Spanish Enduro Championship Rnd 1, XXI Dos Dies Enduro DelSerge, 14.3.2009
Knight on the pace ahead of ’09 WEC opener
With the opening round of the ’09 World Enduro Championship now just five days away BMW Motorrad Motorsport team rider David Knight headed to Spain to conclude his WEC preparations and participate in the first round of the ’09 Spanish Enduro Championship – the XXI Dos Dies Enduro Del Serge, close to Barcelona. Competing along with team mates Juha Salminen, Marko Tarkkala and Simo Kirssi, Knight showed that he is up to speed and ready to get his Enduro 3 world championship campaign underway and topped the Enduro 3 class and finished third overall at the end of the first day of competition.
Local rider Oriol Mena was the eventual winner of the opening day, closely followed by Juha Salminen with David third. Just four seconds separated the three riders after close to 30 minutes of special test action with all three winning at least one of the day’s tests.
With the SEC opener attracting a top-level entry competition was close between all riders at the top of the results on both days. Disappointingly, Knight wasn’t one of those riders on day two. Riding well on the first test he went off line to pass a fallen rider on the day’s second special test, which resulted in him breaking his gear lever shaft. David’s race was ended but he wasn’t injured and although disappointed at not finishing was pleased with the way he’d been riding.
David Knight: “I’m really pleased with the way things went, although I’m obviously a bit disappointed not to have finished the second day. The event was really a final test under race conditions as I tried a few new parts on the bike, which worked well. The ground was extremely hard, so it was quite different to what I’m expecting in Portugal, but it was great training. The first day was very close between the top riders. The only problem I had was that I started behind several slower riders, some of which I caught in the tests.
“The second day didn’t go as planned, although things were again going well. I caught one of the slower riders in a test, and when he fell I went off line to pass him. I clipped something with my gear lever, which broke it off and put me out of the event. I’d had a good opening test, so things were looking good again.
“I have a few things to try on the bike early this week then I’ll be busy walking tests and getting myself ready for this weekends WEC race in Portugal. I’m really looking forward to the race now, especially now I know my speed is where it needs to be.”
Results – SEC Rnd 1, day one – overall
1. Oriol Mena (Husaberg) 26.47:800
2. Juha Salminen (BMW) 26.49:270
3. David Knight (BMW) 26.51:870
4. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 26.53:230
5. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 27.01:450
www.knighter.net
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