Luck runs out at Hell’s Gate
By Jonny Walker on 22nd Feb 13
Its been a busy few weeks for me recently. As I write this (Monday) Im in Italy at the Farioli KTM race shop, chilling out a bit after the weekends Hells Gate.
I've had two races and a photo-shoot in seven days and thanks to getting the ‘runs' three days before Hell's Gate, I'm feeling pretty wiped out!
I was a bit peed off after the indoor in Barcelona.
Following a solid ride in Poland I really wanted to try and get another win and ride as hard as I could to try for the overall.
But running into the back of a fallen rider in the first final put an end to that for me.
One minute I was upright, the next I was on the floor wondering what the hell had just happened. Finishing 10th in that race pushed me off the overall podium.
I guess the rest of the night went pretty well. Taddy was awesome and David rode really well, too. I got a fourth and a third in the remaining two finals and felt like I rode pretty well.
The track was like riding on ice in places it was so slippery, but it was a cool event.
There's just one indoor left now, in France in a couple of weeks. I just hope I manage to keep myself out of trouble and get a good result to end the series.
I stayed in Spain for a few days after the indoor in Barcelona for the KTM Enduro Factory Team photo-shoot.
I took things easy on the Monday after the event and then spent a day and a half doing photos at Ivan Cervantes' place – which was cool.
What wasn't cool was getting the runs. Not being able to keep anything inside me for the two days leading up to Hell's Gate wasn't exactly the best preparation but there wasn't much I could do about it.
This year there was a load of snow at the event, which made the race a bit different to normal. As the 10th running of the event the organisers had moved things up a few notches, and there was a great turnout of riders.
There were not as many Brits as in the past but with Graham winning, myself placing
second and Ben Hemingway finishing fifth it was another good year for us.
Hell's Gate is always a tough race and this year, with my stomach problem, it was even harder.
I was pleased to win the morning race but I crashed so many times during the first two laps of the main race there was no way I was going to stay with Graham.
I did eventually manage to get into a decent rhythm but after pushing hard for a lap and a half I was exhausted.
I knew I couldn't ease off though because American Cody Webb wasn't too far behind.
Thankfully I managed to get to the finish and get the runner-up result but I wasn't in a good way.
I came around eventually but I've definitely felt better at the end of a race!
