Juha won day one, and a crash dropped him to 3rd on day two. He still has a commanding lead in the E1 points.

Finns Juha Salminen and Matti Seistola claim a day win each in the Enduro 1 class while Frenchman Antoine Meo finishes 2/1 in Enduro 2

As far as being a successful ‘home’ round of the Enduro World Championship things couldn’t have gone much better for the Husqvarna CH Racing Monster Energy Team at round three of the ’11 EWC series, staged in Francavilla de Sicilia on the island of Sicilia. Starting the event as leaders of both the Enduro 1 and Enduro 2 world championship classes, the team not only enjoyed continued success thanks to the efforts of championship leaders Salminen and Meo, but also saw Matti Seistola claim his first ever world championship win with E1 class victory on day two.

Dominating the Enduro 1 class on day one Salminen and Seistola claimed an impressive one-two result at the head of the class as the two riders finished comfortably ahead of third placed Eero Remes. Winning eight of the day’s 12 special tests Salminen was in a class of his own, easing his pace as the day neared its close so as to ensure he didn’t make any costly mistakes. With Seistola again showing impressive pace the two riders finished 40 seconds apart to claim a well-deserved and memorable result.
On day two it was Seistola’s turn to shine as the Finn claimed his first ever EWC victory having turned in a near faultless performance. Pushed every step of the way by countryman Remes, Matti held his nerve to record a superb maiden victory and ensure Husqvarna once again finished at the head of the Enduro 1 class. For day one winner Salminen one fall on the motocross test proved costly as he dropped behind both Seistola and Remes to finish third, some 18 seconds behind winner Seistola. With his 1/3 result Salminen strengthens his lead at the top of the Enduro 1 world championship standings, now sitting 18 points ahead of runner-up Remes. Thanks to scoring his best results so far this season Seistola now sits third in the standings.

Juha Salminen – Enduro 1: ‘It helped that the other riders in the E1 class made a lot of mistakes and I didn’t make any on the first day, but I felt really good from the start of the day. It seems like I have an advantage when the track’s new, which I think showed on the first day. Then, when the other riders have learned how to ride the tests I have to really be on the gas. I made one costly mistake on the motocross test on the second day, in the stones, and that cost me some time. Without that crash I would have had to push hard to win. But I managed to finish third so it certainly wasn’t a disaster. I’m still leading the E1 championship, which is great, so I’m really happy with everything despite finishing third on day two.’

Matti Seistola took 2nd in E1 on day one behind his teammate Salminen, then took the win on day two.

Matti Seistola – Enduro 1: ‘It feels really, really good to get my first win. I could see at the first world championship race in Spain that I had the speed to win and now that it’s finally happened I couldn’t be happier. Winning here in Italy makes it even better as it’s the Husqvarna team’s home race. I really enjoyed the tests this weekend, I decided after the fourth test on day two that I was going to push for the win. I pushed a little too hard during the first day and crashed. I was too aggressive, but I still finished third. The second day started really well and that’s when I knew I could push more and more. I was feeling really good at about the same time Juha made his mistake, which is when I took the lead. It was clear that the win would be between myself and Eero Remes as there was only one or two seconds between us on each test. I’m just pleased it was me that got the win. It feels great.’

For Enduro 2 world championship leader Antoine Meo the GP of Italy ended with a superb 2/1 result, but was it not for several small mistakes during the opening day’s competition the Frenchman could well have enjoyed a double class win. Second on day one, just under 10 seconds behind countryman Johnny Aubert, Antoine couldn’t quite find the consistency to challenge for the day win despite most definitely having the speed to top the podium. But what Antoine wasn’t able to secure on day one he most certainly was on day two as he dominated the proceedings to finish 36 seconds ahead of Spaniard Ivan Cervantes having topped seven of the day’s special tests. Antoine’s Enduro 2 class mate Simone Albergoni placed sixth on both days. Meo now sits 19 points ahead of Cervantes at the top of the Enduro 2 world championship standings while Albergoni holds fifth.

