Jarvis takes second at Minas Riders Hard Enduro
By Team TMX on 21st Apr 16
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racings Graham Jarvis has finished second overall at the first running of the Minas Riders Hard Enduro Rally held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Starting the event as favourite for victory together with eventual winner Alfredo Gomez, Jarvis remained in the hunt for the win right up until the closing stages of the fourth and final day.
On day one Jarvis lead the field of riders out onto the fresh tracks in and around Belo Horizonte as others pushed hard to catch him. With the day ending with a city prologue Graham opted to ‘ride steadily' and ended the day five minutes behind Spaniard Gomez.
Jarvis turned up the heat on day two, taking the win by two minutes from Gomez at the end of a 160-kilometre day. Second to start Graham came close to drowning his bike but his efforts saw him make significant inroads into Gomez' lead.
Day three was a demanding one, with all competitors battling their way back to Belo Horizonte from the overnight stopover in Oro Preto. First to start as he had on day one, Jarvis remained out front up until the mid-way point of the day. Caught by Gomez, the experienced Husqvarna star nevertheless made it to the top of the day's ending hill climb first but ended the day in the runner-up position.
Giving the final day his all Jarvis' bid for victory was halted when he ran out of fuel. Fortunately receiving assistance from Austria's Lars Enockl he was able to make it to the finish and earn a well-deserved runner-up result.
Graham Jarvis: "It was always going to be tough to pull a victory out of the bag on the final today. But I'm pleased enough to end the Minas Riders in second overall. To be fair Alfredo has been riding well all week so he's earned this win. My week was a little mixed. On day one Alfredo pulled too much time on me and from then on it's been a bit of a battle to reel him back in. Winning day two was great, I rode well there but with some changes to the course on day three I lacked a few extra hard sections to claw back some more time. Day four was a bit unlucky for me. I understood that we were to ride this no help Gold zone twice, which I did, but I think I was mistaken. It resulted in me running out of fuel about 15 minutes from the finish line. Luckily, I'd earlier given Lars Enockl my wire cutters so when he came past he returned the favour by giving me some of his fuel to get me home. A big thanks to my mechanic Damien and all the team for their support this week.”
Results – Minas Riders 2016
1. Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 21:50:24
2. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 22:14:02
3. Paul Bolton (KTM) 22:30:02
4. Phillip Scolz (KTM) 22:30:44
5. Lars Enockl (KTM) 23:13:05
