This weekend the FIM EnduroGP World Championship raced the sixth and penultimate round in Valpaços, in northern Portugal, which in this season finale hosts a double round.
Honda Racing World Enduro Team faced a real enduro race, on a hard and rocky terrain with a route of 48.5 kilometres to repeat three times per day plus a 35 kilometres fourth lap. Three the special tests: Extreme Test 1.7 km, Enduro Test 5.5 km and Cross Test 4.8 km., for a total of 24 timed trials in the GP.
Thomas Oldrati didn’t attend this race: after winning his 13th Italian title, he is still recovering after an injury during a training in July.
Great podium for Nathan Watson in E2. After the top five on Saturday, on Sunday the British rider improves his performance to reach the third step of the podium.
Top five for Manolo Morettini in EJ1 class. He finished 5th the first day of the race and 7th on Saturday.
Nathan Watson | EnduroGP | Day1 > 8° – Day2 > 4°
E2 | Day1 > 5° – Day2 > 3°
“Tough weekend with a really hot weather and fast test. Saturday I slept a bit in the first lap and I tried to recover but lost a lot of time. Sunday I was more consistent and had a good day”.
Manolo Morettini | Junior | Day1 > 12° – Day2 > 8°
EJ1 | Day1 > 7° – Day2 > 5°
“Tough weekend with lots of heat. More effort on Saturday while on Sunday I improved my times a lot. I’m happy with the pace I had in the race. Let’s focus on the last challenge”.
Amazing first podium of the season for Samuele Bernardini in E2 class. He was the protagonist of a very good racing day. 4th in Friday night’s Supertest, the former motocross rider took the third position just behind the two riders fighting for the championship, conquering the top five in the Overall. On Sunday he has to settle for P6.
Recovering from a right-hand injury, Rony Kytonen finished 7th and 6th in E1 class.
Samuele Bernardini | EnduroGP | Day1 > 5° – Day2 > 14°
E2 | Day1 > 3° – Day2 > 6°
“Saturday went very well with the first podium of the season. Today on the third enduro I fell and had a problem with the rear brake and I lost a lot of time. We hope to replicate the top 3 next week”.
Roni Kytonen | EnduroGP | Day1 > 20° – Day2 > 19°
E1 | Day1 > 7° – Day2 > 6°
“Saturday I struggled a lot the whole day. Sunday we made some small change to the bike but the feeling was still not so good. The hand is improving, but is not at the level it should be. Let’s see in Portugal 2”.
Francesca Nocera | EnduroGP | Day1 > 20° – Day2 > 19°
E1 | Day1 > 7° – Day2 > 6°
“Saturday I struggled a lot the whole day. Sunday we made some small change to the bike but the feeling was still not so good. The hand is improving, but is not at the level it should be. Let’s see in Portugal 2”.