Enduro News - WEC Round 6 USA

Knighter dominates GP of USA

KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight continued to dominate the Enduro 3 class of the ’06 World Enduro Championship collecting his 11th and 12th day wins of the season at the GP of USA staged in Hancock, New York State. Winning day one by one minute and 36 seconds he then extended his winning margin on day two to two minutes and 17 seconds. In winning the E3 class on both days he also finished as the overall fastest rider in the event on both day one and two.

On day one of the GP of USA weather conditions became worse than they have at any previous round of the ’06 WEC series. Starting off relatively dry the heavens opened shortly before the mid-way stage of the day and a near two-hour torrential down pour resulted in conditions becoming extremely difficult for all competitors. The relentless rainfall thankfully eased shortly before the start of the third and final lap but left the three special tests waterlogged. Undeterred Knight revelled in the ‘British’ conditions and posted the fastest E3 class times on each of the opening day’s eight special tests.

With conditions drier on day two they also became rougher and the enduro, motocross and extreme tests saw several riders fall during the course of the day. Once again winning each and every special test in the E3 class, Knight claimed his sixth overall GP win of the season in the E3 class and once again stamped his dominance on the ’06 WEC series. David currently sits at the top of the Enduro 3 world championship, 67 points ahead of his closest rival Seb Guillaume from France.

David Knight: “It’s been another great weekend. Everything went pretty much to plan, winning on both days is what I wanted to do and now I have a really good lead in the E3 world championship. I might even be able to wrap up the title at the next round of the championship in Slovakia now, which would be great.

“Day one went really well, the first lap was ok but quite slippery. The second lap was horrendous because of the rain, it absolutely chucked it down but the rocky sections actually got grippier. The motocross tests got really cut up but it was great fun because of all the ruts. It wasn’t a hard day, it was quite enjoyable. I had one crash on the going but nothing in the tests. It was hard to open up a really big gap over second because the tests were quite easy and not that rough.

“It was certainly rough on day two. It was amazing how much the tests dried up after the rain we had on day two. The enduro test was really hard work on day two because of the rocks and tree roots. I just tried to do what I did on day one – push pretty hard without making any mistakes. The tests got really rough on the second lap. I knew I had a good lead going into the last lap so I just had some fun.”

Two podium finishes for Stapleton at GP of USA

Electraction TM UK’s Enduro Junior class rider Jake Stapleton finished the sixth round of the ’06 World Enduro Championship, the GP of USA held at Hancock, New York State, with two third place finishes. Having placed in the exact same position at the GP of Canada Jake started day one in the best possible way topping the opening motocross special test before battling against the horrendously wet and muddy conditions that followed after a torrential downpour mid-way through the day. With conditions on all three of the special tests extremely slippery Jake found it difficult to perform at his best and each time he tried to up his pace he ended up crashing. Despite several falls Jake placed third on the opening day, just 10 seconds adrift of runner-up Marc Bourgeois and 20 seconds behind class winner Joakim Ljunggren.

With conditions drier on day two Jake felt much more comfortable on the tests but disappointingly was unable to improve his end-of-day result of third. Much faster than he had been on day one Jake rode consistently all day and placed just 24 seconds behind class winner Marc Bourgeois and only 10 seconds adrift of day one winner Joakim Ljunggren who placed second. Jake is currently second in the Enduro Junior world championship standings, 15 points behind class leader Ljunggren.

Despite thoroughly enjoying the wet and muddy conditions on day one at the GP of USA Electraction TM UK’s Enduro 2 class rider Euan McConnell saw his result affected by a catalogue of crashes and mistakes. Finishing as high as sixth on one of the special tests being nearer the rear of the Enduro 2 class meant that Euan found himself stuck, on more than one occasion, behind riders less able to deal with the muddy conditions than he was. That, added to several crashes and stalled engines, resulted in him placing in 13th position. Determined to improve his result on day two Euan again finished as high as sixth on one of the special tests and with fewer mistakes than he had made on day one climbed to 10th.

Jake Stapleton: “I guess I should be pleased with finishing on the podium on both days but I’m just a little disappointed that I wasn’t a little quicker, which would have made a big difference to my result. I just couldn’t get the motocross test sorted on day one and every time I tried to push hard I ended up on my head. It was really slippery, especially after the torrential downpour that we had, but it was a good race apart from that.

“On day two I felt a lot better that I did on day one and although my result was the same I know that I was a lot more competitive. I felt more confident in all the tests and enjoyed the day much more.”

Euan McConnell: “Day one started like I left off in Canada, which wasn’t good really. I had numerous crashes and stalled the bike loads of times. We changed the carburettor to get the bike to start better but it was getting so hot on the test with the mud that when it stopped a couple of times it just refused to start. Day one was just a catalogue of disasters. I really had great fun when it rained - it was just frustrating that I kept crashing.