Antoine Meo went 2-1 for the weekend in the E2 class.

Antoine Meo – Enduro 2: ‘Nothing really changed between the first and second day for me, I guess things just fell into place on day two. On the first day I had some problems, made a lot of mistakes, and felt quite nervous in my riding – basically I wasn’t relaxed and didn’t ride at my best. I would push a little too hard and then make a mistake, and then have to push even harder to make up for the mistakes. My times were up and down, some good, others not so good. But day two was much better. The day started well and I felt good. It feels great to win again and to take more championship points.’

In the highly competitive Enduro 3 class Seb Guillaume secured Husqvarna’s best result on day one with the Frenchman placing fifth. With little to separated Seb from Joakim Ljunggren and Marko Tarkkala a slightly off the pace final special test saw Seb drop from third, the position he’d held for much of the day, to fifth. Alex Salvini finished two positions behind Seb in seventh. Notably Salvini finished as the fastest E3 class rider during Friday night’s Super Test. A big crash on day two derailed Guillaume’s hopes of a podium finish with the experienced EWC campaigner eventually finishing ninth. Stepping up to claim his best result of the season so far, Salvini claimed a creditable fifth having been locked in battle for fourth with Finn Marko Tarkkala. Fast and consistent throughout the day Alex finished just under four seconds behind Tarkkala and more than pleased with his performance. Guillaume and Salvini are placed sixth and 10th respectively in the Enduro 3 championship standings.

Alex Salvini – Enduro 3: ‘Generally, I’m very pleased with everything. I made a few too many mistakes during the first day, and crashed many times, but I still felt like it was a good day. Things started really well because I won the Friday night Super Test, which was a bit of a surprise. But with a few too many mistakes during the first day I wasn’t able to finish higher than seventh. Things really improved for the second day and although I made a big mistake on the first extreme test I came back strong. I spent the day fighting for fourth position with Marko Tarkkala and although I finished fifth I’m happy. I was only three seconds behind him so for me that’s a great result. Finishing on the podium isn’t going to be easy but I feel like I’ve taken a big step forward this weekend and really learned a lot.’

Seb Guillaume – Enduro 3: ‘I was in third for nearly all of the first day but I didn’t have a good final special test and finished fifth, which was disappointing. I hoped that I could improve on that result during day two but I crashed on the second special test and banged my head quite hard. I was seeing stars for a little while, as well as hurting my shoulder, which meant the rest of the day was really tough. It’s certainly not what I expected from the race.’

Enduro World Championship 2011
Grand Prix of Italy – Day one

Enduro 1
1. Juha Salminen (Husqvarna) 1.08:24.24; 2. Matti Seistola (Husqvarna) 1.09:05.93; 3. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.09:27.45; 4. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 1.10:02.50; 5. Fabien Planet (Sherco) 1.10:02.54

Enduro 2
1. Johnny Aubert (KTM) 1.07:37.69; 2. Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) 1.07:47.53; 3. Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas) 1.08:13.80; 4. Pierre-Alexandre Renet (Husaberg) 1.08:26.51; 5. Cristobal Guerrero (KTM) 1.08:30.23; 6. Simone Albergoni (Husqvarna) 1.10:47.83

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.07:28.32; 2. Mika Ahola (Honda) 1.07:40.56; 3. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 1.09:15.70; 4. Marko Tarkkala (Husaberg) 1.09:17.23; 5. Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna) 1.09:17.47… 7. Alex Salvini (Husqvarna) 1.10:14.74

Enduro Junior
1. Antti Helsten (KTM) 1.09:28.11; 2. Jeremy Joly (Honda) 1.10:00.92; 3. Jonathan Manzi (KTM) 1.10:13.96; 4. Romain Dumontier (Yamaha) 1.10:53.20; 5. Victor Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.10:53.45… 10. Giacomo Redondi (Husqvarna) 1.11:43.21

