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KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight continued his domination of the Enduro 3 World Championship claiming two more E3 class wins at the GP of France held in Digne Les Bains. Unbeaten so far in ’05, Knighter topped day one by one minute and 23 seconds before stretching his winning advantage to one minute and 28 seconds on day two. In topping the E3 class David finished both day’s as the event’s outright fastest rider. Faced with dry and dusty conditions similar to those he competed in at the third round of the European Enduro Championship in Wales one week prior to the French GP, Knighter topped all but one special test in the E3 class on day one. As has been the case at so many WEC events this season, David’s KTM team-mate Marko Tarkkala from Finland placed a distant second on the opening day. Knight and Tarkkala were followed home by Frenchman Seb Guillaume. On the rougher second day Knight experienced problems with his front forks but still managed to win comfortably. Again winning all but one of the day’s special tests, David made just one mistake on the extreme test on the third lap. Coming close to crashing the E3 championship leader found himself beaten by just one hundredth of a second. Knight was again followed home by Tarkkala and Guillaume and as a result of his double class win further extended his lead at the top of the E3 world championship standings. The next round of the ’05 WEC series takes place in Finland on August 27-28. David Knight: “It’s been another great weekend for me, I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better than it has. Day one went really well. My bike ran perfectly, I was riding well, and I opened up a good lead and then just made sure that I didn’t make any mistakes. I enjoyed day one probably better than any other day from this year’s world championship. It was pretty tough because of the heat and the special test were all pretty technical and really rough. It was good because the three tests were close together. “Day two was also pretty good although I made a mistake on the extreme test on the third lap. The course and the special test were really, really rough and the dust was a bit of a problem as well in places. My forks started to leak oil mid-way through the day so I had to swap them for anther set while they got fixed. I didn’t feel as comfortable with the second set so I didn’t push too hard. Once I put my race forks back in everything was much better. The whole weekend has been great.” Tough Weekend for Edmondson in France Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes rider Paul Edmondson finished the sixth round of the ’05 World Enduro Championship held in Digne Les Bains in seventh and fifth places in the Enduro 2 class. Performing well on the event’s extreme test, Edmondson’s race bike suffered with carburetion problems during the event due to the heat in the French mountains. With his bike having developed a mid-range flat spot Paul struggled to perform at his best on the technical special tests. Starting well on day one Edmondson finished inside the top three of the E1 class on two of the day’s special test but found himself a little a little off the pace on the motocross test. Spending much of the day trying to improve the running of his bike, Paul finished in seventh position. On day two, with his bike still not running as well as he wanted it to, Edmondson battled hard to finish in fifth position. Again performing well on the extreme test, like many riders Edmondson decided not to push to his limits on the motocross test due to the severe dust. For Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes riders Euan McConnell and Si Wakely the French GP proved to be one of mixed results. Crashing hard on day one McConnell placed in 13th in the Enduro 2 class before raising his game and finishing ninth on day two. For Wakely day one ended with the youngster in eighth in the Enduro Junior class before he improved one position to seventh on day two. Paul Edmondson: “It’s been a tough weekend for me all things considered. The heat and altitude meant I’ve struggled to get my bike to run perfectly. A few riders have been suffering with the same thing. We tried a lot of different things but we just couldn’t get the bike to run as well as it can do. My results aren’t great but they’re not too bad either. I was a little disappointed with finishing in seventh on day one but fifth on day two isn’t so bad. My position in the E1 championship is also pretty good but things are still very close for the third place. I didn’t have any falls all weekend, which I’m pleased with because the motocross and enduro tests were a bit dangerous.” Euan McConnell: “Day one was a disaster for me because I crashed in fourth gear on the enduro test and was lucky not to end up in hospital. That meant my result