Fresh from their strong performances last week at the EnduroGP of Hungary Loïc Larrieu and Jamie McCanney arrived in Greece looking to keep their momentum going throughout round five of the 2017 FIM EnduroGP World Championship. Proving to be quite a challenging event, the EnduroGP of Greece was contested during a really warm weekend with temperatures approaching 40°C.
Kicking off the weekend with a strong runner-up result in the short, opening Friday night Super Test, Loïc entered the first full day of racing optimistic of a positive result. Making a few small mistakes, the Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team rider settled for two third place results that allowed him to remain second in the provisional EnduroGP class standings.
Successfully battling through the heat and a few small mistakes, Jamie enjoyed one of the best GPs of the season. Getting a runner-up result in the highly competitive Enduro 2 class on day one, the WR250F mounted rider came back stronger on day two an emphatic victory in the class. Collecting valuable points Jamie has moved into second in the class’ provisional championship standings.
Marc Bourgeois – Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team manager
“This weekend both Loïc and Jamie managed to collect good points that allow them to remain well in contention for the titles in their classes. Entering the GP of Greece there was a lot of anticipation to see Loïc and Jamie battle for victories and that might have added some extra pressure for them to perform. But with conditions being far from ideal, both our riders had to find the right balance between performing well and saving energy to avoid exhaustion. As for our bikes, thanks to our hard work during the pre-season they made it through a really tough weekend of racing without any issue at all. Overall, we’re really satisfied with the results our riders claimed in Greece. With the highlight being Jamie’s second victory for the season in Enduro 2 class, we proved that we are in a very good place at the moment. It’s been a huge team effort and we are all motivated to keep working hard for even better results. With three more GPs left to be contested this season there’s still lots of points to be gained. We will continue our battle for the titles until the end. There are no words to thank Yamaha Motor Europe’s Marketing Manager Paolo Pavesio who showed his support to the team by spending the weekend with us. We’d also like to thank Alexandre Kowalski for being with us once again.”
Loïc Larrieu – Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team rider
“It was a good GP for me. I finished second in the super test on Friday, so everything was good for the start of the first day. I made some small mistakes on day one and needed a little time to find a good feeling with the terrain. Finishing third was the best that I could do, so I was happy to be on the podium. I tried to push hard from the start of the second day but I didn’t have a great first lap. I missed one of my lines in the enduro test on the first lap, which cost me some time, and generally I made things difficult for myself. I pushed as hard as I could to come back to the leaders but they were very fast on day two. On the last lap I really gave everything and finally I managed to get back to the podium and finish third.”
Jamie McCanney – Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team rider
“Victory on day two is great, it brings to a close two very positive GPs for myself and the Outsiders Yamaha team. I had a few small issues on day one and made a few mistakes, which knocked my confidence a little on the extreme test. But I’m more than happy with how things have ended up on day two. It’s great to win here in Greece, like I did in Hungary last weekend. Just like in Hungary there was only a few seconds between myself and Josep Garcia going into the final test of the day, and I managed to get the win. The enduro test was long, around 10 minutes, and I was able to push hard all the way to the finish. I’m so pleased that I have a bike that allows me to push hard and ride the way I’m comfortable riding. I’ll keep working hard and I’m looking forward to the next GP in Greece.”
The Outsiders Yamaha Official Enduro Team return to action at the EnduroGP of Portugal on July 21/23, before heading back to France to contest round three of the French Enduro Championship in Gye sur Seine on July 29/30.
Detailed results and standings from the World Enduro Chamionship can be found here: www.endurogp.org
The Outsiders Yamaha Racing Team