Knighter’s stroke of genius
By TMX Archives on 6th Jul 12
Britains David Knight found his way back on the top step of the Enduro 3 podium at the GP of Italy, with a winning ride following his switch to a 300cc two-stroke.
There was relief and delight for Knight as the Manxman secured victory on day one at a sun-baked Castiglion Fiorentino, in central Italy.
After a difficult start to the first half of his season, the Manxman made the radical move of switching to a 300cc two-stroke, instead of his normal four-stroke machine, in a bid to better his results.
And immediately, the move proved favourable as Knight made light work of the late Fabrizio Meoni's training ground to win the Enduro 3 class on day one.
Third on day two – but only 17 seconds short of victory – Knight proved that he's very much back on the pace.
"I'm really pleased with my results,” confirmed a delighted Knight at the end of day two.
"Although the first day went really well, I felt that it was all about learning, and getting used to racing a two-stroke again.
"It's the first time I've been on a two-stroke in world championship competition for many years, so there was a lot to adjust to.
"But to be on the podium was great. I'm second in the standings again, which is also good.
"It's been a fantastic weekend and I've enjoyed myself – I'm back where I feel I should be!”
Adding to the British success in the scorching heat of Italy was WEC rookie, Jane Daniels (Husaberg).
In what was not only her first WEC event, but also her first-ever time-card, the 18-year-old from Wigan claimed a podium result in the Women's Cup on day one.
Finishing second overall on the Friday evening super test behind championship leader Laia Sanz (Gas Gas), Daniels then battled with defending champion Ludivine Puy (Gas Gas) throughout day one before fatigue set in.
Battling on to the finish, the resilient Husaberg rider secured third place. Unfortunately, the intense heat took its toll on Daniels and she was unable to start day two.
"Being my first world round I wasn't sure what it was going to be like. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be as hot as it was, but it was a great experience,” explained an exhausted but pleased Daniels.
"After getting through the super test okay I made a decent start to the first day.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS. JULY 6
World Enduro Championship
Rd 5 – Castiglion Fiorentino, ITALY
Day One
Enduro One: 1 Antoine Meo (KTM), 2 Matti Seistola (Husqvarna), 3 Eero Remes (KTM), 4 Thomas Oldrati (KTM), 5 Simone Albergoni (Honda), 6 Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki), 7 Fabien Planet (Sherco), 8 Rodrig Thain (Honda), 9 Jeremy Joly (Yamaha), 10 Antti Hellsten (TM),...
Enduro Two: 1 Juha Salminen (Husqvarna), 2 Cristobal Guerrero (KTM), 3 Piere-Alexandre Renet (Husaberg), 4 Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas), 5 Antoine Basset (Yamaha), 6 Oscar Balletti (Beta), 7 Julien Gauthier (Kawasaki), 8 Armand Monleon (KTM), 9 Fabio Mossini (KTM), 10 Jeremy Tarroux (KTM),...
Enduro Three: 1 David Knight (KTM), 2 Christophe Nambotin (KTM), 3 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 4 Oriol Mena (Husaberg), 5 Aigar Leok (TM), 6 Sebastien Guillaume (Gas Gas) 53:58.65, 7 Marko Tarkkala (Beta) 54:00.89, 8 Christophe Robert (Husaberg) 54:26.59, 9 Maurizio Micheluz (Honda) 54:37. 73; 10,...
Enduro Junior: 1 Mathias Bellino (Husaberg), 2 Jonathan Manzi (KTM), 3 Kevin Benavides (KTM), 4 Daniel McCanney (Gas Gas), 5 Edoardo D'Ambrosio (KTM), 6 Nicolo Mori (TM), 7 Victor Guerrero (KTM), 8 Rudi Moroni (KTM), 9 Robert Kvarnstrom (Beta), 10 Marc Sola (KTM), 11 Alex Rockwell (Husaberg),...
Enduro Youth Cup: 1 Giacomo Redondi (KTM), 2 Guido Conforti (Yamaha), 3 Matteo Bresolin (Husaberg), 4 Luis Oliveira (Yamaha), 5 Nicolo Bruschi (Honda), 6 Jamie McCanney (Husaberg), 7 Kirian Mirabet (KTM), 8 Nicholas Trainni (KTM), 9 Jesper Borjersson (Husaberg), 10 Benjamin Herrera (TM),...
Womans Cup: 1 Laia Sanz (Gas Gas), 2 Ludivine Puy (Gas Gas), 3 Jane Daniels (Husaberg), 4 Jessica Jonsson (Gas Gas), 5 Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha), 6 Audrey Rossat (KTM), 7 Blandine Dufrene (Husaberg), 8 Samantha Tichet (Husqvarna), 9 Jemma Wilson (Honda),...
Day Two
Enduro One: 1 Eero Remes (KTM), 2 Matti Seistola (Husqvarna), 3 Thomas Oldrati (KTM), 4 Rodrig Thain (Honda), 5 Fabien Planet (Sherco), 6 Simone Albergoni (Honda), 7 Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki), 8 Antti Hellsten (TM), 9 Jakob Morhed (Honda), 10 Goncalo Reis (Gas Gas),...
Enduro Two: 1 Cristobal Guerrero (KTM), 2 Juha Salminen (Husqvarna), 3 Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas), 4 Antoine Basset (Yamaha), 5 Oscar Balletti (Beta), 6 Julien Gauthier (Kawasaki), 7 Armand Monleon (KTM), 8 Deny Philippaerts (Beta), 9 Luis Correia (Yamaha), 10 Fabio Mossini (KTM),...
Enduro Three: 1 Christophe Nambotin (KTM), 2 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 3 David Knight (KTM), 4 Aigar Leok (TM), 5 Oriol Mena (Husaberg), 6 Marko Tarkkala (Beta), 7 Sebastien Guillaume (Gas Gas), 8 Marcus Kehr (KTM), 9 Benoit Fortunato (Gas Gas), 10 Christophe Robert (Husaberg),...
Enduro Junior: 1 Jonathan Manzi (KTM), 2 Kevin Benavides (KTM), 3 Mathias Bellino (Husaberg), 4 Nicolo Mori (TM), 5 5. Rudi Moroni (KTM), 6 Daniel McCanney (Gas Gas), 7 Alexandre Queyreyre (Yamaha), 8 Luca Marcotulli (Honda), 9 Johan Edlund (Husaberg), 10 Arnau Sola (Yamaha), 11 Alex Rockwell (Husaberg),...
Enduro Youth Cup: 1 Giacomo Redondi (KTM), 2 Guido Conforti (Yamaha), 3 Matteo Bresolin (Husaberg), 4 Benjamin Herrera (TM), 5 Nicolo Bruschi (Honda), 6 Kirian Mirabet (KTM), 7 Jesper Borjersson (Husaberg), 8 Michele Marchelli (Husqvarna), 9 Mattia Giulietti (Husaberg), 10 Jamie McCanney (Husaberg),...
Women's Cup: 1 Laia Sanz (Gas Gas), 2 Ludivine Puy (Gas Gas), 3 Audrey Rossat (KTM), 4 Samantha Tichet (Husqvarna), 5 Jemma Wilson (Honda),...
next round: August 25/26 – Karlsborg, SWEDEN.
