Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542395
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KTM rider David Knight
produced his most dominant
Per-
formance of
the
'06
World
Enduro Championship season
so
far at the GP of Euskadi, Knight
I
dominated the
Enduro 3 cbss on both dars
to claim
his fir* double
WEC orerall win of
the searcn
rn
an eveht
that
was
consiler€d
rhe hardest Wodd Championship €r,sn
in
many years. Knight was
ioined
q/
tearnfnd*
lvan Cervantes
as a double-class winnt{t
after
the reignrng Enduro
I WorU
Chanfi-
on
posted
solid
resuls to top the El
podi-
um on both days, ln the Enduro
2 class,
Yamaha teammates Stefan
Merriman and
Johnny
Auben shared top
honors.
Extensive aiteradons were
made to the
extreme
tests befor€ the race in an attempt
to make them
not only easier but also more
rideable
for the m4orir/
of the competitors,
but a torrential
overnight
downpour kept
thinSs extremely challenging
for all
of the
contestants.
On day
one, Knight, who staned at
the
front of the entry,
made light work of the
event and
claimed a comfonable
E3-class
win, toppinS each
and every one
of the
seven rimed tests in the class.
"Knighter"
also edged
ahead of Enduro 2-class winner
Merriman
in
postinS
the best overall result.
FinishinS one and
a half minutes behind
Knight
w-as Finn Marko Tarkkala.
Unable to
make any impression
on the
reigning E3 World Champion,
Tarkkala was
chased
by French Gas Gas
rider
Seb
Guillaume,
vvho
finished
iust
seven seconds
adrift of the
Finn.
ln dryin8 conditions
on day two, Knight
upped his
pace
to win the E3 class by
a huge
rwo and a half
minutes while also topping the
unofilcial
overall
results by 30 seconds.
\Mth
Tarkkala again
placing
as the
runner-up,
ltalian Tl'l rider Alesslo
Paoliclaimed
his first
podium
finish of
'06,
having squeezed ahead
of Seb Guillaume.
''lt's
been a
great weekend, but a
really
tough
one," Knight said.
"l
only
really made
one mistake,
apart from making a bit of
a
a i;t ;l
ili
EI
!
mess of the fFs.t untimed
run through the
extreme
test, which was when I crashed on
the lirst enduro
test. On day two, my bike
started
getting hot and nearly seized. lt
tumed out
that a radiator
hose had
got
punctured.
I had to
ride the extrerne test
with no water in the
radiators and then
eventualh,,
fixed it afterward."
Uke Knight, Cervantes
also managed to
pull
off a class
win on both days, but
had to
work much harder to do
so.
Per{orming well on day
one and taking
advantage
of a crash by ltalian Simone
Albergoni,
which effectively ended
Albergoni's
hopes of
victory, Cervantes
c?une home
an eventual l8 seconds
ahead of
fiH-mounted
lalian Alessandro Belometti
to claim
his third win of
'06.
Behind
Albergoni, two-stroke
Husqvarna rider
Bartorz Oblucki
placed
third,
less than two
seconds behind Belometti.
On day
two, thirEs wEre again
looking
good
for Cervantes
despite constant
pres-
sure by
Albergoni. After winning the first of
four timed special
tests, Cervartes
then
made a costly
mistake on the second enduro
test and dropped behind
his ltalian rivdl.
Howevei
Albergoni also
made a mistake
coming
on the last test of dle day. Cervantes
wert on to
claim the E
l