Enduro World Championship 2011
Grand Prix of Italy – Day two
Enduro 1
1. Matti Seistola (Husqvarna) 1.06:37.35; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.06:40.20; 3. Juha Salminen (Husqvarna) 1.06:55.47; 4. Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 1.07:02.16; 5. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 1.07:40.03

Enduro 2
1. Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) 1.05:27.57; 2. Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas) 1.06:03.94; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (KTM) 1.06:11.09; 4. Johnny Aubert (KTM) 1.06:43.34; 5. Pierre-Alexandre Renet (Husaberg) 1.07:18.59; 6. Simone Albergoni (Husqvarna) 1.07:26.51

Enduro 3
1. Mika Ahola (Honda) 1.04:50.29; 2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.05:58.17; 3. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 1.06:56.85; 4. Marko Tarkkala (Husaberg) 1.07:13.10; 5. Alex Salvini (Husqvarna) 1.07:17.06… 9. Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna) 1.08:23.56

Enduro Junior
1. Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha) 1.07:43.98; 2. Jeremy Joly (Honda) 1.07:45.05; 3. Antti Hellsten (KTM) 1.07:51.33; 4. Jonathan Manzi (KTM) 1.08:26.46; 5. Giacomo Redondi (Husqvarna) 1.08:48.65

Knighter won the last two rounds of the BESC and with that clinched the championship.

KTM Farioli Enduro Factory Support Team rider David Knight is the newly crowned 2010 ACU British Enduro Sprint Champion. Arriving at the final two rounds of the series with a strong lead in the Elite class, Knight claimed two more class wins to secure his first title of ’10. Topping round five by over one-minute, David was pushed hard during the sixth and final round of the series but claimed an eventual 40-second winning margin. Placing behind David in the Elite class championship standings were KORR KTM riders Greg Evans and Daryl Bolter, ensuring a one-two-three sweep of the Elite class for KTM. Despite mixed conditions throughout the weekend Knight ended the series just as he’d started it with impressive performances on his factory backed Farioli KTM.

The Knighter finished 3rd on day one and won day 2 in Italy.

KTM Farioli Enduro Factory Support Team rider David Knight remains the Enduro World Championship Enduro 3 class leader following two podium results at the GP of Italy, round three of the ’10 EWC series. Enduring a tough opening day due to illness, on day two Knighter bounced back to claim victory. David remains six points ahead of Frenchman Christophe Nambotin at the head of the E3 championship standings.

Enjoying the tough Italian event despite feeling decidedly under the weather during day one, Knight narrowly missed the runner-up spot at the end of the first day’s competition placing just three seconds behind Seb Guillaume with championship rival Christophe Nambotin taking the win. On day two Knight gave his all and despite there being little to separate him from Nambotin a strong third and final lap saw the KTM rider claim a well-deserved victory.

Knighter’s next event will be the fifth and sixth rounds of the British Enduro Sprint Championship, which takes in Mid Wales, on May 29/30.

David Knight: ‘Although I didn’t win the first day I had a good time, the problem was just that Christophe and Seb were faster than I was. I don’t know why but I didn’t feel myself before the day started and I had a few problems with my vision during the day. I just felt strange and at one point I didn’t think I would be able to finish. I realised it was just one of those days where I was going to have to do as best I could and not worry about trying to win. I couldn’t put my finger on what the problem was but thankfully I didn’t have in on the second day. I wasn’t too disappointed with third because I did my best. It was hard work on a big four-stroke, especially on the extreme test where the two strokes were really fast. I didn’t really do anything different on the second day and I would have been happy with second. There were so many people supporting me out on the tests it was incredible. You couldn’t rest anywhere because there were people on every corner pushing you to go faster. I used every single ounce of energy I had. Christophe managed to get a few seconds on my during the first couple of tests but the enduro test was good to me and I managed to pull it back. I gave the last lap absolutely everything and it worked out well for me. The enduro test was so rough but a lot like my training track at home. Winning is what I needed to do as far as the championship is concerned, and I enjoyed having to push as hard as I did. Christophe is a hugely under rated rider, I think he’s probably the best rider in the world championship. I’m sure we’re going to have many more battles this year, and I’m looking forward to them.’