was ruined. Day two was much better, I put in some good times on the extreme test but I was a little slow on the motocross test. It was certainly a difficult event.” Si Wakely: “It’s been a bit of a mixed weekend. I just couldn’t get into the motocross test no matter what I tried but I seemed to get on ok with the extreme test. On day one I didn’t ride as well as I could have, I just couldn’t get into it. On day two I felt better but it was a hard day because of the heat and dust. It’s been one of the toughest events I’ve done so I’m happy to have finished but I would have liked to have been a bit faster.” Paul Whibleys report from W.E.C. France Hi all We drove down through France on Monday. As we got down closer to Grenoble we passed through a huge thunderstorm. There was some amazing lightening that lit up the whole sky. Tuesday we began walking tests, three tests again. We walked the enduro test first. To my surprise it was not a typical French test and not what we had prepared for. It was rocky, dry and would become very dusty. It began in the scrub with loose rocks, out onto a gravel road, down a rocky streambed through some bush then up another gravel road. The cross test was on the side of a hill. From a distance it looked grassy but on closer inspection revealed loose soil that would turn to powdery dust and in the top sections there were a lot of loose shingle rocks. The extreme test was all natural and was one of the most difficult this year. It started by dropping down into a rock slab creek (slippery as), up a rock ledge, then up and down some really steep eroded hills, over a concrete wall one meter high, then down a small eroded gully. On the Thursday there was a bit of excitement in town. A scrub fire had started on the edge of town (Digne) and had moved up a hill above town very close to parc ferme. A chopper was quickly there, sucking water from a river beside us and flying over to dump it on the blaze. Soon two huge water planes buzz up the valley and dumped a couple of massive loads of water on the fire. It was soon under control. We could see fire fighters on the slope directing the chopper and dampening down any remaining hot spots. The weather had been awesome leading up to the race and the forecast was to continue with the good weather. Saturday my first test didn't go so good. I struggled in the dusty, rocky test although I enjoyed the challenge to pass through the extreme test and as the day progressed I posted a fifth fastest time in a test that is an advantage for those riders with trials experience. I finished the day in twelvth. Sunday didn't get any better, the extreme test where I planned to put in some good times, I crashed twice and also once in the cross test. So not such a good day, finishing sixteenth. It seemed the harder I pushed the more mistakes I made. I couldn't seem to make any time up. Good news is Shirty (UK importer and all round good guy) has given me a Gas Gas 300 trials bike to hone in my trials skills, DANGEROUS! Bye for now Paul and Katherine Results – Day 1 Enduro 1 1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 43:37.90; 2. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 44:06.22; 3. Alex Belometti (KTM) 44:12.51; 4. Bartosz Oblucki (Yamaha) 44:33.51; 5. Petteri Silvan (KTM) 44:41.99; 6. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 44:44.66; 7. Paul Edmondson (Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes) 44:56.25; 8. Julien Gauthier (Husqvarna) 45:39.50; 9. Daniele Tellini (Yamaha) 45:46.13; 10. Richard Larsson (TM) 45:50.90; 11. Antoine Meo (Husqvarna0)45:56.81; 12. Andre Raphael (Honda) 46:07.03; 13. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 46:13.32; 14. Damien Miquel (Kawasaki) 46:39.73; 15. Pierre Duzellier (Suzuki) 47:15.97; 16. Manuel Pievanni (Yamaha) 47:58.15 Enduro 2 1. Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) 43:00.13; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 43:35.81; 3. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 44:10.42; 4. David Fretigne (Yamaha) 44:38.86; 5. Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna) 44:53.63; 6. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 45:11.98; 7. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 45:12.70; 8. Andrea Beconi (Yamaha) 45:28.41; 9. Helder Rodrigues (Gas Gas) 45:34.73; 10. Valtteri Salonen (Honda) 45:44.16; 11. Emmanuel Albepart (Honda) 45:52.17; 12. Paul Whibley (Gas Gas) 46:15.92; 13. Euan McConnell (Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes) 46:23.50; 14. Andrea Belotti (Husqvarna) 46:33.81; 15. Francois Goblet (Gas Gas) 46:36.87; 16. Jari Mattila (Beta) 46:57.05; 17. Giuseppe Canova (Husqvarna) 47:10.60; 18. Michael Vukcevic (Sherco) 47:19.75; 19. Sebastien Arvis (Suzuki) 47:25.49; 20. Laurent Bouffioux (Sherco) 47:31.10 Enduro 3 1. David Knight (KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli) 42:36.05; 2. