parry Sound. Euan is now 15th in the Enduro 2 world championship.

Jake Stapleton: “I guess the weekend has been somewhere between good and bad for me. Day one started well and I felt good but I just couldn’t sort things out on the extreme test. I was just trying to get through the test a smoothly as I could but the other guys in my class seemed to be able to get through it much faster. I felt pretty good on the motocross test but the enduro test was really difficult.

“On day two I had a big crash on the enduro test, which de-tuned me for the rest of the day. I felt ok apart from that and I started to get the hang of the extreme test. I still wasn’t fast enough on the extreme test though, which was my biggest problem all weekend. It wasn’t possible to pull back lost time on the other two tests.”

Euan McConnell: “Things were going well for me on day one before I arrived at the first timed special test, then they went downhill from there. I got three corners into the test and I stalled my bike. I lost at least 25 seconds and then stalled it a few other times during the event, which badly affected my result. Things didn’t really get any better than that.

“On day two things didn’t get any better. I caught my boot on the airbox and had a big crash on the enduro test. Then to top it all off I went for a swim on the final extreme test. I did manage to have some good tests but I guess things just weren’t meant to be this weekend. Hopefully they will get better next weekend at the US race.”

Merriman and Aubert on the podium

With many riders commenting that the motocross and enduro special tests in Canada were similar to those found in Finland it was little surprise that Samuli Aro topped the Enduro 2 class on both days at the fifth round of the WEC. Having claimed the E2 class win on both days at the GP of Italy, Samuli continued his good form to claim two more day wins. On day one Yamaha riders Stefan Merriman and Johnny Aubert surrounded the Finn on the podium with the UFO Corse Yamaha team mates placing 30 seconds apart and in second and third places respectively.

On day two Aro was again the rider to beat and was joined by countryman Mika Ahola and Johnny Aubert on the podium. For Merriman numerous crashes early in the day knocked the Australian's confidence in the challenging conditions and saw him place in an eventual fifth position. For Aubert day two was also a difficult one, but for a very different reason. Having broken a rib at the GP of Italy Aubert had been unable to train or ride a bike prior to the Canadian GP and as a result found the event extremely hard. In the '06 Enduro 2 world championship standings Stefan Merriman is currently second to Samuli Aro while Aubert lays fourth, just 10 points off third.

Currant Enduro 3 world championship leader David Knight continued his domination of the E3 class in Canada topping the class on both days. Finishing three and a half minutes ahead of his team-mate Marko Tarkkala on day one the Manxman then placed close to five minutes ahead on day two and in doing so finished the weekend unbeaten in the E3 class. Claiming third on both days was French rider Seb Guillaume.

Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Third, Day 2: Third "I feel extremely tired after the race because I wasn't able to train or ride since the last round of the world championship, because I broke some ribs. I have tried my hardest but I felt really tired at the end of each day. I made some small crashes on day one but apart from that everything went pretty well. I finished on the podium so I was happy with that. "I crashed once on each of the special tests on the first lap on day two and then twice on the extreme test on the final lap. Apart from being really tired during the race it has been a good event. It wasn't as difficult as the race in Italy, which was a good thing. The tests were difficult but the course was really enjoyable."

Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Second, Day 2: Fifth "Day one went ok but my performances on the enduro test let me down. It was very similar to Finnish conditions, which obviously favoured Aro and Ahola. I pushed as hard as I could without wanting to ride over the limit but it was so difficult on the enduro test because there were tree roots, rocks and ruts everywhere. "Day two went badly right from the start because I crashed three times in the first enduro test. I just couldn't find any sort of a rhythm and every time I hit a tree root I seemed to crash before I knew what had happened. I lost a lot of time there. That knocked my confidence and it was hard to get it back. It was so easy to damage your bike in the enduro test so I just took it steadily. "The event was really good - the organisers have done a great job. I would have liked the ground conditions to have been a little harder but apart from that it has been great."