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 1

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.06:17.74;
2. Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna) 1.06:30.80;
3. David Knight (KTM Farioli Factory Support Team) 1.06:33.09;
4. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 1.07:27.75;
5. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 1.09:03.01

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 2

Enduro 3
1. David Knight (KTM Farioli Factory Support Team) 1.04:47.42;
2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.04:56.60;
3. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 1.06:35.50;
4. Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna) 1.06:40.73;
5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1.07:49.20;

CH Racing Husqvarna team rider Antoine Meo now sits close to 30 points ahead of his closest rival at the head of the Enduro 1 world championship standings having claimed two class wins at the GP of Italy as well as seeing his closest championship rival Johnny Aubert fail to finish either day. Winning comfortably on day one and then again topping the class on day two Antoine claimed his second consecutive double class win of the season in fine style in Lovere, northern Italy. Joining Meo in securing a podium result at the Italian GP was Enduro 3 class rider Seb Guillaume. Finally able to put his early season hand injury behind him, Seb lead for much of the opening day before placing as runner-up to countryman Christophe Nambotin.

It was Antoine Meo who again gave the CH Racing Husqvarna squad most to celebrate at the team’s home round of the ’10 EWC series. Having held the upper hand in the E1 class since the start of the series Antoine was well aware that the GP of Italy would be one of the championship’s most important events. Winning the Friday night Super Test before going on to win Saturday’s opening test, Meo simply ran away from his class rivals and in winning a total of eight special tests placed close to two minutes ahead of eventual runner-up Eero Remes.

The E1 Podium on day one.

On day two Meo was again the rider to beat as he quickly placed himself and his TE 250 at the top of the E1 class. Wanting to do enough to claim victory, but not wanting to take any unnecessary risks, Antoine’s winning margin was considerably less than on day one but importantly he claimed another 25 championship points. Also performing well in the Enduro 1 class was Finn Matti Seistola. Having improved his performances at each round of the championship so far, Matti challenged for a podium position on day one, a first in ’10. Although having a few difficulties with the extreme test the Finn nevertheless still managed to place fourth before going on to again finish as the first non-podium placing rider on day two. The team’s third E1 class rider Chris Hollis placed 14th and 11th over the two days.

Antoine Meo – Enduro 1: ‘It’s been a great race for me. Before I arrived I knew this would be an important race, maybe one of the most important races of the championship. It’s certainly turned out that way. With Johnny failing to finish the first day, and then not starting the second day, it has changed things in a massive way as far as the Enduro 1 championship goes. It’s not good to lose your closest rival but it’s good to know that I now have a good lead in the championship. Although I won on both days I didn’t feel like I rode as well as I could have done on day two. I made a few small mistakes, but generally things went well. With Johnny scoring no points on either day it puts me in a strange situation because unexpectedly I have a big lead in the championship now. But I will keep pushing hard to win races and hopefully everything will work out well.’

Matti Seistola – Enduro 1: ‘The first day was really good. My speed was better than at the first two rounds of the championship and I was fighting inside the top three, which I was really pleased with. I was running third going into the extreme test on the final lap where I got stuck on an uphill and lost the podium result. I finished fourth, which was good, but I need to find a little more to get onto the podium. Every race is getting better and better and I’m making less mistakes, but I still have to work on my extreme riding. But I’m really happy with my performances this weekend. My speed is good, I just need to continue improving on the extreme tests.’

Seb Guillaume showed on day one that he is all but over the hand injury that hampered his performances during the opening rounds of the ’10 EWC series. Setting some of the fastest E3 class special test times on day one Seb lead the class during the first two laps eventually placing a creditable second. With his hand injury having severely disrupted he training during the last two months, on day two Seb found it hard to match his day one pace. Continuing to push as hard as he could he finished the day fourth.

