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Ivan Cervantes |
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CERVANTES leader… During the offseason, numerous riders as David KNIGHT (GB – Honda) or
Antoine MEO (F – KTM) expressed their will to win this 2nd Mika Ahola “Brave
One” Trophy. And current winner Christophe NAMBOTIN (F – KTM), was decided
to defend his belt. As last year at the same date, “El Torito” Ivan CERVANTES (E – KTM) is the very first leader of the Trophy with 63 points, thanks to his regularity and some ease in these track type (4/3/3/1). But the surprise of this start of the season Alex SALVINI (I – HM Honda), is not so far from him. Indeed, only 1 point separates the Spanish to the Italian who surprised all the observers. Behind them, the Husaberg rider Pierre-Alexandre RENET (winner on Saturday in Chile and Argentina) is still threating them just like Antoine MEO, David KNIGHT and Johnny AUBERT (F – KTM)… 2012 Trophy’s winner, Christophe NAMBOTIN (F – KTM) had some difficulties in the Enduro Tests of Cerro La Virgen (Talca) and Ullum (San Juan) and he is only 10th with 22 points… But it is just the start of the season and everything remains to be done. All those riders will meet again on the 11th and 12th of May in Puerto Lumbreras (Spain) and the 18th and 19th of May in Torres Vedras (Portugal) for the Mika Ahola “Brave One” Trophy, where they will again battle it out in memory of the great champion. Standing: 1. Ivan CERVANTES (E) 63pts ; 2. Alex SALVINI (I) 62pts ; 3. Pierre-Alexandre RENET (F) 58pts ; 4. Antoine MEO (F) 53pts ; 5. David KNIGHT (GB) 48pts ; 6. Johnny AUBERT (F) 48pts ; 7. Juha SALMINEN (SF) 30pts; 8. Matti SEISTOLA (SF) 26pts; 9. Joakim LJUNGGREN (S) 24pts; 10. Christophe NAMBOTIN (F) 22pts.
The KTM Enduro Factory Team in 2013 welcomes the return of one of its most popular and successful riders, Iván Cervantes of Spain. Cervantes, who rode with KTM from 2002 to 2010 before having a brief foray with another team, has a string of world championship and Spanish national titles to his name. He returns to the Orange factory team to contest the E2 class alongside Johnny Aubert of France as this is the only class in World Championship Enduro where he has not won the title. Iván will ride the KTM 350 EXC in the 2013 season. Factory team boss Fabio Farioli said the return of Cervantes was a very welcome move. “Iván was born into the sport with KTM. He enjoyed a great deal of success while riding with us over a very long period. It was natural that he wanted to experience a change and race with a Spanish team but we were looking for a top rider for next season and we think he can win again. He has the capacity and with the KTM 350 EXC we will give him the power to do so.” Farioli also confirmed that Cristobal Guerrero, who races in E2 last season will join KTM’s world champion Antoine Meo in E1 in 2013 while Christophe Nambotin, the title holder, will contest the E3 class. “We will also have several KTM-supported riders in E3,” Farioli said. Facts and Figures
The Gas Gas rider came within one position of the overall victory in E2. Reis was third in E1 and a spark plug forced Figueras to retire in E3. The town of Lalin (Pontevedra) hosted this weekend's fifth round of the Spanish Enduro championship, a two-day event that finished the first half of the season before the summer break. After a race start dominated by poor weather and a particularly tough route, Ivan Cervantes on Saturday finished in second place in the Enduro 2 and repeated this same position in the classification Scratch absolute. The GasGas rider at all times fought to contest the leadership of Christopher Guerrero, although complications of the terrain and the onset of rain made it difficult. In the small category (Enduro 1) the Portuguese rider Gonçalo Reis maintained an a hand to hand battle with his main rivals this season, Santolino Lorenzo and Victor Guerrero. Finally ending up occupying the third step of the podium, and like Ivan expressed his desire to strive to improve on Sunday. On Saturday luck was not with Jordi Figueras, when he was affected by a problem with a spark plug which led to his eventual withdrawal from the race. The Girona rider was having a very good race, but the fracture of the ground electrode on the spark plug of his EC 300 ended up affecting the engine and he was forced to abandon the race. Ivan Cervantes “It was a pretty tough day with a rally hard, intermittent rain and an eight-hour race in which we had almost no time to rest. The special test were nice, although the Extreme was a mousetrap, and with terrain that is complicated enough every time it rained in the other two. Overall it went pretty well, because we have been close to Christopher and sometimes