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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1546039
of USA. With the very running of the event having been put in doubt after the host town of Hancock and the surround- ing area was badly flooded just weeks before the race, it was only because of the hard work of the organizers, Works Enduro Riders team, and their helpers that the event went ahead. On day one in the Enduro 1 class, CH Racing Husqvarna rider Bartosz Oblucki claimed his first-ever World Enduro Championship victory, finishing ahead of reigning E1 World Champion Ivan Cervantes with Italian Simone Albergoni third. The skies opened midway through the day and a heavy downpour meant that Oblucki and his 125cc two-stroke had the advantage over his 250cc four-stroke- mounted rivals for the first time this sea- son. The former two-time E1 ISDE class winner made sure he made the most of it. Winning three of the day's special tests in the E1 class and placing no lower than fourth on any of the tests, Oblucki started the third, and final lap of the day, 10 sec- onds ahead and managed to stay out front to win by nine seconds. "It feels amazing to have won my first WEC race," Oblucki commented after the race. "I knew that if it was wet I would be fast, but I still can't believe that I have finally won. Knowing that I was leading going into the final lap was hard, because the conditions were so tough that anything could have happened. I'm so happy to have won." With Oblucki claiming the win, Cervantes, a rider who has often strug- gled to perform well in muddy conditions, rode smart and consistently to place sec- ond, finishing ahead of his closest E1 championship rival Simone Albergoni. Oblucki's hopes of a double-class win ended early on day two, as the Husqvarna rider crashed twice on the opening lap. He fell first on the extreme test, losing close to 20 seconds, and he fell again on the enduro test, which de-tuned him for the rest of the day. He held on for an eventual fifth-place finish. Day-one run- ner-up Cervantes went on to claim the win, finishing just five seconds ahead of Albergoni after a daylong battle for the top spot. Placing third was KTM-mounted Italian Alessandro Belometti. "Day one was tough for me because of the mud," Cervantes said. "I was happy to have been competitive and finishing second was good for my championship. Day two was really difficult because Albergoni was really pushing hard. I made some mistakes and had to fight back to win." The highest-placing E1 U.S. rider in Hancock was Gas Gas-mounted Fred Hoess, who placed ninth on day one. Performing well in the slippery conditions, Fred finished just over four minutes behind class-winner Oblucki. He also ranked as high as eighth in class on the extreme test. On day two, Hoess was again the highest-placed home rider in 10th, despite placing behind Canadian Shane Cuthbertson. In the Enduro 2 class, two Finnish riders shared victory: KTM's Samuli Aro topped day one, while Honda-mounted Mika Ahola claimed his first WEC win in four years by winning on day two. On day one there was little to sepa- rate the two Scandinavian countrymen as they battled back and forth all day with Frenchman Johnny Aubert, who was never too far behind. Aro crashed heavily on the wet ground of the second motocross test, so the reigning E2 World Champion had to fight hard for the win. But he still managed to place three seconds ahead of Ahola with C Y C L E N E W S • AUGUST 9, 2006 47 American Kurt Caselli scored two top-ten finishes. In Sunday's E2 class, Mika Ahola scored his first WEC win in four years.