Knight Wins First-Ever U.S. World Enduro Championship

Jean Turner | July 23, 2006

Hancock New York was host to a very wet and slippery World Enduro Championship round, the first ever to be held in the United States. After rain and flooding in the weeks leading up to the event, the skies were clearing up on Saturday, and just as it looked as though mother nature was going to cooperate, another downpour came during mid-day. But the wet and foreign soil didn’t stop KTM’s David Knight from taking yet another dominant victory. Knighter swept all the special tests on his way to taking his 11th win in the E3 class (Open), also topping the overall podium on day one.

In the E2 class (250cc two-stroke and 450cc four-stroke), Samuli Aro (KTM) and Mika Ahola (Honda) finished in a close battle. Aro lost the lead he had opened up after a big crash in the second motocross test of the day. But he battled hard against Ahola and reclaimed the lead; Aro ultimately edged him out by three seconds for the win.

The E2 class also boasted two Americans in the top ten. Holding it down for the host country were KTM’s Kurt Caselli (shown) and RER Motorcity’s Nathan Kanney. The two finished seventh and ninth, respectively. Caselli and Kanney both competed in last week’s Canadian rounds and have both steadily climbed in the results. Native New Yorker Kanney will not be competing on Sunday at the WEC due to a scheduling conflict with the AMA National Hare Scrambles, but Caselli will hopefully be aiming for a top five finish on day two.

Husqvarna’s Bartosz Oblucki bested reigning world champion Ivan Cervantes (KTM) in another close battle in the E1 class (125cc two-stroke and 250cc four-stroke). Cervantes’ strong second place, however, is still enough to strengthen his lead in the class.

Enduro 1

1. Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna) 36:14.73; 2. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 36:23.43; 3. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 36L32.23; 4. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 36:54.01; 5. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 36:01.08; 6. Anthony Roberts (Yamaha) 38:22.79; 7. Petri Pohjamo (TM) 38:42.35; 8. Mike Hartman (KTM) 39:13.77; 9. Fred Hoess (Gas Gas) 40:31.15; 10. Cristopher Smith (Honda) 41:46.04; 11. Shane Cuthbertson (KTM) 42:17.64; 12. Aaron Kopp (KTM) 45:31.17; 13. Jeff Fredette (Kawasaki) 46:30.00; 14. Bryan Bolyard (Honda) 51:31.37.

Enduro 2

1. Samuli Aro (KTM) 36:19.35; 2. Mika Ahola (Honda) 36:22.58; 3. Johnny Aubert (Yamaha) 36:42.61; 4. Nicolas Paganon (Husqvarna) 37:27.71; 5. Cristobal Guerrero (Gas Gas) 37:49.79; 6. Xavi Galindo (KTM) 37:54.45; 7. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 37:56.06; 8. Fabien Planet (KTM) 37:58.55; 9. Nathan Kanney (Yamaha) 28:14.08; 10. Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) 38:38.77; 11. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha) 39:13.72; 12. Alesandro Botturi (Aprilia) 39:43.39; 13. Euan McConnell (TM) 40:34.32; 14. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) 40:47.20; 15. Guy Giroux (Suzuki) 42L58.96; 16. Tobias Burman (Husaberg) 45:17.93; 17. John Yates (Beta) 45:15.89; 18. Allan Lachapelle (KTM) 49:12.21; 19. Glenn Kearney (Suzuki) 51:19.49.

Enduro 3

1. David Knight (KTM) 34:59.57; 2. Seb Guillaume (Gas Gas) 36:35.65; 3. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 36:52.91; 4. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 37:45.30; 5. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 38:04.83; 6. Paul Whibley (Honda) 38:05.67; 7. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 38:24.26; 8. Alessio Paoli (TM) 38:35.31; 9. Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 39:07;12; 10. Paolo Bernardi (Honda) 39:47.27; 11. Alessandro Zanni (Aprilia) 39:48.82; 12. Michal Rudolf (KTM) 40:03.13; 13. Dylan Debel (Husaberg) 43:13.14; 14. Matt Gosnell (KTM) 44:51.58; 15. Matthew Spigelmyer (KTM) 48:25.70.

Enduro Junior

1. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 37:58.73; 2. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 38:21.57; 3. Jake Stapleton (TM) 38:31.63; 4. Yannik Bossi (Husqvarna) 39:04.11; 5. Oriol Mena (Gas Gas) 39:31.05; 6. Russel Bobbit (KTM) 39:44.29; 7. Jakub Horak (KTM) 41:20.76; 8. Sylvain Lebrun (Husqvarna) 42:25.35; 9. Lucas Sedlacek (Beta) 43.57.37; 10. Patrick Wikman (KTM) 44:33.21; 11. David Kamo (KTM) 45:55.72; 12. Alden Clark (Gas Gas) 46:13.99; 13. Ricard Wressel (Husaberg) 42:19.30; 14. Wallace Palmer (Suzuki) 50:18.13; 15. Jerod Stoner (KTM) 45:41.10; 16. Timothy Rizzon (Suzuki) 58:31.67; 17. Benjamin Smith (Yamaha) 53:57.84.