BELGIAN BLAST
By Team TMX on 15th Jul 15
Jamie McCanney and Steve Holcombe led home a stacked field of British riders at the penultimate round of the FIM Enduro World Championship in Belgium.
With St Hubert, Belgium playing host to the country's first-ever round of the EWC, plenty of British riders made the short trip across the English Channel to compete.
Sharing a win apiece in the Enduro Junior class, Holcombe and McCanney won days one and two respectively, while McCanney further strengthened his championship lead.
Danny McCanney fought off the pain of an injured knee to grab third place in Enduro 1 while Jane Daniels and Jack Edmondson enjoyed their moment on the podium with a pair of runner-up results each in the Women's Cup and Enduro Youth Cup.
Edging ever closer to that Enduro Junior world crown, Husqvarna mounted Jamie McCanney delivered a near flawless performance in Belgium.
Riding with the championship at the back of his mind, the Manxman pushed hard but not past his limits.
Second on day one to Holcombe he capitalised on a mistake by the Beta rider to win the day and move 37 points clear.
"It's been fantastic to place second and first this weekend. At this stage in the season I'm trying to look at the bigger picture,” said McCanney.
"I've got a strong lead in the championship but it could be easy to mess it up by taking unnecessary chances.
"I attacked hard early on day one but so too did Steve and when I saw his time on the enduro test I wasn't willing to push the limits so I settled for second.
"He was riding great on day two and I was happy enough to sit in second.
" Unfortunately for him he made a mistake but I'll take the win and extra championship points. Now my focus is on the final round in France.”
Continuing to turn heads in his rookie EWC season, Beta's Steve Holcombe was once again on flying form. Topping day one while also winning tests outright, Holcombe was almost on for a double until a track banner got wrapped around his rear wheel in the final enduro test and dropped him to 11th.
"You have to take the good with the bad,” laughed Holcombe.
"I was just one test away from winning both days but it wasn't to be.
"I was riding good all weekend. I really felt happy with everything and was just trying to push hard.
"It's been great to get another win but even better was winning some of the tests outright – that's a first for me so that's been pretty special.
"If I was fighting for the championship I'd be more bummed about that banner but overall I've proved myself again so I can go home happy.”
Not knowing if he'd be fit enough to ride having injured his knee at the GP of Italy, Husqvarna's Danny McCanney achieved more than was expected of him.
Despite discomfort, he lifted his game on day one to challenge Christophe Nambotin for the runner-up result before eventually finishing third.
Fighting for another podium result on day two, he just missed the cut by less than one second to take fourth – but with two solid point scores, McCanney holds onto third overall in the Enduro 1 standings.
FOR FULL REPORT & PICS SEE TMX NEWS, JULY 16, (ISSUE 1980)
