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All content © Bob MuIIins | ||
 
The Gate is open The weather in Northern Italy on Saturday 16th February 2016 was unseasonably mild for the 13th Edition of the Hell's Gate Extreme Enduro. Heavy rain drowned Graham Jarvis' Husqvarna in 2015 but he put that behind himself as he led off the field at 7.00am for the 6 lap morning race. Lars Enockl finished 3rd in 2015 and he set the fastest times on the first 3 tests until he faded. 21 year old South African Wade Young only won one heat but he provisionally qualified quickest over the 6 heats ahead of Mario Roman and Lars Enockl. Diego Nicoletti in 4th was the best Italian rider and Graham Jarvis was 5th. The 3 hour main race began at 4.00 pm when the 30 qualifiers were flagged away by Fabio Fasola. Wade Young took full advantage of his pole position while Graham Jarvis staled on the line. There was a new format in 2016 with a long out loop and an Arena stage, Young was flying in the lead while Mario Roman's attempts to catch him wore the Spaniard down until - on the 3rd lap - Graham Jarvis moved up into 2nd place. At the end of the first hour the slowest 10 riders were eliminated and another 10 exited at the end of the 2nd hour. Not everyone was disappointed to see the axe fall. After two and a half hours the field was whittled down to 4 riders and the final drama moved to the Arena. Wade Young passed the “Gate” and took the win for Sherco, Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) was the runner up, Mario Roman (Husqvarna) was 3rd and Diego Nicoletti (Beta) pleased the home crowd with 4th.
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