Solid weekend at Enduro World Championship for Husqvarna Factory Racing
By Team TMX on 18th Apr 16
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racings Mathias Bellino remains well placed in the EnduroGP championship standings following round two of the Enduro World Championship in Portugal.
Second overall on day one following a strong day-long performance in truly challenging conditions, a mistake filled day two saw the Frenchman place ninth overall. After four days of competition Bellino sits second in the overall EnduroGP standings just five points form the class lead.
Just three seconds from the overall win on day one Bellino mastered the horrendously wet and muddy Portuguese conditions and looked set for a possible day win. But in being a little overly cautious on the day's closing extreme test he finished second overall and as runner-up in the Enduro 2 class.
Day two however wasn't to be a good one for the reigning Enduro 3 World Champion. Making numerous mistakes throughout the day, he was forced to push hard in order to improve on a 15th place overall position at the mid-way point of the day. Climbing to ninth overall and fifth in Enduro 2 he is now placed second in both the overall EnduroGP and Enduro 2 standings.
In the Enduro 1 class Danny McCanney delivered his best result of the championship so far finishing a close fourth on day two. Starting the Portuguese event by crashing heavily on the first day's opening enduro test, he battled his way to the end of the day to finish sixth. Finding his rhythm on day two, Danny showed his true speed. Less than 10 seconds from a podium finish he ended the GP pleased to have finally performed to his true potential following his return from injury.
Danny's teammate Pascal Rauchenecker also enjoyed a good second day. Forced to retire on day one, he then placed a strong fifth in Enduro 1 having finished as high as second on the event's extreme test.
Josep Garcia once again showed impressive speed in the Enduro Junior class. Finishing third on day one the young Spaniard lead the way for much of the day. Running into problems on the final extreme test he nevertheless took a well-deserved podium result. Winning the first special test of day two he was forced to retire with a mechanical issue.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team now head to Greece for round three of the 2016 Enduro World Championship on May 21-22.
Mathias Bellino: "It's been a mixed GP for me, but generally I'm happy. I know that if I'm going to challenge for the EnduroGP title I have to be consistent, so on day one I tried to make as few mistakes as possible. The special tests were destroyed so I pushed as hard as I could without taking any risks. I don't like muddy conditions so much so to finish second overall was pretty good. It was a good day and I was happy. But day two was different. I didn't get into my rhythm on the first enduro test and then made too many small mistakes. I don't think there were many tests where I didn't make mistakes. Not a great day but I was down in 15th half way through, so to finish ninth in the overall isn't too bad.”
Danny McCanney: "I hoped for better but I'm pretty pleased with things in general because I'm finally starting to ride like I know I can. Crashing and hurting my leg on the first enduro test on day one wasn't the start I'd hoped for. That detuned me for the whole day. I just couldn't get into a good rhythm after that. Day two started better and then things seemed to come together for me half way through the day. I started to feel like myself again and was only 10 seconds from the podium. I've taken a step in the right direction so I hope I can really challenge for the podium next time out in Greece.”
Pascal Rauchenecker: "I really wanted to do well on day two as I wasn't able to show anything on day one. But it was difficult for me on the first lap because I didn't ride the tests on day one. It took some time to adjust to things. I felt ok on the second and third laps, had some good tests but like everyone also made some mistakes. Again I learned a lot. I'm happy with fifth on day two. These weren't really perfect conditions, so to get a good result is very positive for me.”
Josep Garcia: "Obviously, things didn't end the way we wanted them to but I know I have the speed to challenge for the top of the podium, which is very important. Even if the conditions weren't really my favourite I felt good. We move onto Greece now and I'm looking forward to that race.”
