It was a time for celebration on day two of the Maxxis Enduro World Championship GP of Romania when Manxman Jamie MCCANNEY (Husaberg) was crowned world champion. Becoming the first enduro world champion of 2013, MCCANNEY clinched the Enduro Youth Cup title in style by claiming his eighth consecutive victory. Elsewhere it proved another successful day for the KTM duo of Antoine MEO and Christophe NAMBOTIN. Winning the Enduro 1 and Enduro 3 classes respectively, the French pairing edged ever closer to successfully defending their titles. There was change at the top of the Enduro 2 category when Italy’s Alex SALVINI (Honda) claimed the race win, while in the Enduro Junior class the victory went to Australia’s Matt PHILLIPS (Husqvarna). Dominating her category for the second day in Romania, Spain’s Laia SANZ (Honda) won the Women’s Cup class.
Following his victory on day one, France’s Johnny AUBERT (KTM) led the way in the Enduro 2class on lap one but soon faced a tough fight from both Alex SALVINI and France’s Pela RENET (Husaberg). Determined to make amends for his errors of day one, SALVINI worked his way into the lead on the final lap and held on to take a slender eight-second margin of victory over RENET. “It’s been an incredible day,” confirmed SALVINI. “I had a huge battle with Renet, Aubert and Ivan Cervantes. We were all pushing for the win in every test. I managed to take the lead on the final lap and somehow it was enough to win. It’s been a fantastic race.” Despite setting the fastest time in the final enduro test RENET was unable to keep the hard charging SALVINI at bay and was forced to settle for the runner-up result. Hoping to repeat his winning result from day one, AUBERT suffered a small problem on the second extreme test and lost the lead to SALVINI. Fighting hard to recover the time lost, the Frenchman secured the final step of the podium with third position. Finishing just three seconds behind AUBERT, Spain’s Ivan CERVANTES (KTM) narrowly missed out on a podium result with fourth place. Recording his best result of the season Spain’s Lorenzo SANTOLINO (Husqvarna) completed the top five.
Christophe NAMBOTIN is not so far from a 2nd crown
In the Enduro 3 category there was no stopping Christophe NAMBOTIN (KTM) as he took his second race win of the weekend. Topping seven of the day’s 10 special tests the KTM rider enjoyed a 75-second margin of victory. “Aside from a couple of small mistakes in the extreme test it’s been a perfect day for me,” remarked NAMBOTIN. “I felt good on the enduro test and made up most of my time there. I’m pleased with how I’m riding and look forward to the GP of Greece next weekend.” Firmly establishing himself as one of the main contenders in the E3 class, France’s Mathias BELLINO (Husaberg) beat Estonia’s Aigar LEOK (TM) to record his third consecutive runner-up result. Returning to the podium for the second time in Romania, LEOK narrowly beat Sweden’s Joakim LJUNGGREN (Husaberg) to claim third. Improving on his previous day’s result of sixth,LJUNGGREN finished just over three seconds behind LEOK in fourth while Italy’s Deny PHILIPAERTS (Beta) secured an impressive fifth place result.
In the Enduro 1 class, the battle for the victory was fought out between Antoine MEO (KTM) and Finland’s Juha SALMINEN (Husqvarna). Despite winning the first six special tests of the day, MEOwas unable to gap his fierce rival and was forced to ride to his maximum in order to secure the win. “It was a great battle for the win with Juha,’ told MEO. “I set some of the fastest times but it was not enough to break away from him. In the end I managed to win by 10 seconds but was pushed all the way.” Matching MEO stride for stride throughout the day, SALMINEN looked capable of taking the win. But despite taking the final special test he was forced to settle for second position. Claiming his second podium visit of the weekend, Spain’sCristobal GUERRERO (KTM) was third. Riding through the pain of a broken toe, Finland’s Matti SEISTOLA (Husqvarna) ended his day in fourth with France’s Nicolas DEPARROIS (Yamaha)rounding out the top five.
In the Enduro Junior class, Matt PHILLIPS (Husqvarna) returned to the top step of the podium. Fighting hard with Spain’s Mario ROMAN (Husaberg) throughout the day, PHILLIPSbettered the Husaberg rider in the cross tests to take the win. Unable to repeat his win from day one, ROMAN ended day two as the runner-up toPHILLIPS. Claiming his second podium of the season, France’s Loic LARRIEU (Husaberg) placed third. Italy’s Giacomo REDONDI (KTM) and Manxman Danny MCCANNEY (Gas Gas) rounded out the top five.
Securing his first ever enduro world championship Husaberg’s Jamie MCCANNEY clinched the Enduro Youth Cup title with victory on day two. Continually extending his lead throughout the day, the Manxman easily secured his eighth race win and with it the world championship. Sweden’sAlbin ELOWSON (Husaberg) ended his day as runner-up to MCCANNEY with Chile’s Benjamin HERRERA (TM) completing the top three. Sweden’s Jesper BORJESSON (Husaberg) and Dawid CIUCCI (KTM) rounded out the top five.
Dominating the Women’s class on day two in Romania, Laia SANZ (Honda) placed over six minutes clear of her nearest rival to win the day. Australia’s Jessica GARDINER (Sherco) finished as runner-up to Sanz with Britain’s Jane DANIELS (Husaberg) third. Australia’s Jemma WILSON (Honda) and France’s Audrey ROSSAT (KTM) completed the top five.
The Maxxis Enduro World Championship continues with the penultimate round of the season inGreece on June 22/23.