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British Riders success at SuperEnduro Finals
Tours, France - 22nd February 
Report by Lisa Bolton

The Final round of the FIM World SuperEnduro in Tours, France had some highs and lows for our British riders this weekend.

Before the race, I caught up with some of the Brits for their thoughts on the event, their aspirations and prep:
Jane Daniels, leading the Championship, 5 points ahead of World Trials converts Emma Bristow (UK) and Sandra Gomez (Esp) reflected on the importance of the final round of the FIM World SuperEnduro in Tours, France.
JD: "The pressure is on, the World title all depends on the outcome of this race. It's crunch time but I'm going out there to win it."
LB: What about your feelings, going into such a crucial race?
JD: "I'm nervous for sure but I always am and that's what fuels me sometimes. I feel it right until the start, when the gate drops."
LB: Speaking of gates, you're pretty handy at starts aren't you?
JD: "Yeah well in Liverpool, I hit the gate, bounced back and still got to the first corner first!"
LB: So tell me about the first and second rounds.
JD: "I got a third in Liverpool and a first in Poland- the Ladies championship is just three rounds, but the lads get a six round series with Brazil, Mexico and Spain."

Returning to SuperEnduro with unfinished business, Hard Enduro rider Paul Bolton was determined to get a result worthy of reporting home. After promising practice sessions at Liverpool, disappointing qualifiers meant Bolts didn't reach the finals in front of his home crowd. So France was an opportunity to settle this once and for all!
PB: "My aim this weekend is first to qualify and then get into the top ten. It's a different skill set to hone compared to Hard Enduro like Romaniacs and Erzberg."

On Friday, track inspections were underway with riders measuring up take offs and landings, inside lines and whether the log pit was jumpable or not! The track was well designed, making for some good opportunities for position changing...all the more reason to spend time pacing out the options. Saturday started bright and early with final track walks, then untimed, followed by timed practice sessions to determine gate picks for the final heats in the evening show. The Superpole race was an extra for the fastest 6 qualifiers; Jonny Walker putting in the fastest hot lap for a third consecutive time at the World SuperEnduros.

In the Ladies final, after a good start, Emma Bristow (left) opened up a good lead. Jane Daniels and Sandra Gomez, sister to Alfredo, were battling for the first lap, but Jane pulled away into second. Holding good ground, she crashed in the rocks. Picking up her bike up at turbo speed, she knew to lose the second place would see the World Championship slip from her fingers. Bristow took the lead from start to finish in a solid win. Gomez held onto 2nd I front of a disappointed Daniels in 3rd.

In the Juniors, Jamie McCanny was unfortunate to crash out, ending his evening prematurely. Gethin and Owain Humpfreys were pretty well matched, taking it turns it appears, on the 3rd spot of the podium in each of the Junior finals. Gary Daniels had two solid rides with a 4th and a 7th place and fellow Brit Rob Johnson had a 6th and a 12th.

Some fierce battles were fought in all 3 finals of the Prestige class. First heat: Blazusiac 1st, Walker 3rd, Knight 4th, Bolton 6th, McCanney 10th. Second heat: Walker 1st, Blazusiac 2nd, Knight 6th, Bolton 9th, McCanny 11th. Third heat: Blazuziac 1st, Walker 2nd, Knight 5th, Bolton 7th, McCanny 9th. See my video of the racing action in Final 2! Click here 

The final round allowed Blazusiac to consolidate the series win, followed by David Knight in 2nd and Jonny Walker 3rd. The Brit ladies were victorious, standing on the First and Second podium spots for the series overall. Congratulations to Emma Bristow and Jane Daniels respectively.

With this being the final round for the SuperEnduro season, Paul Bolton (pictured above) reflected on what the rest of the year holds: "My next big race is Eddy's Extreme at Cowm Quarry this coming weekend, then it's King of the Hill in Romania, The Tough One at Hawkstone, Erzberg, Romaniacs and Sea to Sky. I've got a good few other races on my wish list for the year- relatively new extreme races, but we will see how things pan out. I'm also working on a new project to launch a website in the coming weeks, linked to Goldentyre….Watch this space! Also a big thanks to Eurotek, RSS and USWE."

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