we were ahead of him. The pity is that I have had a fall in a time trial, following which has complicated a little the chance of victory. I hope to get a little better tomorrow and be able to fight for the win." Cervantes gets the victory in Lalín and Reis was second in E1 A great second day allowed the Gas Gas rider to win the Scratch and E2. Figueras finished fourth in E3. The second day of Enduro Lalín (Sunday) had Ivan Cervantes starring, who won with clarity in the classification Scratch and Enduro 2, and to achieve the absolute triumph in the computation of the two race days. After Saturday's fight with Christopher Guerrero left in him on the second step of the podium, the GasGas rider started with the conviction to enhance his performance of the previous day and was unstoppable from the first special test of the day. After this first good result, alternatives to address the classification was consistent with his arch rival until, in the last step in the Extreme, the genius of Cervantes allowed him to go 23 seconds ahead of Guerrero. With this advantage, the last two day's time trial became a process that allowed the Gas Gas team leader to arrive more than 18 seconds ahead. With this difference, the victory in the amount of time between the two days also belonged to the rider from Cambrils.
After the bad luck that accompanied him on Saturday, many things came out right for Jordi Figueras. The Girona rider recovered from the forced abandonment yesterday after breaking the electrode of a spark plug and managed to finish in fourth place in Enduro 3. Ivan Cervantes “Yesterday things went pretty well, but we lacked that extra confidence given to us being able to win the first special of the day. After this first positive point, the race has become a head to head with Guerrero until the last step for the Extreme. At that point I decided to risk and directly attack a complicated area of stones and he chose not to use the easy option and do the same as me. The bet has left us perfect because he lost 23 seconds, which ended up giving us the absolute triumph. Today everything has well and we leave this race in good spirits. The championship is virtually tied with Cristobal and now a few days of relaxation and physical recovery before the GP of Italy, as in the past month and a half we have not had one day off and this was beginning to be felt”.
The Gas Gas rider was first and second in the Andalusian race. Gonçalo Reis was second in E1 and Jordi Figueras third in E3. The fourth round of the Spanish Enduro Championship this past weekend revealed two types of emotions in Valverde del Camino (Huelva) in a two-day race in which Ivan Cervantes and his Gas Gas EC 450F were again at the top of the podium. The popular Andalusian event was marked by changing weather conditions that complicated the course of the special test ‘valverdeñas’, mainly in the day on Saturday, when Ivan first achieved the lead position in E2 and the Scratch. Although the evidence was disputed on terrain very suitable and well known by his main rival, Cristóbal Guerrero, Cervantes gave everything during the first day of competition, in which the rain hindered the work of the riders. Besides Ivan, Gonçalo Reis also excelled in E1 and was second, while Jordi Figueras took another step forward to finish third in E3. For Sunday, a couple of errors in the Enduro Test and the mythical Extreme nature of the “Three holm-oaks” Cervantes was weighed down from the early stages of the race, but his honor allowed him to fight to the end for a win on this occasion and leads Guerrero. Reis was third in the smaller class, while Figueras was fourth and came within one step of the podium. Thanks to these results, Ivan remains close Guerrero in the overall standings, waiting until the Spanish Championship returns to life on April 29th in Bassella (Lleida). Ivan Cervantes “It was a good weekend. Not expecting to win on Saturday, because Cristobal is very familiar with this race, but each time the bike is better and everything went perfect. Too bad a couple of small mistakes on Sunday, as this is the way of the World Championship and anything can make you lose a race. Still, we in the fight and I am very satisfied”. Gonçalo Reis “Every time I feel better with the bike and I have better feelings. It gives me great confidence and allows me to ride very comfortable. The best example is that in a race as difficult as this, there are things we have done very well. Everything worked great and I'm really happy with how it went this weekend”. Jordi Figueras “I am very happy. Every time I feel better and the fourth place means that we are moving in the right direction. This weekend our times were very close to the best and I think we can improve even more”.
