This past weekend saw the Enduro GP convoy head north from Portugal, and into Sunny Spain for rounds 5 & 6 of the World Enduro Championship in Santiago De Compostela.
A week of heavy rain left the tests very wet and perhaps well suited to our British riders, but 30 degrees heat greeted them during the race days to add another element to an already tough schedule of 3.5 laps per day!
Bradley Freeman continued his winning ways from Portugal and took both the overall GP and Enduro 1 Class victories on both days. The Beta rider is really finding his feet in the championship and now sits top of the standings!
On Day 1, reigning World Champion, Steve Holcombe, was 2nd to Freeman and 1st in Enduro 3. Steve is currently struggling with a virus and his energy levels were very low all weekend. At the end of the first day Steve himself admitted that day 2 was going to be a struggle and a struggle it was. He ended up 6th overall in the GP and 2nd in Enduro 3. Although this is still a fantastic result, it is one that isn’t expected of a reigning champ, however with all things considered the World Number 1 did very well to get two solid point scoring finishes in the bag!
Manxman Daniel McCanney was on fire this weekend and scored 3-2 overall in the GP, and a 2-1 in Enduro 3, his first victory of the year!
On Saturday it was another all Brit podium, consisting of the three riders named above.
In Enduro 2, Joe Wootton had a great ride and was rewarded with his first top 10 overall position and 5th in Enduro 2 on Saturday. On day 2 he was 12th overall and 6th in E2!
In the Junior category Sherco’s Jack Edmondson had a fantastic weekend. He finished 2nd day 1 in Junior 2 and on Day 2 he went one better and took the top honours in Junior 2 and also 3rd place in the Junior Class overall.
Alex Walton had a better weekend in Spain and took P9 Junior 1 on day 1 and a great P7 Junior 1 on day 2. He is another British rider going from strength to strength.
In the Youth Class Sherco’s Dan Mundell had a bit of a troublesome weekend. He looked to have a podium in the bag until the last test of Saturday but a fall in the Enduro meant he stopped on the going to straighten his bike back up but too just a tad too long in doing so and after the final Extreme he was a few seconds late to the pre finish check point, giving him a 1 minute penalty. In the end he salvaged 5th. On Day 2 fatigue and some problems lead to a disappointing P7.
Henry Yardley took part in the GP and also had some shoddy luck. On Day one he got lost on the transfer and half-houred out, meaning he had a DNF. On Day 2 however he did well and finished a respectable 11th position!
In the Open Class there was more British domination. Tom Ellwood won both days overall in the Open Cup and also his Open 4 Stroke Class. David Knight won both days in the Senior Open Class and finished 2nd overall to Ellwood both days. Fraser Flockhart carded two great 3rd place finishes in the Open 4 Stroke Class. Unfortunately, Richard Tucker, a contender for the Open 2 Stroke Championship, had a crash in the SuperTest picking up a shoulder injury and then half way around lap one of day 1 he fell on it again and had to sit out the rest of the weekend. Darren Kiff had a great first day finishing 7th out of 15 in the Open Senior Class, however Sunday didn’t go his way and he had a DNF.