WORLD ENDURO, BELGIUM

Photos: Future7media

KTM Factory rider Antoine Meo came out on top of the E2 class this weekend when the WEC Enduro World Championship Round Six was contested for the first time in St. Hubert, Belgium.

Meo was a winner on both Saturday and Sunday and after this, the penultimate round, leads the class standings by 37-points with a further 50 up for grabs when the competition finishes in France at the beginning of October.

But it was also a dramatic weekend when on Saturday Meo’s strongest rival in the class, Husqvarna rider Pela Renet dislocated and lacerated his shoulder in the first Enduro test. Meo remarked after Saturday that he had been in a similar situation himself last season. “He started the enduro test before me and I knew when I arrived that he had hurt himself – thankfully not too seriously. I wish him well and hope he has a quick recovery.”

Meo admitted that not having his rival to compete against on Sunday meant that he took a more cautious approach. “Some of the tests were quite dangerous so I just decided to take a safe approach and not take any risks,” he said. As a new recruit for the KTM Factory Rally Team where he will in January contest the Dakar Rally it was in the French rider’s interests not to take unnecessary risks. E2 also saw the return of David Knight who rode for KTM UK and finished with a 5-5 race result.

In the E1 Class,  TM rider Eero Remes wrapped up his weekend with two wins. Defending champion Christophe Nambotin had a 2-2 result and was overall second. Just seven points separate them going into the final round.

In E3, Husqvarna rider Mathias Bellino of France was the winner in Belgium. KTM’s defending champion Matthew Phillips finished his weekend with a 3-2 race result. Phillips now has a deficit of 24 points in the class standings. Phillips E3 teammate Ivan Cervantes of Spain is currently recuperating from injury.

Enduro World Championship, Round 6, Stage 2 at St Hubert, Belgium

Note: Figures in parenthesis represent the Stage One and Stage Two results for each rider.

E1 Results 

1, Eero Remes, FIN, TM, (1 – 1)
2, Christophe Nambotin, FRA, KTM, (2 – 2)
3, Lorenzo Santolino, ESP, Sherco, (6 – 3)
4, Daniel McCanney, GBR, Husqvarna, (3 – 4)
5, Marc Bourgeois, FRA, Yamaha, (4 – 5)

E1 Standings after Round 6, Stage 2

1, Remes, 221
2, Nambotin, 214
3, D. McCanney, 157
4, Santolino, 153
5, Bourgeois, 134
Other KTM
9, Hubner, 71

E2 Results

1, Antoine Meo, FRA, KTM, (1 – 1)
2, Alex Salvini, ITA, Honda, (2 – 2)
3, Loic Larrieu, FRA, Sherco, (3 – 3)
4, Jaume Betriu, ESP, Husqvarna, (4 – 4)
5, David Knight, GBR, KTM, (5 – 5)
Other KTM
6, Tom Sagar, GBR, KTM, (10 – 6)
10, Nicolo Mori, ITA, KTM, (12 – 10)
13, Cedric Cremer, BEL, KTM, (14 – 13)
14, Robin Nijkamp, NED, KTM, (17 – 14)
15, Tommaso Montanari, ITA, KTM, (16 – 15)

E2 Standings after Round 6, Stage 2

1, Meo, 228
2, Salvini, 191
3, Pierre-Alexandre Renet, FRA, Husqvarna, 175
4, Larrieu, 139
5, Betriu, 137
Other KTM
8, Mori, 82
10, Victor Guerrero, ESP, KTM, 68
12, Rannar Uusna, EST, KTM, 38

E3 Results

1, Mathias Bellino, FRA, Husqvarna, (1 – 1)
2, Matthew Phillips, AUS, KTM, (3 – 2)
3, Matti Seistola, FIN, Sherco, (2 – 3)
4, Luis Correia, POR, Beta, (7 – 4)
5, Jeremy Joly, FRA, KTM, (5 – 5)
Other KTM
6, Antoine Basset, FRA, KTM, (6 – 6)

E3 Standings after Round 6, Stage 2

1, Bellino, 217
2, Phillips, 193
3, Seistola, 163
4, Aigar Leok, EST, TM, 146
5, Correia, 121