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Enduro World Championship Final

Impressive Start !

The final round of the 2016 Enduro World Championship rolled into Cahors in France this weekend. Didier Valade and the Cahors Trial Club made the most of the Super Test with a trials and a mountain bike show, a DJ and a capacity of around 8 000 spectators! at the Commercial Area of Pradines were rewarded with some very exciting racing.

Mathias Bellino (Rockstar Husqvarna – 1'49''10) set the fastest Enduro GP time and fellow Frenchman Loic Larrieu (Yamaha – 1'49''11) was runner up. Taylor Robert (USA) was 3rd. British riders Nathan Watson (KTM) and Steve Holcombe (Beta) started well in 6th and 10th. Coming back from injury Jamie McCanney {Yamaha) was 22nd and Danny McCanney (Rockstar Husqvarna) was 35th. 

Jeremy Carpentier  (Honda) won the Junior class by setting the best overall time on the night ahead of Josep Garcia (Husqvarna) and Brad Freeman (Colwyn Bay KTM} . Josh Gotts (TM) was 14th. Luke Flack 25th (Sherco} and Jake Subachus (Sherco)  32nd. Lee Sealey (Yamaha) posted the best Youth time and Dan Mundell {KTM} did well to finish 8th in his EWC debut. With the title sewn up Jack Edmondson (KTM) made a slow start. Jane Daniels (Husqvarna) was runner up to Laia Sanz (KTM) in the Women's class. The Super Test of the GP AMV of France was the most spectacular of 2016 and it also broke the record of spectators.

Saturday

The conditions were very dry and dusty. The first test of the day was the Extreme. Matthias Bellino took a 3 second lead over Matthew Phillips with Alex Salvini in 3rd and Steve Holcombe 4th. Danny McCanney was 12th and Nathan Watson was 13th but Jamie McCanney had a problem and he dropped to 35th. Nathan Watson collected a 5 minute time penalty for starting late after a problem with his padlock in the parc ferme. Brad Freeman was the fastest Junior but it was close with Garcia and Carpentier within half a second. Jack Edmondson was the quickest in the Youth class ahead of Lee Sealey. Dan Mundell was 18th - only 7 seconds off the pace. 

The riders moved on to the Enduro test. Matthias Bellino extended his lead by another 3 second. Steve Holcombe was 6th. Nathan Watson was 8th and Jamie McCanney recovered to finish 10th. Danny McCanney was 18th. Josep Garcia won the test and Brad Freeman finished 5th. Alexis Beaud was the quickest in the Youth class - half a second ahead of Jack Edmondson. 

Matthias Bellino was 4th on the first MX test but he still finished the first lap with a 10 second lead over Taylor Robert. Steve Holcombe was 7th and he led the E3 class. Jamie McCanney was was 10th and Danny McCanney was 24th. . Josep Garcia led the Juniors with Brad Freeman in 5th. Josh Gotts was 22nd. Jake Subachus 25th and Luke Flack 31st. Thomas Dubost topped the Youths with Jack Edmondson 4th, Lee Sealey 6th and Dan Mundell 13th. Laia Sanz was the best Woman and Jane Daniels was runner up. 

Nathan Watson found the right gears on his 2nd Extreme test to finish runner to Matthias Bellino who extended his lead to 14 seconds over Taylor Robert. The pattern of the second lap was the same as lap one with Matthias Bellino taking the Extreme and Enduro tests before Loic Larrieu shone on the MX track. 

 At the end of the 2nd lap Bellino had maintained his lead over Taylor Robert by 13 seconds. Steve Holcombe in 6th still led to E3 class by 5 seconds from Manuel Monni. Jamie McCanney was 13th and Danny McCanney was 19th. Giacomo Redondi succeeded to the top of the Junior class. Brad Freeman was 4th, Josh Gotts 23rd, Luke Flack 28th and Jake Subachus 29th. The top 3 Youth were all French. Thomas Dubost was 1st, Valerian Debaud 2nd and Isaac Devoulx 3rd. Jack Edmondson was 4th and Lee Sealey 7th. With a late run Maria Franke took the Women's class. Laia Sanz was runner up and Jane Daniels was 3rd.

Despite his disappointing start to the day Nathan Watson did not lose heart and he set the fastest time on the 3rd Extreme test. The British drive continued with Steve Holcombe and Nathan Watson taking 1st and 2nd on the last Enduro test. 

Matthias Bellino recorded his 4th win of the 2016 season. "It was a perfect day for me. After winning the Super Test last night I had a great start, topping the overall standings in the opening two tests,” explained Mathias. "That helped create a bit of a gap to the rest of the field, so I spent the rest of the day trying to make sure I stayed on top. I'm really happy with the overall win today and even happier it came in front of my home crowd. The French fans were incredible today".

Close behind Bellino was Taylor Robert and Loic Larrieu was 3rd. Nathan Watson's determination paid off when his 5 minute penalty was over turned and he was classified 4th overall and E1 class winner. Eero Remes was the E1 runner and Jamie McCanney back to form with a 3rd. Danny McCanney was 7th. Giacomo Redondi led home the Juniors ahead of Josep Garcia and Albin Elowson, Brad Freeman was 4th. Josh Gotts 19th. Jake Subachus 22nd and Luke Flack 23rd. The top 3 French Youths shuffled . Valerian Debaud was 1st, Thomas Dubost 2nd and Isaac Devoulx 3rd. Jack Edmondson was 4th while Lee Sealey had a poor finished and dropped to 10th. Dan Mundell picked up a couple of points in his first WEC which he will certainly build on. With a late run Maria Franke took the Women's class. Laia Sanz was runner up and Jane Daniels was 3rd.