“For day two I just tried to not stall the bike, not make any mistakes and push reasonably hard – I can’t keep battling about at the bottom of the points. I stalled the bike once and didn’t really make any other mistakes. My last lap wasn’t the greatest but it was pretty good. Only having two mechanics made things hard for the smaller teams like TM because we didn’t have anyone telling us where we were in our class. It’s been a god event though".

Micheluz in strong fifth position in World Championship standings

Round 6 of the 2006 World Enduro Championship, the GP of USA held in Hancock, New York State, produced the closest racing of the 2006 WEC series so far in the Enduro 1 class. Victory had to be shared by Pole Bartosz Oblucki, who topped the class on day one, and Spaniard Ivan Cervantes, who won on day two. With torrential rain falling mid-way through day one Oblucki opened up an eight second advantage to claim his first ever world championship win ahead of reigning E1 world champion and current class leader Ivan Cervantes with Italian Simone Albergoni placing third.

With conditions much drier on day two a two-way battle for the win developed between Cervantes and Albergoni. With Cervantes crashing twice on the second lap it looked as if Albergoni would win, but the reigning E1 world champion fought back and topped the class by just five seconds. With Albergoni claiming the runner-up spot, Italian Alessandro Belometti claimed the final podium place with day one winner Oblucki fifth after a heavy fall on the enduro test.

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz backed up his strong result at the GP of Canada with two top five finishes in the Enduro 1 class in Hancock. Failing to perform at his best in the horrendously muddy conditions on day one Micheluz still managed to place in an impressive fifth position and secured valuable championship points. On day two, in the drying conditions, Maurizio lifted himself one position up the E1 class results to fourth. Maurizio currently sits in a strong fifth position in the E1 world championship standings.

Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Fifth, Day 2: Fourth "Day one wasn't so good for me. With the rain it was difficult for me in the special tests, they certainly weren't Italian conditions. The result was quite good, fifth is not so bad, but I was a little disappointed that I wasn't a little faster. Day two was much better for me. I finished fourth, which I was really happy with, especially because I was ahead of Bartosz Oblucki who won on day one. The weather was much better and I really enjoyed the race. Both of the races in North America have been good with different conditions."

Aubert finishes third on both days

Finnish riders Samuli Aro and Mika Ahola shared victory in the Enduro 2 class at the fifth round of the 2006 WEC series, the GP of USA held in Hancock, New York State with reigning E2 world champion and '06 championship leader Aro winning on day one with just a three seconds margin. With Ahola a close second UFO Corse Yamaha star Johnny Aubert rounded off the podium in third position having ridden well to place just 20 seconds adrift of the second placed rider.

On day two things were equally as close at the top of the Enduro 2 class as the two Finnish riders Aro and Ahola battled it out for the class lead along with Aubert. With little to separate the three riders during the first half of the second day Mika Ahola edged ahead during the third lap going on to claim his first WEC win in four years. Placing 19 seconds ahead of Aro, Johnny Aubert saw his hopes of victory slip when he crashed on the second timed extreme test of the day. Despite his mistake the former motocross racer again claimed third and sits in fourth place in the E1 championship standing just one-point behind team-mate Stefan Merriman.

The GP of USA proved to be a hugely disappointing one for former world champion Merriman as the UFO Corse Yamaha rider fell heavily on the extreme test on day one and failed to recover. Struggling to master the slippery conditions Stefan saw numerous crashes on both days keep him down the E2 class results and he placed in 10th on day one and sixth on day two.

In the Enduro 3 class Manxman David Knight once again shone winning each and every test during the weekend to remain unbeaten in '06. Claiming a convincing class win on day one, Knight upped his pace to win by more than two minutes on day two. In doing so he finished as the event's overall fastest rider on both days. Placing second on both days was French rider Seb Guillaume with Finn Marko Tarkkala rounding off the podium on each day

Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Third, Day 2: Third "Overall it has been a good race for me. Day one was really difficult with the rain but it was a nice day. I made a few mistakes, a few crashes, which affected my result a little but I finished in third so I was happy with that. I crashed in the second lap in the extreme test on day two and lost at least 15 seconds there but I was still happy to finish on the podium. I was fighting for the class win before that, and putting in good special test times, so my speed was good and that is important."

Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Tenth, Day 2: Sixth "It's not been a good weekend for me, not good at all. I had many, many crashes on day one, and it wasn't any different on day two. It's going to be really hard for me to win the Enduro 2 world championship now, I'm really disappointed. On day one I had a couple of big crashes, which I guess knocked the wind out of my sails. The biggest was on the extreme test, where my team-mate Johnny Aubert crashed today. I lost the front wheel going up a step and ended up under my bike. I hurt my shoulder in that crash and then landed on it again heavily on day two. I'm sick of crashing. The problem is I'm not sure why I made the mistakes."