Husqvarna riders battle through challenging Italian EnduroGP
By TMX Archives on 18th Jul 16
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team riders Mathias Bellino, Danny McCanney and Josep Garcia claimed Enduro 2, Enduro 1 and Enduro Junior class podium results at the GP of Italy, enjoying a positive end to the penultimate round of the Enduro World Championship series.
For Mathias Bellino the GP of Italy was largely a case of close but not quite close enough. Placing third in Enduro 2 on day one but missing the overall EnduroGP podium by less than half a second, on day two the Frenchman missed the Enduro 2 class win by less than two seconds.
Despite his relative disappointment Mathias rode well throughout the event with his day one performances in the slippery conditions a marked improvement over those in similar conditions at earlier rounds of the series. With just one round of the series remaining Mathias sits second in the Enduro 2 and fourth in the EnduroGP championship standings.
Like many riders Danny McCanney saw a crash filled opening enduro test have a very definite impact on his day one result. Losing significant time as a result of his spills the Manxman made a number of further mistakes to eventually place 10th. Starting day two in a much more positive way Danny remained mistake free throughout the day. Winning the extreme test on the second lap and remaining consistent he finished a strong third.
Pascal Rauchenecker endured two very different days in Italy. Dropping off a single-track trail while riding through a steep woodland section of the course, he was unable to return to the marked track and was forced to retire. On day two he set some impressive times on both the motocross and extreme tests to finish fourth behind teammate McCanney.
For Enduro Junior class rider Josep Garcia the Italian GP was a positive one. Despite starting day one with a crash in the opening enduro test and losing more than 30 seconds, the Spaniard fought back to end the day less than six seconds from the runner-up position. Pleased with his third place result, on day two he secured a well-deserved second place result.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team will return to action in France for the final round of the 2016 Enduro World Championship on September 10-11.
Mathias Bellino: "I can say that it has been a frustrating weekend for me. I made some small mistakes but I didn't crash, which was good on the first day because the conditions were incredibly slippery in the morning. I missed the overall podium by less than one second, so that was frustrating.
And then on day two I was less than two seconds from the top of the Enduro 2 podium. It's hard not to think about the small mistakes and what the results might have been. I felt like I was riding ok, which is positive. I hope to end the championship in this way.”
Danny McCanney: "Three crashes in the opening enduro test got my weekend off to the worst possible start. I lost so much time in that first test that I knew it would be rally hard to come back. Then I was too cautious in the enduro test on the second lap and it showed in my times. In general the day wasn't good at all.
But day two was much better – I started better and managed to keep pushing without mistakes all day. I felt a lot better and really enjoyed it. Even with a crash on the second enduro test my times were still good, so I'm really happy to finish on the podium in third.”
