Report: Red Bull 111 Megawatt
By TMX Archives on 21st Sep 16
Jonny Walker returned to the Hard Enduro series in style by securing victory at the Red Bull 111 Megawatt in Poland.
Narrowly defeated by Taddy Blazusiak at the inaugural running of the race back in 2014 before topping the results last year, Jonny again claimed the win at the end of a challenging and somewhat chaotic three-lap main event.
Walker's second Megawatt win certainly didn't come easily as the factory KTM rider finished less then three seconds ahead of Spain's Mario Roman at the end of the near three-hour race.
With Polish favourite Blazusiak setting the pace from the start, it was eventually South African Wade Young who joined Walker and Roman on the podium.
Heavy rain the night before the main race changed the event from what was expected to be a dry, dusty sprint into a wet, soft and in places sloppy battle of endurance, one that for the majority of the race any one of four riders seemingly could have won.
Despite getting the jump from the start Blazusiak's time out front didn't last long. Making a number of costly errors he lost time with the leading group of riders and was never able to real them back in.
For all riders the opening lap was the hardest. Faced with countless climbs up soft, virgin sand hills there was a significant amount of luck involved.
Despite their best efforts no rider was able to break away the front.
Lap one saw all of the lead riders do their fair share of pushing before the race really began on lap two.
Trying to open the course, Walker made his intension clear but lost precious time on the leaders when he found himself well and truly stuck on one of the long, sandy climbs.
"The rain certainly made things much harder than in previous years,” admitted Walker.
"I got a good start, followed Taddy for a while but decided to give things a go out front. It was tough on the big hills because the sand was so, so soft.
"There was nowhere to make time up and I got buried a few times and quickly realised that the race was going to be a bit of a lottery.
"I tried to save as much energy as possible once the race settled down.”
Lap two saw Husqvarna riders Mario Roman and Graham Jarvis both enjoy spells out front.
"With the track becoming a little more straightforward and with riders knowing where they were going the pace increased, with Jarvis looking like he might be the man to beat.
"Overall, the race went pretty well,” said Jarvis. "We knew this wasn't going to be like any other extreme enduro event.
"The rain made the terrain a bit tougher than last year, but still the pace was very fast in some places and during the opening lap it was kind of a struggle to find your way.
"Then after the second lap it was more like a motocross race. I made some good passes after the start and got the lead on lap two.
"I led for a while but then started losing ground on the faster bits.”
With Jarvis dropping back a little a three-way fight for the win developed with Mario Roman leading halfway around the final lap, ahead of Wade Young and Jonny Walker.
"We had a very intense battle with Jonny and Wade and it all went down to the very last hill,” said Roman.
"I got a great start but came together with some other riders in the first hill and we all crashed. It was very slippery in some parts.
"I pushed a lot in the soft sandy parts and made some good passes to lead for a while on the final lap.”
During the closing stages of the race Wade Young – who had set an impressive pace throughout the race – made a costly mistake, which dropped him out of contention for the win.
"I felt good starting the final lap and in many ways it was all about not making mistakes because it was difficult to make time up anywhere,” he said.
"I raced a 250 and I guess I could have done with the power of a 300, which I usually race. I made a mess of one hill coming into the finish and I lost sight of Jonny and Mario.”
Eventually it was Walker who arrived at the base of the final climb first, with a lead of some 100 metres on Roman. Second from the start, Jonny's attempts to make a break during the first lap came to nothing as he repeatedly found himself the first rider to attempt, and then get stuck on, many of the climbs.
"I eased my pace on the second lap to try and save some energy as I knew it would all be about the final lap,” he said.
"Together with Mario and Wade we had a good pace going, then I put my head down half way around the final lap. I knew I could either win or lose the race on the final hill – it was that kind of event.”
The final steep, soft and sandy final climb was very nearly Walker's undoing. First to attack the hill he made it just past three-quarters of the way up, forced to push the remaining meters.
Taking a slightly different line up the hill Roman rode to the top at the first time of asking but arrived at the top of the climb just as Walker crossed the finish. After close to three hours of exhausting racing less then three seconds separated the two riders.
"It was close, but I got the win so I'm made up,” said Walker.
"It's been great to be back racing. After so many months away from serious competition I was looking forward to this race and to win it is an awesome feeling.
"I'd have been happy with any result on the podium but the race went really well. The first lap was tough for all of us, then things settled down a little. Two out of three wins here isn't too bad.”
With just 20 seconds separating the top three Graham Jarvis eventually placed fourth only eight seconds behind Young.
Of the 18 official finishers three were Brits, with Andy Noakley coming home in 12th.
