KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David Knight continued to dominate the Enduro 3 class of the ’06 World Enduro Championship collecting his 11th and 12th day wins of the season at the GP of USA. Knight extended his winning margin on a much drier day two in Hancock, New York to two minutes and 17 seconds. In winning the E3 class on both days, he also finished as the overall fastest rider in the event.
Knight reveled in the wet and rainy “British” conditions of day one, and posted the fastest E3 class times on each of the eight special tests. With conditions drier on day two, it also became rougher. The enduro, motocross and extreme tests saw several riders fall during the course of the day. Once again winning each and every special test in the E3 class, Knight claimed his sixth overall GP win of the season and once again stamped his dominance on the ’06 WEC series. David currently sits at the top of the Enduro 3 world championship, 67 points ahead of his closest rival Seb Guillaume from France.
“It’s been another great weekend,” Knight said. “Day one went really well, the first lap was ok but quite slippery. The second lap was horrendous because of the rain, it absolutely chucked it down but the rocky sections actually got grippier. The motocross tests got really cut up but it was great fun because of all the ruts. It wasn’t a hard day, it was quite enjoyable.”
“It was certainly rough on day two,” Knight continued. “It was amazing how much the tests dried up after the rain we had on day two. The enduro test was really hard work on day two because of the rocks and tree roots. I just tried to do what I did on day one” push pretty hard without making any mistakes. The tests got really rough on the second lap. I knew I had a good lead going into the last lap so I just had some fun.”
The close battle in the E2 class continued between countrymen Samuli Aro (KTM) and Mika Ahola (Honda) (pictured, right), with day two’s victory going to Ahola, 19 seconds over defending champ Aro. Day one winner Aro admitted that he was still tired and worn from the previous day’s race, and from his big crash in the motocross tests. Despite his runner-up finish, Aro still holds the championship points lead in E2.
American Kurt Caselli was looking better his seventh place finish from day one, but finished the day in ninth in the E2 class. “It’s been a great race but I’m a little disappointed with the way I rode,” Caselli said. “I just wasn’t up to speed. The frustrating thing was that I couldn’t figure out why. I’m not sure if it was the trails that I wasn’t used to or whether it was just me, but things didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.
I’ve really enjoyed the race, though. It’s been great to have the world’s best enduro riders come here to the States.”
Ivan Cervantes (KTM) regained control of the E1 class on day two after finishing second the day before. Though his day did not look promising from the start. Cervantes had two crashes early in the day but turned in a great performance as he reeled in Honda’s Simone Albergoni. Cervantes was able to edge out Albergoni by five seconds for the class win, and the Spanish rider now has a strong 34-point lead in E1.
“Day two was really difficult for me,” Cervantes said. “I made two mistakes on the second lap, but I still managed to win. Simone Albergoni, who was my closest rival, was really fast on the tests that I crashed on, which made things harder for me. I pushed really hard on the final lap and managed to win, which I am really pleased with. My two weeks in North America have been really good.”
2006 World Enduro Championship Rnd 6
Grand Prix of USA “ Hancock, New York “ Day 2
Enduro 1
1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 41:58.68; 2. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 42:38.04; 3. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 43:43.21; 4. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 44:12.27; 5. Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna) 44:12.27; 6. Petri Pohjamo (TM) 44:19.29; 7. Mike Hartman (KTM) 46:21.93; 8. Anthony Roberts (Yamaha) 47:23.23; 9. Shane Cuthbertson (KTM) 48:01.70; 10. Fred Hoess (Gas Gas) 48:21.10; 11. Aaron Kopp (KTM) 48:33.95; 12. Jeff Fredette (Kawasaki) 55:50.36; 13. Cristopher Smith (Honda) 55:59.42.
Enduro 2
1. Mika Ahola (Honda) 41:43.11; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 42:02.21; 3. Johnny Aubert (Yamaha) 42:39.27; 4. Xevi Galindo (KTM) 43:12.08; 5. Fabien Planet (KTM) 43:37.52; 6. Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) 43:41.59; 7. Nicolas Paganon (Husqvarna) 43:51.62; 8. Cristobal Guerrero (Gas Gas) 43:52.80; 9. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 44:44.48; 10. Euan McConnell (TM) 45:15.37; 11. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) 46:22.55; 12. Guy Giroux (Suzuki) 49:39.14; 13. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha) 50:01.53; 14. Glenn Kearney (Suzuki) 51:40.77; 15. Tobias Burman (Husaberg) 52:13.77; 16. John Yates (Beta) 57:00.55; 17. Allan Lachapelle (KTM) 58:36.26.
Enduro 3
1. David Knight (KTM) 40:32.70; 2. Seb Guillaume (Gas Gas) 42:50.54; 3. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 43:50.98; 4. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 44:16.89; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 44:16.96; 6. Paul Whibley (Honda) 44:30.01; 7. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 44:47.11; 8. Alessio Paoli (TM) 45:15.36; 9. Alessandro Zanni (Aprilia) 45:21.71; 10. Paolo Bernardi (Honda) 45:34.33; 11. Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 45:48.17; 12. Michal Rudolf (KTM) 47:17.37; 13. Matt Gosnell (KTM) 52:42.30; 14. Dylan Debel (Husaberg) 53:59.05.
Enduro Junior
1. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 43:57.87; 2. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 44:17.73; 3. Jake Stapleton (TM) 44:22.33; 4. Russel Bobbit (KTM) 46:16.63; 5. Jakub Horak (KTM) 48:38.28; 6. Sylvain Lebrun (Husqvarna) 49:18.62; 7. David Kamo (KTM) 49:39.74; 8. Patrick Wikman (KTM) 50:21.57; 9. Lucas Sedlacek (Beta) 50:23.16; 10. Ricard Wressel (Husaberg) 50:45.02; 11. Wallace Palmer (Suzuki) 52:14.50; 12. Alden Clark (Gas Gas) 52:37.47; 13. Broc Jennings (Husaberg) 1.08:03.65; 14. Benjamin Smith (Yamaha) 1.12:48.94.