Bartosz Oblucki didn’t enjoy the best of races as the experienced Polish rider was credited with 16th on day one despite having been the fifth fastest rider in the E3 class. With a mix-up at a time control at the end of the day causing Oblucki to claim a worse result than he actually earned, day two didn’t bring any better fortune for Bartosz as a big crash mid way through the day resulted in him placing an eventual nine minutes behind the class winner.

Seb Guillaume Enduro 3: ‘The first day was really good for me. I was leading the Enduro 3 class after the first two laps and felt really good. But I had a big crash on the final enduro test, which bent my handlebars. Then I crashed again only a few corners later and the two mistakes cost me at least 30 seconds. I still managed to finish second but I was really pleased with that. The first lap on day two wasn’t too bad but I was really tired on the second lap. I wasn’t able to push as hard as I wanted to, but I managed to finish without any mistakes so I was happy. Now that my hand injury is ok I have to really work on my physical training, which I haven’t been able to do until now. Once I have better fitness I’m confident that I will be able to challenge for victory at the next races.’
2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 1

Enduro 1
1. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.05:50.41; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.07:33.80; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.08:07.92; 4. Matti Seistola (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.08:24.74; 5. Maurizio Micheluz (TM) 1.08:42.19; 6. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 1.08:56.72; 7. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 1.09:13.50; 8. Julien Gauthier 1.09:40.89; 9. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 1.09:54.32; 10. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 1.09:59.94… 14. Chris Hollis (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.12:27.53;

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.06:17.74; 2. Seb Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.06:30.80; 3. David Knight (KTM) 1.06:33.09; 4. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 1.07:27.75; 5. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 1.09:03.01; 6. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1.09:13.82; 7. Aaron Bernardez (KTM) 1.09:52.26; 8. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 1.10:01.21; 9. Andrea Belotti (Gas Gas) 1.10:02.84; 10. Mirko Gritti (Beta) 1.10:20.39;

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 2

Enduro 1
1. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.05:13.28; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.05:37.03; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.06:25.73; 4. Matti Seistola (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.07:13.36; 5. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 1.07:46.64; 6. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 1.07:53.20; 7. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 1.08:31.43; 8. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 1.08:50.76; 9. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 1.09:52.38; 10. Adrien Metge (Honda) 1.10:18.22; 11. Chris Hollis (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.10:51.43;

Enduro 3
1. David Knight (KTM) 1.04:47.42; 2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.04:56.60; 3. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 1.06:35.50; 4. Seb Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.06:40.73; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1.07:49.20; 6. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 1.07:52.66; 7. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 1.08:05.87; 8. Aaron Bernardez (KTM) 1.08:16:52; 9. Mirko Gritti (Beta) 1.08:43.18; 10. Oskari Kantonen (KTM) 1.09:52.85… 16. Bartosz Oblucki (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.13:11.91

Taddy used the EWC Italy GP as a tune-up for Erzberg, and nearly podiumed on day one.

KTM Enduro Factory Team rider Taddy Blazusiak has proved that he’s fit and ready to challenge for a fourth consecutive Erzberg Rodeo title early next month having successfully finished both days of the Enduro World Championship’s GP of Italy. Using the event as training ahead of the gruelling Erzberg race, Taddy, who had originally planned on racing the opening two rounds of the ’10 EWC series before injury sidelined him from both events, showed impressive speed during both days competition, especially on day one.

Placing in seventh and sixth over the two days, and ahead of many experienced EWC riders, were it not for a one-minute penalty he collected for starting his bike too early on day one Taddy may well have placed third on day one. More than happy with his riding, although feeling a little tired on day two due to his lack of racing during the past six weeks, Taddy was extremely pleased to have performed well and will now step up his Erzberg preparations.