A win and a third in Argentina expands the lead for Cervantes in E2. Danny McCanney, fourth in EJ. The city of San Juan, in western Argentina, was the scene this weekend for the second race of the Enduro World Championship (EWC) and the first World Championship victory for Ivan Cervantes with Gas Gas. After the two second places achieved in Chile a week earlier that earned him the lead in the Enduro 2 classification, Ivan not only retained his consistency but strengthened his position by the win on Saturday and a third place on Sunday. After starting the Grand Prix of Argentina struggling closely with Juha Salminen, a mechanical problem delayed the Finn and allowed Cervantes to deal a blow to the classification by beating Cristobal Guerrero by 27 seconds and Johnny Aubert by more than 38. After this great victory the first day, the second day had a similar line, with a close competition with Ivan following Salminen until on the final special test, and struggling to try to get the win again, a small error led the Gas Gas rider to give second place to Guerrero by only 0.33 of a second. However, Ivan has expanded his lead going into the third round of the season, the GP of Euskadi, to be held on the 5th and 6th of May. Moreover, in Enduro Junior, Danny McCanney continues to adapt well to the World Championship and fighting for his place on the podium, on Saturday and Sunday finishing fourth a fifth place respectively. Finally, Jordi Figueras holds his own in E3, finishing tenth on the first day and eleventh on Sunday. Ivan Cervantes “I’ve been waiting for this moment and struggling to achieve this success and it has finally arrived. I am very happy for me and the entire team. The effort of their work have now been given the reward and last week we had a great race in Chile, this week we still have done better. This will be a very complicated year and each day that passes I am more convinced to maintain the schedule that we have determined, so we cannot relax. Plus Saturday's win, I think we can be pleased by the pace we have and because, even having left an open track, this weekend we have proven to be very consistent. Now it is time to go back home and maximize the time to take stock of what we can further improve as the season is long and we have not done anything yet".
After dominating much of the race, a severe blow left Ivan very confused, but he finished third in E2. Reis was second in E1 and McCanney fourth in E3. The Spanish Enduro Championship played out this weekend in Antas (Almeria). The second race of the season was held in especially harsh conditions because of the very dry ground. It was a dusty and remarkably long and tiring rally. Still, Gas Gas riders shone in all categories, highlighting a very combative Ivan Cervantes who dominated the standings in E2 and Scratch until a hard fall where he lost over one minute of time and then left very confused. As is usual for him, Ivan asserted his experience on a special long and complicated test, and stood in front of men like Cristobal Guerrero, Taddy Blazusiak or Joakim Ljuggren. However, a stone hidden in the dust took him to the ground in the middle of the special Extreme test at the end of the second round of the rally, which took him out of the battle for victory. Affected by a severe headache and some vision problems, he overcame the test and was third in E2 after Guerrero and Blazusiak and seventh overall. Gonçalo Reis had much better results in E1. The Portuguese rider rode an almost perfect race on his EC250F and finished second after Lorenzo Santolino and ahead of Victor Guerrero after getting some of the best records in his class. In E3 Danny McCanney surprised again on terrain quite unknown to him and was fourth in E3, just ahead of the great Jordi Figueras again demonstrating his potential. Ivan Cervantes "It was a shame the fall, because I felt very well and was getting very good times, but there was a stone that I have not seen and suddenly I was flying and hitting the ground. I finished sore and did not see very well, but I hope to be a hundred percent in Chile". Gonçalo Reis "I’m very happy with how it went this weekend and I have to thank the whole team. They have done a great job with the bike and I felt very well despite being a very tough race and hard. I hope to repeat more races well and fight even to improve this result". Jordi Figueras "We fought very hard and it was worth it because the race was quite complicated and it was important to get it right with a good feeling of Chile. Now we are in a position more in line with my expectations, but we must continue to do our best work to improve even more".
