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All content © Bob MuIIins |
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A strong contingent of British riders traveled to Helsinki for the 3rd round of the FIM SuperEnduro GP of Finland. In the Prestige class Daivd Knight, Jonny Walker Paul Bolton and Danny McCanney challenged the dominances of Poland's Taddy Blazusiak although the Knighter was hampered by a case of Bradford Man Flu that he collected - along with the winner's trophy - last weekend at Tong. Sherco Rookies Jon Hunt and Jake Subachus joined Jack Edmondson, Owain and Gethin Humphreys in the Juniorrs, Day 2 began with the Prestige riders taking to the floor. They were divided into 2 groups and true to form Jonny Walker set the fastest time in both Group A Free Practice sessions, Mario Roman was the quickest in Group B and in the Timed Qualifying heat he was 12 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed rider Paul Bolton. In the mid morning the Juniors were given a 4 lap warm up session before being sent back to the pits to cool down again. The Last Chance heat was a duel between Toni Eriksson and Aurelien Addesso with Ericksson taking the final place on the Final grid. The top 16 then embarked on the all important Timed Practice to establish their starting positions. Cody Webb set the best time on his 3rd lap drawing Taddy Blazusiak along behind him. Danny McCanney has been dogged by small mistakes in the SuperEnduro arena but he put everything together to show his real potential and he set the 3rd fastest time on lap 5. David Knight did enough to finish 7th. Jonny Walker started quickly but finished in 9th. He was disappointed not to make the front row and to have missed the Superpole which normally earns him bonus points. Cody Webb won the Superpole - ahead of Alfredo Gomez and Taddy Blazusiak - despite losing use of his front brake. Danny McCanney recorded his best SP result with a 4th. David Knight was 5th, Taylor Robert 6th, Mario Roman 7th and Kyle Redmond 8th.
The first Prestige Race was a debut win for Cody Webb. Taddy Blazusiak was 2nd with David Knight coughing and sneezing all over his rear mudguard after coming back from an early crash. Jonny Walker was 4th, Alfredo Gomez 5th, Danny McCanney 6th and Paul Bolton 7th. In the 2nd Junior race Jon Hunt grabbed to holeshot and held on to the lead until Andreas Linusson got passed him in the matrix. Jack Edmondson improved to 4th as did the Humphreys boys with Gethin in 5th and Owain in 7th. Jon Hunt in 11th was well inside the classification and he was rewarded with his first 5 World Championship points Jonny Walker took advantage of the Topsy Turvy Prestige 2nd Race start to establish an unassailable lead. By the halfway stage David Knight had moved up into 2nd and Taddy was 3rd which was the finishing order. Linusson and Tremaine led off the Juniors 3rd and Final Heat. Wade Young was 3rd. Manuel Lettenbichler 4th, Gethin Humphreys 5th and Jack Edmondson 6th. Finland was a clean sweep for Sweden's Linusson and he took the series lead. With Cody Webb and Jonny Walker both winning heats, the final race was especially important to series leader Taddy Blazusiak and he immediately grasped the initiative. The initiative appeared to be somewhere on David Knight's KTM and Taddy did his best to dislodge it in the rock section but he only took out a brake lever. Danny McCanney attacked the tyre jumps like they were the sand dunes of his home track in the Isle of Man. At the halfway stage he was running in 2nd but the consistency of Cody Webb, Jonny Walker and David Knight pulled him back down to earth. Taddy won the heat with a hard push past Cody Webb in the final rock garden, Jonny Walker 3rd and David Knight was 4th.
