Officially marking the start of the second half of the 2013 Enduro World Championship the GP of Portugal ends with mixed results for Husaberg’s Factory Team.
For Husaberg’s defending Enduro 2 World Champion Pela Renet the GP of Portugal started in the worst possible way… thankfully it ended much more positively. Crashing within site of the finish during Friday night’s Super Test, and then again on the first special test on day one, the Frenchman started his weekend more than 25 seconds behind his class rivals. Come the end of the weekend and the Frenchman was thankfully back on the podium.
Giving his all during the first full day of competition Renet quickly overcame his early mistakes to close to within sticking distance of a podium result. Although not quite able to win any of the first day’s special tests Pela started the 12th and final test level pegging with countryman Johnny Aubert. Frustratingly Pela ended the day fourth, less than three seconds off the podium.
With E2 championship leader Alex Salvini setting the pace on day two Renet again found himself battling with Johnny Aubert. Although not able to find enough speed to challenge for the win Pela nevertheless improved on his opening day result and claimed third to secure additional valuable championship points.
“It’s been a tough weekend,” admitted Renet. “I crashed close to the end of the super test on Friday night, which cost me quite a lot of time and then I crashed again on the first test on day one. Straight away that put me 25 seconds behind the E2 leader. I battled with Johnny Aubert after that for the third place, but I wasn’t quite fast enough in the final special test and I finished fourth. The second day was better, I finished on the podium in third. I wasn’t quite able to match the pace of Salvini and Cervantes, but I felt that I was riding well and I didn’t have any problems. I didn’t have a great feeling with the tests this weekend, but generally things were ok.”
In contrast to Renet, Enduro 3 class rider Mathias Bellino made a perfect start to his GP of Portugal. Topping the time sheets in the Enduro 3 class after the Friday night super test, Bellino showed that despite his relative lack of bike riding time, due to his off-season wrist surgery, he was looking to improve on his recent GP of Spain result. Making a few too many mistakes to challenge for a podium position Bellino ended the opening day in fifth, just three-and-a-half seconds adrift of fourth.
On day two Bellino delivered the type of performance that took him to the 2012 Enduro Junior World Championship title. Fast and mistake free throughout the day, he placed second in class on eight of the day’s tests in the E3 class and in doing so finished as runner-up to countryman Christophe Nambotin.
“I’m really pleased to be back on the podium. I made too many mistakes on the first day, but I could see that my speed was good in some tests,” explained Mathias. “On the second day I didn’t make any mistakes and that really helped me. I’m a little surprised to be on the podium as this is only my second GP this season following my time off after my wrist operation. I was expecting it to take a little longer, but I’m really happy to finish third on day two.”
With Bellino enjoying a strong end to his weekend for Joakim Ljunggren the GP of Portugal was one to forget. Unable to deliver performances like he had at the earlier rounds of the championship, Joakim disappointingly placed sixth and seventh.
“It’s been one of my worse results for a long time,” he explained at the end of day two. “When I walked the special tests I knew the race wouldn’t suit me that well, and it didn’t. When I was riding I felt ok, but the times just weren’t coming. I didn’t really enjoy the race and I’m pretty disappointed with the way it went for me.”
Thomas Oldrati endured a tough opening day in the Enduro 1 class during which he only managed to finish eighth. Removing the mistakes from his riding, on day two he improved to place fourth.
“The first day wasn’t good for me. I made a lot of mistakes, had some crashes, and was riding too nervously,” admitted Oldrati. “There’s no room for mistakes in the Enduro 1 class, and I made too many mistakes. I felt good
at the start of the second day, but I crashed on the extreme test on lap two and lost 10 seconds. Without that mistake I could have finished on the podium, maybe in second.”
Mario Roman was Husaberg’s highest placed rider in the Enduro Junior class on day one at the GP of Portugal, narrowly outpacing team-mate Loic Larrieu. With the dry and hard conditions suiting both riders the pair ended the day agonisingly close to Portugal’s Luis Oliveira, who secured the runner-up position.
Day two saw Larrieu secure Husaberg’s best result as he claimed his first ever EWC podium result in third. Posting the fastest Enduro Junior class time in three of the day’s special tests Larrieu ended his day just 21 seconds adrift of the top step of the podium. Riding well as he did on day one Mario Roman placed fifth.
“I’m so happy to have claimed my first podium result in the EWC,” enthused Larrieu. “After my bad luck in Spain it’s great to come back strong in Portugal and finish inside the top three. I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress this weekend and gelled well with the special tests. I am still learning all the time but I’m pleased with how things have gone.”
Dominating the Enduro Youth class podium on day one Husaberg riders Jamie McCanney, Albin Elowson, and Oliver Nelson filled the top three positions. With McCanney in a class of his own the Manx youngster eventually placed more than one-minute ahead of Elowson, who in turn finished 32 seconds up on Nelson.
Day two saw another highly impressive performance from McCanney as he claimed his sixth day win of the championship so far. Half-a-minute up on Elowson, Jamie topped five of the day’s special tests.
“I struggled all weekend with a rash on my arms and stomach and found it hard to sleep at night,” explained Jamie. “It wasn’t an ideal situation to be in during a racing weekend but I did my best. Day one went really well and to finish one-minute ahead was great. On day two I managed to get off to a strong start by winning the first couple of special tests. Then I had quite a big crash on the third enduro test and it shock me up a little. Luckily I only lost about eight seconds and was able to carry on and win the day. Overall it’s been another solid weekend for me, winning both days and extending my championship lead was more than I hoped for considering the discomfort I was in.”
In the Enduro Women’s class Jane Daniels recorded an impressive runner-up result on day one aboard her Husaberg TE 125. Battling her way through a tough day to finish less than 10 seconds behind Audrey Rossat, on day two Jane was unable to return to the podium yet placed a strong fourth. Jane also moved to the top of the Women’s World Championship standings.