Taddy Blazusiak: ‘I’ve had a great weekend, despite my small mix up on day one. There’s a lot to take in at a world championship race and I made a mistake on day one when I started my bike a little early. That cost me a one-minute penalty without which I would have been really close to the podium in the E1 class. It’s a little disappointing knowing that I could have done that first time out, but anyways I really enjoyed it and most importantly my shoulder didn’t give me any major problems. I had to ride smooth on the second day because my shoulder was quite tired, and I don’t ride at my best when I’m riding smooth. I found it difficult to attack the special tests and had to back it off a little bit. I made some mistakes on the motocross test each lap, which cost me time, but I’m more than happy really. The most important thing was to finish both days so that I knew my shoulder would be ok for Erzberg. It was aching a lot at the end of the first day, and then again at the end of the second day, but I didn’t have any pain or real loss of power. I’m really looking forward to Erzberg now knowing that my fitness is good and that my shoulder is pretty much back to normal.’

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 1
Enduro 1

1. Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) 1.05:50.41; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.07:33.80; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.08:07.92; 4. Matti Seistola (Husqvarna) 1.08:24.74; 5. Maurizio Micheluz (TM) 1.08:42.19… 7. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM Enduro Factory Team) 1.09:13.50

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 2
Enduro 1

1. Antoine Meo (Husqvarna) 1.05:13.28; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.05:37.03; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.06:25.73; 4. Matti Seistola (Husqvarna) 1.07:13.36; 5. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 1.07:46.64; 6. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM Enduro Factory Team) 1.07:53.20

The penultimate round of the ’09 US Endurocross series is set to be one of the most important races of Taddy Blazusiak’s career. After injury derailed his championship winning hopes in ’08, this year he has dominated the series and has every chance of securing the prestigious #1 plate this coming weekend in Denver, Colorado. With the opening round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup then taking place one week later in Sheffield, England the KTM Enduro Factory Team/Red Bull backed rider has been busy training and testing ahead of these two important events.

Winning the ’09 US Endurocross title is a very real possibility this weekend, are you aiming to win the race in Denver or simply do enough to secure the championship?
‘I have a pretty decent lead in the championship so I’m looking for another win. It’s the second round of the Triple Crown, which is important, as there’s a big prize available there. But the championship is the most important thing to me. Ideally, I’d like to win the championship by finishing on top of the podium.

So what do you think it’s going to take to secure the Endurocross title this coming weekend?
The same as it usually takes to win any race – a good start and a mistake free race. Getting away at the start makes such a big difference. My starts have been pretty good this season so I’m hoping I can make things easier for myself by getting out front early. After that I need to make no mistakes. It’s not easy staying out of trouble for eight laps, but that’s what I’m hoping to do.

Have you been practicing hard or taking it easy in recent weeks?
I’ve been working hard. We’ve been testing a lot as well as getting lots of time on both Endurocross and motocross tracks. I feel like I’m in good shape and I’m really enjoying riding so I’ve been doing lots of training and riding recently.

After your second place result at the last round of the Endurocross championship you raced the Powerline Park GNCC, and finished sixth in XC1. Were you surprised by your performance?
I wasn’t 100 per cent sure what to expect before the event, but I have done a few cross-country races in Europe. I rode my Endurocross practice bike with soft suspension and a small tank. I really enjoyed the race, and was fourth in XC1 for a while. It was great practice and a great work out. I had to stop for fuel more often than most riders but I still ended up with a decent result, which I was pleased with. It was just a one-off ride though.

It seems every aspect of your racing is better than ever at the moment. Are you happy with the way you’ve come back from your injury last season?
Yeah, definitely. When I first started racing extreme and indoor enduro events I had the skills and speed to be at the top but I didn’t have the experience. I’d never been behind a start gate before and wasn’t used to racing side-by-side with other riders. I know what to expect now, and how to race with others. I’m a bit more in control now, too. Everything has come together – I have a couple of years of experience and have learned a lot about racing an enduro bike.

Finally, what would it mean to you to be able to start the opening round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup on October 31st knowing you are the US Endurocross champion?
It would be great. If I had the Endurocross championship wrapped up I’d really be able to give the first IEWC race everything. I’m really looking forward to the event because European indoor enduro racing is very different to Endurocross in the States. I guess winning the Endurocross championship this weekend would take some weight off my shoulders. I could give the last round in Vegas everything then, too.