Steve Holcombe crossed the finishing line in 7th to take the E3 World Championship title with a round in hand. "Winning this title is amazing, the perfect end to what has been an incredible year for me,” commented a delighted Holcombe at the end of the day. "It's been an anxious time running up to this event. I felt good today but not exactly at the level I've been riding all year. It was close with Manuel Monni today and Johnny Aubert had a great ride considering his injured shoulder. They kept me on my toes but I did enough to become world champion, which feels amazing.”

Sunday

The 2016 EnduroGP championship drew to a close in spectacular style today in Cahors where Tasmanian Matt Phillips (Sherco) put the finishing touches to his incredible season and secured both the EnduroGP (overall) and Enduro 2 World Championship titles at the AMV GP of France.

Just as on day one riders faced blisteringly hot temperatures and extremely dry and dusty conditions as the 2016 EnduroGP series signed off in style. Joining Phillips as world champions were Finn Eero Remes (TM) who kept his cool to claim a second consecutive Enduro 1 World Championship while Laia Sanz (KTM) claimed the Woman's title.

But the day's fastest riders was American Taylor Robert (KTM) who brought his first season of EnduroGP competition to a close in impressive style, topping the EnduroGP results by close to eight seconds from Frenchman Loic Larrieu (Yamaha). Despite winning just two of the day's special tests Taylor's consistency saw him hold firm at the top of the class while Nathan Watson (KTM) kept Larrieu honest to eventually finish just seven seconds behind in third. "To get the overall win feels great. I couldn't have thought of a better way to end my season,” admitted Taylor. "At the beginning of the summer I had a few rough races so it means a lot to come back and get an overall win. Finishing second overall yesterday I knew I could get the win today. I was battling all-day long with Larrieu and was so nervous coming into the final test with just five seconds separating us. I let it all hang out and got the win.” Next up in the overall EnduroGP class was Matt Phillips, who managed to claim two tests wins on his way to the EnduroGP title. Fifth having started the day in winning form was Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna) with Italian Davide Guarneri (Honda) seventh and Danny McCanney (Husqvarna) rounding out the top eight.

Nathan Watson was the rider at the top of the Enduro 1 class results on the final day of the championship, a well-deserved reward that perfectly reflects the incredible season the rookie enduro rider has had in 2016. But knowing that the E1 title was within his grasp Finland's Eero Remes took no chances and finished third. "I really enjoyed this GP,” explained Watson. "I did a good first lap, which helped create a bit of a gap. Then on lap two I felt the pressure and ended up making a couple of mistakes. Fortunately, I did a really good last lap ending up third overall and with one more victory in Enduro 1. I did all I could in terms of the championship, winning both days, but obviously Remes had a great season and deserves to be champion.” With Watson winning the day in E1 and Remes claiming the title with his third place result it was Danny McCanney who placed second. But the rider with the biggest smile on his face was title winner Eero Remes. "Winning the title was my goal today, so I wasn't too worried about winning the class. I had a good day and it's great to win the E1 title again. It's been a great season for TM so to be able to give them another title is fantastic.”

In the Enduro 3 class it was World Champion Steve Holcombe (Beta) who set the pace, despite a fall mid way through the day. Never placing lower than second in class and topping six of the day's special tests the Brit placed ahead of French duo Antoine Basset (KTM) and Jeremy Joly (KTM). "Winning the E3 title was what this GP was all about for me, so it was hard to push as hard as I could today knowing that I'd achieved what I set out to do yesterday,” explained Steve. "I didn't have anything for the guys in the overall results but it's great to end the year with a win in E3.”

Josep Garcia (Husqvarna) was the rider to beat on day two in the Enduro Junior class, bringing Junior class champion Giacomo Redondi's (Honda) near season-long winning streak to an end. Topping each and every other day of the championship Redondi fell just 6.39 seconds short of the perfect season. Rounding out the Junior class podium was Swede Albin Elowson (Husqvarna).

Laia Sanz (KTM) ended her 2016 Enduro World Championship campaign in winning style, topping the Women's class on the final day of the series and in doing so becoming Enduro Women's World Champion. Second to enduro rookie Maria Franke (KTM) on day one, Sanz went all out on day two and following a day-long battle with her German rival managed to finish five seconds ahead to clinch yet another FIM world title. "I'm really happy I won this championship,” enthused Laia. "It's been a difficult year for me and I had to dig deep to come out on top. Competition in our class keeps getting stronger. After the opening round in Finland I knew I had to work hard if I wanted to keep my chances for the title alive. I managed to stay strong mentally and kept fighting for the win every time out. This weekend I had a great battle with Maria Franke. She got the best of me on day one, but I pushed a lot and managed to secure the win today.”

Just as on day one the 125cc Youth class saw three French riders fill the podium, with World Champion Jack Edmondson (KTM) fourth. Enric Francisco (KTM) battled his was to the top of the podium, edging out countryman Thomas Dubost (KTM) by 3.42 seconds. Third went to Isaac Devoulx (Husqvarna).

Results