SP FiFTYONE Riders Simon and Llewelyn Pavey took on the Serres Rally
30th Aug-6th Sept
Greece 

The riders of team SP FiFTYONE Racing put in a good showing at the Serres Rally, scoring numerous top five stage results and a top ten overall final result. The rain soaked race proved tough in the riding and navigation, something that pushed the team’s riders.

Following the exciting announcement that both riders from SP FiFTY ONE Racing gained entry to the Dakar Rally for 2015 the decision was taken to attend the Serres Rally. Well regarded for it’s more technical nature, spectacular scenery and challenging navigation, the Northern Greek event proved to be the perfect competition to practice the key skills of rally raid. A good turn out of Italian rally championship regulars and two top thirty Dakar finishers provided a good contest for the racers.

Despite a slow start to the week, lead rider Simon Pavey grew in confidence and speed over the course of the week, excelling when the terrain and navigation reached its most difficult. Aboard his stock Husqvarna FE 450, Simon slowly worked his way up the standings with a superb string of top ten results, peaking with 4th and 5th place finishes on the penultimate day helping him to climb into an impressive 8th overall.

The team’s young rider, Llewelyn Pavey suffered a more difficult week, mixing good results with an array of mechanical difficulties. The 23 year old, aboard Simon’s 2013 Dakar finishing Husqvarna, started the week strongly with a 4th and 6th place on the opening two stages. However, mechanical failure would strike. Despite working hard to solve the problem on stage, Llewelyn was towed 25km by fellow racer Steve Rose.

SS6 proved to be the highlight of the race as Llewelyn pushed hard to claim the overall victory on the short special stage, winning by an impressive three minute margin. He would only complete one more special stage before electrical issues plagued the bike again.

Si Pavey - 8th overall - “The whole event was fantastic, it’s been very enjoyable. I started the week slowly; it’s how I always am. The longer events suit me and I haven’t been racing a huge amount this year. However I slowly got into the groove of things and we had a few stages with some challenging navigation. It was really funny, the guys around me were all trying so hard to ride fast that they ended riding in circles around me, coming from all directions and having big crashes. My best stages came when others struggled, the rain helped too. All up the race was really good and the team and bike were perfect.”

Lew Pavey - 51th overall - “The Serres has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I started the week well, 4th on the opening stage was a huge surprise as I had no idea where I’d fit in. From there things were going well, I was a little intimidated by the whole thing at first. The bike breaking multiple times was really tough. I worked really hard trying to fix it, over two hours in the heat, towed 25km with Steve and a whole day with our mechanic Evan. We thought we’d solved the problem and managed to take the victory on SS6. That was a huge deal for me, it’s a big, big win and the whole team was so stoked afterward. However, our electrical gremlins returned and to this point in time we still aren’t sure what happened. I really owe a big thanks to everyone who helped me this week.”