Wales (UK) has kicked off the first round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship 2024, with the Valleys Hard Enduro.
Three incredible days of demanding racing, starting with a short and extreme course on Friday, combining elements of SuperEnduro, under a hot temperature, which left the terrain very dry and dusty at the Walters Arena.
During the various qualifying heats, Will Hoare of Rieju Factory Racing achieved the best time. While his teammate Alfredo Gómez, managed to climb the final podium in third position in this first competition, debuting his MR Réplica.
In Saturday’s prologue, competitors faced a 10-kilometer course. The fastest time of two runs would allow the top 100 to qualify for Sunday’s main event. In this event, Will Hoare finished sixth and Alfredo Gomez ninth.
On Sunday, the 100 fastest riders set off in the afternoon for a three-hour, one-lap Hard Enduro over a 16-kilometer, high-difficulty course. Will Hoare remained fast and effective, to finish in a good fifth position. As for Alfredo, he was delayed at the very start, hindered by two fallen riders just in front of him, so Gomez had to push to try to regain positions, while he managed to hit hard his rear disc, being this bent. In the second lap he pressed, overtaking his rivals, but again bad luck for Alfredo, as due to a new incident he lost time, finishing in tenth position.
The second round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship will be held at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo – Austria, at the end of May.
Alfredo Gómez:
“Friday was pretty good, as I got third position in the SuperEnduro, while on Saturday I finished in ninth position. In the main race on Sunday I had a bad start, because two riders crashed in front of me and I was a little bit behind. Then I recovered positions, but soon after I hit hard the rear disc bending it, so the wheel was almost stuck. During the second lap I was able to recover a lot and I was in sixth position, but a small incident delayed me again to finish in tenth position. Now it’s time to think about the next one, which is the mythical Erzbergrodeo.”.
Loïc Larrieu finishes the Romanian EnduroGP positively despite injuries.
The FIM EnduroGP Paulo Duarte World Championship held this weekend its third round in Romania, a country that had not held this competition for 11 years.
From the town of Bacau, the action began with the SuperTest, while the two days of racing on Saturday and Sunday were marked by some very technical special stages on grass, some mud and roots, where the imposing climbs and descents of the area marked a demanding race.
In this race of the Rieju Factory Team, not being scoring for the Women’s category, only the official team rider Loïc Larrieu was competing.
The Frenchman, more and more adapted to his MR PRO 300, despite being weakened by injuries, improved his performance compared to the last race; on Saturday he finished in eighth position, while on Sunday he managed to finish in sixth place in the Enduro3 class.
For his part, Italian rider Lorenzo Bernini finished eighth in the Junior2 class on both days of racing.
The fourth round of the season will be held in Ponte Dell’olio – Bettola (Italy) from June 21 to 23.
Loïc Larrieu: “It was a nice and demanding GP, with 4 laps and 12 specials each day. I arrived in Romania still with physical problems (the ribs from the GP of Portugal and the left hand I injured in the French championship), despite this, my goal was to be able to ride the two full days without suffering any more crashes.
“I did it and I was even able to improve during the weekend!
“I hope to get back to 100% of my skills soon so that I can do even better!!!!
“Thanks again to Andreu, my mechanic and all the Rieju staff for the great support I received again.”.
Words and Images by Rieju Factory Racing