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 43:59.38; 3. Seb Guillaume (Gas Gas) 44:19.04; 4. Alessandro Zanni (Honda) 45:03.78; 5. Alessio Paoli (TM) 45:05.65; 6. Mika Ahola (Husqvarna) 45:06.41; 7. Thierry Klutz (Gas Gas) 45:08.41; 8. Xavier Galindo (KTM) 45:48.15; 9. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 46:22.23; 10. Steve Dufay (Husaberg) 46:26.51; 11. Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 47:10.42; 12. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 47:14.79; 13. Daniel Obelisco (KTM) 47:15.27; 14. Maurizio Magherini (Beta) 47:28.16; 15. Sebastien Denis (Husqvarna) 48:05.45; 16. Michal Rudolf (KTM) 48:39.75; 17. Guillaume Floirac (KTM) 52:18.70; 18. Bertrand Bailleux (Beta) 54:10.10; 19. Jakub Horak (KTM) 55:33.17; 20. Erwin Plekkenpol (KTM) 55:36.96 Enduro Junior 1. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 46:13.90; 2. Paolo Bernardi (Honda) 46:14.42; 3. Jacob Stapleton (TM) 46:24.65; 4. Oriol Mena (Gas Gas) 46:51.65; 5. Maurizio Facchin (Husqvarna) 47:20.24; 6. Lucas Puerta (KTM) 47:38.44; 7. Julien Dubac (Husqvarna) 47:48.46; 8. Si Wakely (Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes) 48:23.48; 9. Armand Monleon (Yamaha) 48:48.86; 10. Jeremy Joly (Sherco) 49:15.15; 11. Sylvain Lebrun (KTM) 49:42.80; 12. Benoit Thibal (Gas Gas) 49:43.86; 13. Patrice Fesquet (Sherco) 50:12.93; 14. Carlo Conforti (Husqvarna) 50:15.81; 15. Evrard Gutkin (KTM) 50:17.44; 16. Benoit Fortunato (Honda) 50:33.36; 17. Jeremy Garcia (Gas Gas) 50:36.29; 18. Jesus Garcia (Yamaha) 50:38.04; 19. Harold Laplace (KTM) 50:59.14; 20. Alexandre Titone (KTM) 51:29.50 Results – Day 2 Enduro 1 1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 48:40.50; 2. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 49:16.61; 3. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 49:17.16; 4. Alex Belometti (KTM) 49:52.71; 5. Paul Edmondson (Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes) 50:27.97; 6. Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) 50:54.81; 7. Richard Larsson (TM) 52:14.69; 8. Julien Gauthier (Husqvarna) 52:33.30; 9. Damien Miquel (Kawasaki) 52:33.57; 10. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 52:34.40; 11. Daniele Tellini (Yamaha) 53:36.72; 12. Manuel Pievani (Yamaha) 1.01:23.46 Enduro 2 1. Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) 48:36.23; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 48:46.05; 3. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 49:15.08; 4. Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna) 50:07.93; 5. Petri Pohjamo (TM) 50:23.35; 6. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 50:48.90; 7. Emmanuel Albepart (Honda) 51:07.07; 8. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 51:07.31; 9. Euan McConnell (Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes) 51:17.44; 10. Valtteri Salonen (Honda) 51:23.18; 11. David Fretigne (Yamaha) 51:27.46; 12. Andrea Beconi (Yamaha) 51:31.33; 13. Francois Goblet (Gas Gas) 51:49.02; 14. Helder Rodrigues (Gas Gas) 52:00.10; 15. Andrea Belotti (Husqvarna) 52:27.37; 16. Paul Whibley (Gas Gas) 52:50.88; 17. Giusepe Canova (Husqvarna) 53:10.70; 18. Giuliano Falgari (Husqvarna) 53:12.54; 19. Sebastien Arvis (Suzuki) 53:42.59; 20. Laurent Bouffioux (Sherco) 53:51.98 Enduro 3 1. David Knight (KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli) 47:42.48; 2. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 49:10.51; 3. Seb Guillaume (Gas Gas) 49:40.73; 4. Alessandro Zanni (Honda) 50:18.14; 5. Xavier Galindo (KTM) 50:37.01; 6. Thierry Klutz (Gas Gas) 50:40.16; 7. Alessio Paoli (TM) 50:56.94; 8. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 52:08.47; 9. Steve Dufay (Husaberg) 52:23.76; 10. Mario Rinaldi (Husaberg) 52:28.88; 11. Maurizio Magherini (Beta) 53:20.14; 12. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 53:34.15; 13. Sebastien Denis (Husqvarna) 53:34.32; 15. Erwin Plekkenpol 57:51.02; 16. Betrand Bailleux (Beta) 1.00:58.93; 17. Jakub Horak (KTM) 1.01:34.49 Enduro Junior 1. Cristobal Guerrero (Gas Gas) 51:35.48; 2. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 52:00.09; 3. Jacob Stapleton (TM) 52:06.60; 4. Daryl Bolter (Husqvarna) 52:07.72; 5. Oriol Mena (Gas Gas) 53:13.77; 6. Paolo Bernardi (Honda) 53:16.67; 7. Si Wakely (Honda Racing Fast Eddy PAR Homes) 53:59.79; 8. Armand Monleon (Yamaha) 54:17.19; 9. Julien Dubac (Husqvarna) 54:20.49; 10. Sylvain Lebrun (KTM) 54:40.01; 11. Lucas Puerto (KTM) 55:25.88; 12. Manuel Estanis (KTM) 55:39.94; 13. Jeremy Garcia (Gas Gas) 55:57.07; 14. Jeremy Joly (Sherco) 56:07.30; 15. Carlo Conforti (Husqvarna) 56:11.64; 16. Mike Koch (Honda) 57:49.43; 17. Benoit Fortunato (Honda) 58:01.87; 18. Juraj Dozsa (KTM) 58:16.61; 19. Alexandre Titone (KTM) 58:18.78; 20. Lukas Sedlacek (KTM) 58:58.25
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Knighter continues his WEC domination