IN
THE
WIND
P32
DOUBLE WINS FOR MEO, NAMBOTIN, BELLINO
T
he World Enduro Champion-
ship traveled to Spain for the
second stop of the 2015 series
where KTM riders continued to
rule. E1 rider Christophe Nam-
botin and E2 competitor Antoine
Meo both took double victories
in Jerez, while Mathias Bellino
piloted his Husqvarna to the
Enduro 3 overall win.
In the E1 division, Nambotin
conquered the dry, slick condi-
tions with ease, not only topping
the small bike division, but card-
ing the quickest overall time of
the day aboard his Factory KTM
250 XC-F.
"It's been a perfect day—I
can't fault it," Nambotin said. "I
managed to win all 11 special
tests—I don't think I've done that
before in E1. I had a great feel-
ing with the bike and it allowed
me to make the difference in the
Enduro Test."
Meo was nearly as dominant
in the Enduro 2 division, claim-
ing the top spot on both days,
but only after battling tooth and
nail with Pela Renet on day one.
The duo was separated by sixth
tenths of a second going into
the penultimate test, but a crash
from Renet handed the win to
Meo.
"It was so close and was any-
body's race to win," said Meo,
who described his battle with
Renet as "incredible." "Unfortu-
nately for Pela he made a mis-
take and crashed. But we were
both riding on the very limit."
"Antoine [Meo] was pushing
really hard and I made some
small mistakes, which I don't
normally do," Renet lamented.
"When I need to be strong I am
not yet able to give 100 percent.
Of course I am always looking
to try and win, but I can't be too
unhappy with a second- and
third-place result. It's good
championship points."
On day two it was Alex Sal-
vini's turn to challenge Meo.
The Italian kept the pressure on
Meo, but he couldn't stop him
from sweeping the E2 class.
Bellino also had a fight on
his hands in the open bike [E3]
class, where he had to battle
Christophe
Nambotin was pretty
much flawless in
Spain. The Red Bull
Factory KTM rider
won all 11 special
tests and was the
fastest rider overall
at the Spanish round
of the Enduro World
Championship.