A fall in qualifying conditioned Cervantes the entire race. Dougie Lampkin fought in a very fast track and not favorable to his technique. Barcelona closed on Sunday the World Championship Super Enduro with one of the best races on the calendar for Gas Gas Team. Ivan Cervantes stayed within three points of the podium thanks to all fourth and second place, while Dougie Lampkin showed their honour and class on a unfavorable track to his riding. The race didn't start too well for Ivan, as in the qualifying round he suffered a fall that left battered her EC 250 F and entered into the last position on the grid, forcing him to star in a difficult comeback in the first final to finish the seventh. Looking ahead to the second final, with reversed starting positions, had a great race, finishing fourth and defending the third place until the last minutes against Taddy Blazusiak. Indeed, the new World Champion was again the main rival of the Gas Gas rider in the third race, which Blazusiak would take the win against a Cervantes grown with its audience. For its part, Lampkin suffered more than expected because of an extremely fast track, which could exploit bit his entire technique. Still defended well and showed his class to give Ivan his best grid position so he could fight for the podium in the third race. Ivan and the rest of the Gas Gas Team returns to activity next weekend at the Bassella Race 1, while Dougie will play a new edition of the classic Italian extreme Hell's Gate on February 18th. Ivan Cervantes "I'm pretty happy about how things went at the end and even more after all the problems we had here last year. This is a very special race and I needed to do well. The truth is that we don't start on the right foot and the fall in qualifying and poor grid position things very complicated, but I could come back and end up fighting for the podium. I have to acknowledge the support of all friends and teamates and specially to Dougie after he give up for me her grid place in the third race. It's a shame not to have entered the podium all, but we leave with very good sensations". Dougie Lampkin "It was a difficult race because the track was really fast, too much for me, and I struggled to find rhythm. Still, it has been fine and I'm pleased because it was my first race with the new bike, we haven't had any problems, the feeling was very good and I enjoy it".  Ivan
takes a step ahead in Lodz but misses the podium
After finishing 3rd in one final, Cervantes fell twice and was finally deprived from the honor positions. The Polish city of Lodz held last weekend the 2nd round of the Super Enduro World Championship. It was also the debut of the Atlas Arena as the venue for one of the most intense races of the last seasons. Together with the local idol and lead rider of the event, Taddy Blazusiak and the British Johnny Walker, Ivan Cervantes was one of the main figures of the race. However luck wasn’t on his side in the 3rd and definitive final. Ivan could get rid of the bad taste that left the opening round in Genoa by fighting for the victory with Blazusiak and Walker in the first final. In spite of the great triple fight he finally could only classify 3rd. The second race was somewhat less fruitful and the starting grid being formed in the reverse order of the previous classification penalized the start of the Gas Gas rider. Despite this fact, Cervantes made a good race and finished 5th. Trouble arrived in the third and final race, when he fell and lost some time when was fighting for the 3rd place. Further on he was held back by a second incident which sent him back to the 7th position and finished with his podium options. Nevertheless, he moves up two positions in the Championship and is now at only six points from moving up two more positions and being 5th in the General Standing. Dougie Lampkin could not ride at his best after the injury suffered in Italy two weeks ago and he classified 10th at the end of the weekend. On his side, Xavi León got some points in the three races and was finally14th. The Super Enduro World Championship will conclude with three new races in Barcelona next 5th of February. Iván Cervantes "I liked the track a lot this time. I felt comfortable and the classifying rounds turned up really well. The best proof is the first final. The start was great; I was third in spite of a slight fell. In the second race, despite going with the reverse grid, was also fairly good; but in the third I knew I had to finish in front of Joakim Ljunggren and Xavi Galindo to be in the podium and I fell when trying to pass Ljunggren right at the start.. From then on everything went wrong because I fell again and half of the riders passed me. It was a pity but I’m happy because we stood up to the rivals and we have proved to be very competitive. We are now a step beyond and I’m satisfied with the 3rd place in the first final. It could have been better by finishing in the podium but this is not always possible. We’re now focused on Barcelona because the bike works really fine and we have a good pace, so I expect to close the 6 points gap that there is between me and the 5th position of the General Standing". |
Iván
Cervantes returns to ‘spiritual home’ - the KTM Enduro Factory Team
Second
place for Cervantes on the first day of Lalin Spanish Enduro
championship
Who
also had a great performance on Sunday was Gonçalo Reis in E1. The Portuguese
rider became more regular in his category and approaches the lead after having
managed to be second after Victor Guerrero then clearly managed to finish in
fourth place in Enduro 3 to overcome his arch rival, Lorenzo Santolino.
Cervantes
returns to the top of the podium in Valverde
One
fall away from victory for Ivan Cervantes in Almeria
