2006 FIM World Enduro Championship
By TMX Archives on 16th Jul 06
Rnd 5 Grand prix of Canada (Parry Sound) - day 1 (16.07.2006) KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli riders Ivan Cervantes, Samuli Aro and David Knight each claimed victory on day one of the Grand Prix of Canada, round five of the '06 FIM World Enduro Championship staged in Parry Sounds, topping the Enduro 1, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 classes respectively. The first ever WEC event to take place outside of Europe the first day of the GP of Canada proved to be both an enjoyable and challenging one. With three excellent special tests and numerous kilometres of technical forest tracks faced by all competitors the event was well received by riders from both sides of the Atlantic.
In the Enduro 1 class currant championship leader Ivan Cervantes had to work hard to collect the class win as Italian Simone Albergoni pushed the Spaniard hard all day. With Ivan wining four special tests, as well as making two small mistakes, Simone placed just 10 seconds behind. Ivan's team-mate Alessandro Belometti missed out on a podium finish placing fourth due to a fall on the first timed extreme test of the event. Losing 20 seconds Belometti finished just 14 seconds behind third placed rider Bartosz Oblucki at the end of the day.
Samuli Aro made light work of winning in the Enduro 2 class finishing close to one-minute ahead of the second placed rider Stefan Merriman. Continuing the good form he showed at round for of the series in Italy, with conditions similar to Scandinavia Aro managed to top four of the day's eight tests in the E2 class and in doing so finished as the day's overall fastest rider irrespective of class. French factory KTM rider Fabien Planet also had a good opening day in the E2 class in Canada finishing in fifth place and less than one second adrift of fourth placed rider Mika Ahola. KTM US racer Kurt Caselli narrowly missed out on a top 10 place in the Enduro 2 class. Still on the come back trail from injury Caselli saw a few disappointing test times spoil what would have been a better result.
Continuing his domination of the Enduro 3 class David Knight topped each and every one of the opening day's special tests in the E3 class to end the day three and a half minutes ahead of his nearest rival — team-mate Marko Tarkkala. Not putting one foot wrong, and clearly enjoying competing in the WEC's first ever North American event, Knight placed a close second to Samuli Aro in the unofficial overall classification. Placing second to Knight in E3, Tarkkala placed close to 30 seconds ahead of the third placed rider and showed no real signs of the wrist injury that put him out of round four of the WEC.