Hot and Bothered
By TMX Archives on 16th May 14
Manxman Danny McCanney saw his unbeaten run of form in the Enduro World Championship finally come to an end at the GP of Greece in Kalambaka.
With the hot, dry and dusty conditions serving up a real testing event it was a case of either loving the terrain or hating it for the majority of the EWC paddock.
Pushing hard but unable to find that extra bit of pace, McCanney missed out on a winning result this time around but still did enough to maintain his lead in the Enduro Junior championship with second and third place results.
Battling hard with close rival Giacomo Redondi during the majority of day one, the Beta duo swapped positions more than once. Tied on time entering the final test, a crash by McCanney handed the win to Redondi.
"It's been one of those weekends were you just know it's not going to go the way you hoped,” said McCanney.
"I had a few good tests here and there but sort of struggled with the terrain – it wasn't really my sort of thing.
"Despite that I was just about hanging on to the EJ lead on day one. But on the final test I had a pretty big crash and threw the win away.
"We were tied on time going into the test so I couldn't afford to shut off – it was just one of those things unfortunately.” Day two faired a little worse for the Manxman as a couple of mistakes knocked him back to third.
"Day two just started bad – I couldn't find any sort of pace to match Giacomo.
"It was a weird event – you either loved the going or you hated it. It's a bit annoying not to win and then on day two finish third but on a positive note I'm still on the podium even with a bad day.
"So far I've had podium at every round so things are going in the right direction. I'll take this result but in truth I wanted more.”
Not alone in disliking conditions, Greece also saw a turn around of fortunes for the majority of the EWC top players with Christophe Nambotin (KTM) and Ivan Cervantes (KTM) both losing out for the first time this year.
Despite taking the Enduro 1 class victory on day one, Nambotin wasn't quite his usual dominating self.
Numerous uncharacteristic mistakes hampered the Frenchman as he struggled to get to grips with the terrain. Winning day one in front of the Sherco pairing of Jeremy Tarroux and Anthony Boissiere, Nambotin found himself on the back foot when starting day two.
Slow to get going, he fell far behind a very motivated Eero Remes. The TM rider was out to make amends for his bad end to day one when a tyre issue saw him fail to finish.
Opening up a decent lead, Remes held his ground as Nambotin fought to reel him back in. Clinching the race win, the Finn secured his first victory since 2012 while also putting TM on the top step of the E1 podium for the very first time.
"After day one's bad luck it's awesome to win,” confirmed Remes. "I got a decent lead early on but as Nambotin came back at me I had to keep pushing and pushing.
"It brilliant to win again but also to give TM their first E1 victory is a special feeling.”
Similar to Nambotin, Ivan Cervantes in Enduro 3 also had a mixed time of things in Greece. Fifth on lap one of day one, the Spaniard steadily worked his way forward to take the win over Husqvarna's Mathias Bellino and Matt Phillips (KTM).
But on day two it was Phillips who put an end to Cervantes' win-streak and secured his debut victory in the senior ranks. Leading from the start of the day, Phillips made no mistakes to take his place on the top step of the E3 podium.
"Fantastic, absolutely fantastic,” said a delighted Phillips. "In Spain and Portugal I was knocking on the door to win so to finally get one in the bag means a lot. Hopefully this is the start of more to come.”
Always one of the most competitive categories in the EWC, the Enduro 2 class again became a four-rider battle for victory.
On day one it was Johnny Aubert (Beta) and Alex Salvini (Honda) who led the way. Pela Renet (Husqvarna) was close behind in third. Over 25 seconds down on Aubert, Antoine Meo (KTM) was having a tough time of things as he struggled to settle into the race.
As the day wore on the lead continued to chop and change as Renet hauled his way past Aubert and Salvini to win – but only just.
A last lap charge from Meo saw him get back to second but – unlike in Portugal – Renet was able to hold him off and the KTM rider was forced to settle for second while Salvini and Aubert placed third and fourth.
Now up to speed, Meo took an early lead on day two but with Salvini back on top form following his recent broken thumb it was the Honda rider who held the advantage on lap two.
But a crash by Salvini turned the race on its head as the Italian exited early with a broken collarbone. That opened the door for Meo to win over Renet with Aubert taking third. Helped in part by Salvini's crash, Jonathan Barragan (Husqvarna) ended his day in an impressive fourth.
The FIM Enduro World Championship continues with round four in Finland on June 7/8.
