WORCS CHAMPION GIACOMO REDONDI
P126
Interview
When I decided to race
WORCS, I saw the summer
break was super-long—like three
months—so I decided to go back
home during the break. Also,
staying in the United States is
really expensive [laughs] so
in those three months I went
back home. I raced two Enduro
World Championship races and
I earned two podiums, so it was
good. Also, I didn't train for that;
it was on a different bike than I
used in WORCS so I was super-
happy about that.
The bike, it looks more stock
from the outside because you'd
think you change the bike a lot,
but the bike to race WORCS
and the bike to race off-road/
enduro is completely different.
For WORCS you need super-hard
suspension and a lot of power. In
enduro, you need soft suspen-
sion because of the rocks and
tight stuff and the power of the
engine needs to be really smooth.
So I can feel the difference
of the bikes, especially of the
weight because in enduro we
have the lights, the kickstand,
the wiring for too much stuff.
But this year I had my mechanic
from 2016 with me in Europe so
we did a really good job; I im-
proved the bike a lot compared
to last year. Also, I was more in
shape this year because to race
WORCS is not like enduros. You
need to be in shape because
one hour and 30 minutes or two
hours is tough.
If you want to win, you need
to be in shape. In enduros, you
ride eight hours on the bike, but
you have a maximum of 15 min-
utes per test where you sprint
every time.
Is your enduro bike a CRF450R or 'RX?
The 'RX. With Vertex, we make
a piston with less compression.
They did a really good job. Also,
we changed mapping with my
mechanic from Italy. He did a
super-good job.
Also, after racing a 450
all year, at the ISDE in Chile,
I'm racing a 500 a big-bore
CRF450RX in order to be legal in
the E3 class, so the bike is com-
pletely new for me. I just rode it
one time before I went back to
the United States after the break
and yesterday, the training area
in Chile was messed up so I only
rode 15 minutes, but the bike
Despite his unfamiliarity
with long-distance
American-style off-road
racing, Redondi overcame
the odds and earned
the WORCS title as a
true privateer.
