KTM Factory rider Antoine Meo came out on top of the E2 class this weekend when the WEC Enduro World Championship Round Six was contested for the first time in St. Hubert, Belgium.
Meo was a winner on both Saturday and Sunday and after this, the penultimate round, leads the class standings by 37-points with a further 50 up for grabs when the competition finishes in France at the beginning of October.
But it was also a dramatic weekend when on Saturday Meo’s strongest rival in the class, Husqvarna rider Pela Renet dislocated and lacerated his shoulder in the first Enduro test. Meo remarked after Saturday that he had been in a similar situation himself last season. “He started the enduro test before me and I knew when I arrived that he had hurt himself – thankfully not too seriously. I wish him well and hope he has a quick recovery.”
Meo admitted that not having his rival to compete against on Sunday meant that he took a more cautious approach. “Some of the tests were quite dangerous so I just decided to take a safe approach and not take any risks,” he said. As a new recruit for the KTM Factory Rally Team where he will in January contest the Dakar Rally it was in the French rider’s interests not to take unnecessary risks. E2 also saw the return of David Knight who rode for KTM UK and finished with a 5-5 race result.
In the E1 Class, defending champion Christophe Nambotin wrapped up his weekend with a 2-2 result and was overall second behind rival Eero Remes. Just seven points separate them going into the final round.
Factory Team boss Fabio Farioli said Nambotin, who is hampered with a knee ligament injury was very fast on Sunday. “Nambotin was always in front the whole day but he crashed in the last test. He was certainly impressive today and its clear that he is now feeling very mentally strong.” With a break now until the final round, Nambotin will next week have surgery to repair the ligament damage.
In E3, KTM’s defending champion Matthew Phillips finished his weekend with a 3-2 race result but Husqvarna rider Mathias Bellino of France was the winner in Belgium. Phillips now has a deficit of 24 points in the class standings. Phillips E3 teammate Ivan Cervantes of Spain is currently recuperating from injury.
Laia Sanz of Spain was again in a class of her own in the Women’s Cup and rode to comfortable victories on both days.
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Enduro World Championship, Round 6, Stage 2 at St Hubert, Belgium
Note: Figures in parenthesis represent the Stage One and Stage Two results for each rider.
E1 Results
1, Eero Remes, FIN, TM, (1 – 1)
2, Christophe Nambotin, FRA, KTM, (2 – 2)
3, Lorenzo Santolino, ESP, Sherco, (6 – 3)
4, Daniel McCanney, GBR, Husqvarna, (3 – 4)
5, Marc Bourgeois, FRA, Yamaha, (4 – 5)
Other KTM
8, Edward Hubner, GER, KTM, (8 – 8)
E1 Standings after Round 6, Stage 2
1, Remes, 221
2, Nambotin, 214
3, D. McCanney, 157
4, Santolino, 153
5, Bourgeois, 134
Other KTM
9, Hubner, 71
E2 Results
1, Antoine Meo, FRA, KTM, (1 – 1)
2, Alex Salvini, ITA, Honda, (2 – 2)
3, Loic Larrieu, FRA, Sherco, (3 – 3)
4, Jaume Betriu, ESP, Husqvarna, (4 – 4)
5, David Knight, GBR, KTM, (5 – 5)
Other KTM
6, Tom Sagar, GBR, KTM, (10 – 6)
10, Nicolo Mori, ITA, KTM, (12 – 10)
13, Cedric Cremer, BEL, KTM, (14 – 13)
14, Robin Nijkamp, NED, KTM, (17 – 14)
15, Tommaso Montanari, ITA, KTM, (16 – 15)
E2 Standings after Round 6, Stage 2
1, Meo, 228
2, Salvini, 191
3, Pierre-Alexandre Renet, FRA, Husqvarna, 175
4, Larrieu, 139
5, Betriu, 137
Other KTM
8, Mori, 82
10, Victor Guerrero, ESP, KTM, 68
12, Rannar Uusna, EST, KTM, 38
E3 Results
1, Mathias Bellino, FRA, Husqvarna, (1 – 1)
2, Matthew Phillips, AUS, KTM, (3 – 2)
3, Matti Seistola, FIN, Sherco, (2 – 3)
4, Luis Correia, POR, Beta, (7 – 4)
5, Jeremy Joly, FRA, KTM, (5 – 5)
Other KTM
6, Antoine Basset, FRA, KTM, (6 – 6)
E3 Standings after Round 6, Stage 2
1, Bellino, 217
2, Phillips, 193
3, Seistola, 163
4, Aigar Leok, EST, TM, 146
5, Correia, 121
Other KTM
7, Joly, 101
11, Oscar Balletti, ITA, KTM, 31
14, Ivan Cervantes, ESP, KTM, 26
20, Mattia Cargnel, ITA, KTM, 7
EJ Results
1, Jamie McCanney, GBR, Husqvarna, (2 – 1)
2, David Soreca, ITA, Beta, (3 – 2)
3, Giacomo Redondi, ITA, Beta, (4 – 3)
4, Alessandro Battig, ITA, Honda, (5 – 4)
5, Kirian Mirabet, ESP, KTM, (7 – 5)
Other KTM
7, Henric Stigell, FIN, KTM, (10 – 7)
9, Mika Barnes, FRA, KTM, (11 – 9
10, Davide von Zitzewitz, GER, KTM, (13 – 10)
12, James Dent, GBR, KTM, (18 – 12)
13, Jan Schaefer, GER, KTM, (15 – 13)
16, Andrew Leloup, BEL, KTM, (19 – 16)
EJ Standings after Round 6, Stage 2
1, J. McCanney, 220
2, Redondi, 183
3, Holcombe, 166
4, Battig, 141
5, Luis Oliveira, POR, Yamaha, 110
Other KTM
6, Mirabet, 106
9, Matteo Bresolin, ITA, KTM, 8
11, Barnes, 51
12, Adam Tomiczek, POL, KTM, 30
Youth Cup
1, Mikael Persson, SWE, Yamaha, (3 – 1)
2, Jack Edmondson, GBR, KTM, (2 – 2)
3, Quentin Delhaye de Maulde, FRA, TM, (7 – 3)
Youth Cup Standings after Round 6, Stage 2
1, Persson, 186
2, Josep Garcia, ESP, Husqvarna, 162
3, Edmonson, 129
EW Results
1, Laia Sanz, ESP, KTM, (1 – 1)
2, Jane Daniels, GBR, Husqvarna, (2 – 2)
3, Jemma Wilson, AUS, Yamaha, (3 – 3)
4, Valerie Roche, FRA, Beta, (4 – 4)
Other KTM
DNF, Blandine Dufrene, FRA, KTM, (DNF – DNF)
EW Standings after Round 3, Stage 2
1, Sanz, 120
2, Daniels, 96
3, Wilson, 69
4, Jessica Gardner, AUS, Sherco, 66
5, Roche, 47
Other KTM
6, Dufrene, 43
8, Samantha Tichet, FRA, KTM, 21
9, Amanda Mastin, USA, KTM, 15