Danny's French perfection
By TMX Archives on 17th Sep 14
DANNY McCanney signed off a stunning season of Enduro World Championship racing by clinching the Enduro Junior world title at the GP of France, in Brioude.
Entering the seventh round of the series with a healthy 22-point advantage, McCanney knew exactly what he needed to do to secure the title.
The young Manxman delivered exactly the result he needed to ensure he stayed ahead of closest championship rival Giacomo Redondi, by finishing as runner-up to Frenchman Loic Larrieu.
At the end of a long and demanding day Danny rode into the finishing enclosure as the newly crowned world champion.
"It feels incredible to actually win the title,” said McCanney.
"I've been trying hard for this championship for three years and it's great to have finally got it done.
"Coming into the weekend I wanted to try and get it wrapped up on Saturday.
"I didn't feel any added pressure. In the morning I pushed hard from the off and although Loic Larrieu went on to win I was able to stay ahead of Redondi, which broke his spirits.”
Adding the 2014 Junior title to his SuperEnduro Junior championship from last year, McCanney became the first-ever Under 23 rider to win both.
"It's special to be the first rider to win in both the EWC and SuperEnduro,” added McCanney.
"They are a lot different to each other so I'm happy about having a title in both. Overall it's been a dream 2014 season for me.
"Winning the first four races on the bounce was a massive help. I was fast all year and consistent when I couldn't win. I've managed to finish on the podium in every race and I think that's made the difference.”
Despite having a mathematical chance of claiming the Women's championship, Jane Daniels knew beating Laia Sanz was a tall order.
And with the Spaniard on top form and winning both days to secure her third EWC crown, Daniels place runner-up on both days to end her year second overall.
"There was always a chance I could have taken the championship but to be fair Laia was always going to be hard to beat,” said Daniels.
"I had hoped to try and get a day win this weekend but it just didn't happen. The specials were quite fast and even though I led after the first test on Sunday morning I wasn't able to keep it all together.
"Overall it's great to have claimed a race win in Sweden and ended the series as runner-up to Sanz. Hopefully next year I can return and improve some more.”
With the final round of the EWC just one week after the European Enduro Championship, Brioude attracted a strong British contingent of riders.
Best of the Senior riders, Husqvarna-mounted Jamie Lewis enjoyed one of his strongest performances of the year.
Proving fast and competitive on the dry and dusty French tests, the Welshman fought his way to eighth on Saturday and then sixth on Sunday in the highly-competitive Enduro 2 class.
Tom Sagar joined Lewis in E2 but his race was short-lived when a crash early on Saturday morning forced him out of the event.
Making his debut ride in the Junior class, newly-crowned European champion Steve Holcombe took in his first taste of EWC action.
Hampered by dust after starting at the rear of the class, Holcombe struggled in both the extreme and enduro tests but after posting numerous top-two times in the cross test, he salvaged a pair of top-ten results.
Jack Rowland's weekend was one of two halves. Twelfth on day one, the Husqvarna rider failed to finish day two, while James Dent finished 18th and 19th.
Delivering one of the standout performances, Brad Freeman recorded a surprise victory in the 125 Youth Cup.
Also hampered from riding at the rear of his class, Freeman managed to catch everyone off guard on day one and powered to victory but hoping to repeat his performance on day two he struggled during the middle part of the day and slipped back to sixth.
"Even though day two didn't go to plan I'm massively proud to have won day one,” said Freeman.
"Having won a European championship and been competitive in the BEC and BSEC I knew my speed was good enough to maybe fight for a top-three result but winning is probably more than I expected.
"Riding in the dust at the back of the pack was hard work but because there was no expectation of a result I just tried to have fun. It seemed to work. It's a pretty crazy feeling to have won.”
Competing alongside Freeman in the 125 Youth Cup, Husqvarna's Lee Sealey also delivered a solid performance for his first time in the EWC and after finishing 13th on day one he finished a well-deserved 10th on day two.
At the front of the Senior classes, the GP of France marked the crowning of Enduro 3 champion Matt Phillips.
Despite still nursing a badly-broken foot from the GP of Italy, Phillips fought off the attacks of team-mate Ivan Cervantes to become the first rider to win a Junior and Senior title back-to-back.
In Enduro 1 and Enduro 2 there was no stopping the French as Christophe Nambotin and Pela Renet capped off their championship winning seasons with a pair of double victories in Brioude.
