|
|
||
All content © Bob MuIIi | |||
|
Enduro GP of Portugal The World Championship is back.
Zanardo Husqvarna’s Joe Wootton won the Akrapovic Supertest prologue to the Enduro GP of Portugal - opening round of the Borilli FIM Enduro World Championship - hosted by the city of fMarco de Canaveses. Joe was 1 second ahead of Brad Freeman (Beta) with Beta team mate Christophe Carlier in 3rd. Steve Holcombe was 10th, Jamie McCanney 12th, Danny McCanney 14th Jack Edmomdson 15th, Josh Gotts 28th and Alex Snow 41st, Dan Mundell in 18th was the Best Junior. Alex Waltonn was 27th and Jed Etchells 36th. In the Youth class Charlie Chater was 3rd, Harry Edmondson 4th, Sam Davies 9th and Alfie Webb 15th, Spain's Laia Sanz (GasGas) made a winning return to the Women's class. Jane Daniels was runner up, Nieve Holmes was 5th and Rosie Rowett was 9th. Fraser Flockhart was 3rd in the Open class. No drama for Freeman on Day 1
Defending Champion Steve Holcombe made a shaky start to Day 1 dropping 42 seconds on the first cross test. He recovered by setting the fastest time on the Extreme while Jack Edmondson retired with mechanical problem. Strong contenders Alex Snow, Alex Salvini and Dan Mundell were injured. Brad Freeman had no dramas and he won the day. Steve Holcombe worked his way to within 35 seconds of the leader to take 2nd and Josep Garcia was 3rd, Brad said “It means a lot that one. I think we merited that one. We put in a lot of hard work in the pre-season and we came out swinging, Did a good first lap and kept it going all day. I am really happy and really happy for the people who helped me” Danny McCanney finished 8th, Jamie McCanney 11th and Joe Wootton 14th. In the Enduro1 class defending champion Andrea Verona (GasGas) scored maximum points. Davide Guarneri (Fantic) was 2nd and France’s Christophe Charlier (Beta) was 3rd. In Enduro 2 Steve Holcombe was the winner. Josep Garcia was 2nd and Wil Ruprecht was 3rd. Brad Freeman topped the Enduro 3 class. Spain’s Jaume Betriu (KTM) held off Danny McCanney (Sherco) to take 2nd. Jamie McCanney (Husqvarna) was fourth and France’s Antoine Basset (Beta) rounded out the top five. After a 3 year break Laia Sanz was straight back into pursuit of her sixth Enduro Women World title. Defending champion Jane Daniels (Fantic) was 2nd and Mireia Badia (GASGAS) was 3rd. “It felt perfect, but I wasn’t expecting a result quite as strong as this,” explained Sanz. “I think I was still asleep this morning, crashing and then struggling to get up to speed, but once I settled in, I had a good day. That was definitely a real enduro out there today – demanding tests that are rough and physical. I think tomorrow will be even harder!”# The Junior class was won by the TM-mounted Italian Lorenzo Macoritto with team mate Matteo Pavoni 2nd and Finland’s Roni Kytonen (Honda) completing the podium. Youth Harry Edmondson won a close battle with Sweden’s Albin Norrbin (Fantic) by six seconds after 73 minutes of timed racing, Kevin Cristino completed an exclusively Fantic podium in third. Day 2
On Day 2 rain blew in from the west and soaked the course. Josep Garcia made a good start in the slippery conditions but at the end of a long day Australian Wil Ruprecht achieved a career first GP win ahead of Brad Freeman and Steve Holcombe. Danny McCanney was 9th, Jamie McCanney 16th, Jack Edmondson 18th, Joe Wootton 21st, Alex Snow 28th and Josh Gotts 33rd. Wil said "It's a special one, the first. you probably can never compare it to anything else. I am still trying to come to terms with it. I am very proud of the way the whole team worked together. It was a big team effort today"' In the Juniors Matteo Pavoni was 1st, Roni Kytonen 2nd and Leo le Quere.3rd Jed Etchells 10th Alex Walton 28th Youth Albin Norrbin.1st, Harry Edmondson 2nd, Kevin Cristino 3rd, Charlie Chater 8th and Alfie Webb 14th Mireia Badia (GASGAS) improved to win the Women's class ahead of Jane Daniels (Fantic) and Laia Sanz 3rd. |
