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Midwest Husaberg UK team rider Alex Rockwell set off for the European Enduro Championship round in Poland immediately after competing at the BESC leaving the circuit Sunday night and heading for the ferry at Dover and then drove 2 days across Europe and into Poland arriving Wednesday. Conditions were in complete contrast from the hot & dry weather in the UK to cold, wet & even snow travelling through Germany and the course at Kielcie was very boggy in places. Based in the modern football stadium, the 180 riders would tackle 3 laps of 65km for each of the two days in the surrounding countryside, with a MX and Enduro Special test on each of the laps. This would be Alex's first ever race in the European Enduro championship & he was aiming for top 3 in his class but didn't know what to expect, but he rode very maturely setting good test times without making big mistakes and steadily improving each time on the special test which each rider completed 6 times each day. Day 1 went as well as could be expected and the Isle of Man battle between Alex & fellow Manx rider Danny McCanney continued into Europe with these 2 rivals setting the best times in the Under 23 E2/E3 class. In fact Danny went on to be the fastest rider in the whole event with Alex finishing in 8th overall & 2nd in class.

Day 2 was similar to the previous day with each rider completing the same course & same amount of tests but only the conditions were rougher. Again Alex set good test times improving each time he went out but had a problem with the rear tyre, after hitting a large obstacle put a huge dent in the wheel rim and damaged the mousse causing the tyre to nearly come off the rim & had to be held on with large cable ties. Undeterred Alex continued to a well earned 3rd in class & 10th overall and pleased with his first ever result in the European Enduro championship as the Midwest Racing prepared Husaberg FE390 ran faultlessly all weekend. Pics by Anastasia Merkulova