Cody Webb said he felt confidence and had enjoyed the ricing. “The track was kind of similar to American style, although not so prepped between motos, and I used that to my advantage, as a lot of guys were making mistakes. That’s been me the last few races, and I finally put it together for a good result. I had Taddy there at the finish, and then into the last corner I left a line open and got punted. I can’t be mad at him, and it’s good for him to get the overall, but there’s even more fight for me coming into the races in Brazil and Mexico.” Jonny Walker, who picked up a 4-1-3 result said he was happy to be on the podium especially after two starts from the second row. “I can’t complain too much as we’re all still close on points. Cody has maybe pulled a few points on me, but I’ll keep pushing for the next round. In qualifying for my first fast lap I caught David and that messed my lap up, then the second good one I stalled it in the rocks, and after that I just couldn’t get a clean lap with the people I caught up with.” Alfredo Gomez: “I feel like my speed was good, and my lap times were good, but I made too many stupid mistakes. I made one big mistake in each of the three finals, and that was enough to stop me getting batter results. I’m not sure if I had some small losses of concentration, but anyway it was my mistakes and without them I know my result could have been better. Aside from my mistakes I felt really good and enjoyed the track and the racing. I hope that at the next races I will be able to remove these mistakes and get onto the podium.” Danny McCanney: “The most important thing for me this weekend is the big improvement I’ve made over the first two rounds of the series. I felt a lot stronger in all races, and my results were a lot better. Things went especially well in the third final. I was in second and could see that I wasn’t far from the lead – I felt like I was either going to make a pass for the lead of get a comfortable second. But that’s when I made a mess of the logs, and that’s where things ended for me and I finished seventh. But like I said it was a big step in the right direction.” Jon Hunt: "After completing in my first ever SuperEnduro round in the beautiful city of Helsinki, Finland, I can only say what an hell of an experience it was. The surreal feeling of sitting in a room with the best riders in the whole of the world is one that will never leave me. Although I struggled with my self induced pressure I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. The track was a long, fast lap with a very tricky matrix, catching out every rider (even the greats). This amazing experience could not have been possible without the support and help of MPS Sherco and MRS Sherco. They supplied me with a great bike out there and all of best equipment for the job, so I simply had to turn up and ride. These are the type of people that enjoy helping others. Thanks very much to MRS and Mick Seward from myself and the rest of the Hunt family for this once in a lifetime opportunity. The eyes have been opened, the notes have been taken and the rest of 2015 will be a very exciting year! The Maxxis FIM SuperEnduro World Championship continues with round four in Guadalajara, Mexico on February 21.
The 3rd round of the FIM SuperEnduro GP of Finland in Helsinki was ran over 2 days. Day 1 was primarily taken up by the Women's Race and Juniors Practice. Emma Bristow and Jane Daniels were podium contenders in the small Women's class and in the 2nd of 2 round either could clinch the title. In the Woman's free practice, Sandra Gomez started quickly with the fastest time in the first of her 3 laps. Jane Daniels was 2nd, Emma Bristow 3rd and Sanna Karkkainen 4th. In Timed Practice, Emma was the only rider to complete 4 laps to lead the grid ahead of Gomez, Daniels and Karkkainen. In the Juniors Free Practice Andreas Linusson set the fastest time, Series leader Ty Tremaine was 2nd and Jack Edmondson was 3rd. Gethin and Owain Humphreys were 6th and 7th, Jon Hunt made a promising start in 8th. Jake Subachus was 12th and Wade Young took the scenic route and finished 13th. Germany's Tim Appolle clocked the fastest lap in the Junior Time Practice. Andreas Linusson was 2nd, Ty Tremaine 3rd, Wade Young 4th and Jack Edmondson was the highest placed British rider in 5th - half a second ahead of Gethin Humphreys. In the first Woman's Race local rider Sanna Karkkainen took the holeshot in front of her home crowd but she was quickly passed by Sandra Gomez despite nursing an injured ankle. Emma Bristow started at the back but she pushed her way to the front and won by 27 seconds from Gomez. With Emma only requiring a 4th in the final race to take the Championship, the result looked like a formality until she crashed on the first corner and Sandra Gomez took her first SuperEnduro win but Emma was not to be denied and she took the runner up step on the podium and the Women's Championship.
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While the Prestige class prepared for the main event the Juniors
embarked on their first race. Ty Tremaine took an early lead but Andreas
Linusson overtook him on the last lap to win despite a heavy crash in the
matrix. Manuel Lettenbichler was 3rd, Wade
Young 4th and Jack Edmondson 5th. 
