An explosive first day

For three days now, Etna has woken from its sleep….. with the return of the good weather and the hike in temperatures, the heat is being felt more and more, much to the delight of the thousands of spectators who came to attend this 3rd GP of the season. But to the great displeasure of the 110 competitors…. In fact, the riders were wary of this 40 km course around Francavilla di Sicilia and at the foot of mount Etna… “It is a very technical course, made all the more difficult with the heat….” confided Julien GAUTHIER (FRA - TM) just before leaving for his third lap following a brief stop at his stand “…. the course is going to become more difficult, especially the Enduro Test which is the most technical of the three specials, and where I lost a few precious seconds. I have never seen such a difficult course.” From the first special SALMINEN Juha (FIN - HVA) took control of the Enduro 1 showing his rivals that he was indeed "Il Capo" in the category. The race for second place between Matti SEISTOLA (FIN - HVA) and Eero REMES (FIN - KTM) was evident, and in the end, it was the teammate of the Finnish "machine", SEISTOLA, who won, therefore rounding off a 100% Finnish podium. 4th place, saw a real showdown between Cédric MELOTTE (BEL - GASGAS), Fabien PLANET (FRA - Sherco) and Lorenzo SANTOLINO (ESP - KTM). And it is ultimately the young Spaniard who ended up on the podium, his best result this season. Once again disappointing, the former World Junior Champion Thomas OLDRATI (ITA - KTM) did not meet the expectations of his audience and found himself in 6th place. Leading the Enduro 2 class for the first couple of laps, Johnny AUBERT (FRA - KTM), suffered from cramps in the third lap, and was then overtaken by Antoine MEO (FRA - HVA) who pushed onwards after his poor start. The official KTM rider has resisted the return of the Provençal and imposes himself despite his muscular problems. Having failed to keep pace with the two French, Ivan CERVANTES (ESP - GASGAS), Cristobal GUERRERO (ESP - KTM) and Pierre-Alexandre RENET (FRA - HUSABERG) gave a good fight until the last stages for the 3rd place on the podium. The place ends up going to the "Torito Rosso” Ivan CERVANTES. Like OLDRATI in E1, Simone Albergoni (ITA - HVA) could do nothing against the French and Spanish riders and manages a meager 6th place, a long way off from the top 5. In David KNIGHT’s (GB - KTM) absence, Mika AHOLA (FIN - HM HONDA) could have believed that he would have an easier ride in the Enduro 3 championship. But he did not consider that Christophe NAMBOTIN (FRA - GASGAS) would impose himself and block the quadruple world champion "Mika AHOLA is always very fast and never makes a mistake, he is hard to follow. But today, I made no mistakes and won my first victory, which I hope will lead to other victories ....” In the lead from beginning to end, the official Gas Gas signs his first win of the season and unquestionably imposes himself. Thus taking valuable points from AHOLA who finds that this opponent is tougher than expected. For the last step of the podium, the trio Marko TARKKALA (FIN - HUSABERG), Sebastien GUILLAUME (FRA - HVA) and Joakim LJUNGGREN (SWE - HUSABERG) animated the day and it is the Double World Junior Champion who takes the third step of the podium. Like his compatriots in the other categories, Alex SALVINI (ITA - HVA), who, although he had won the KTM Super Test last night did not keep his promises to the Sicilian “tifosi” and finished 7th. This was also the case for Maurizio MICHELUZ (ITA - FANTIC), 10th and Alessandro BOTTURI (ITA - GASGAS) 12th. How can Antti HELLSTEN (FIN - KTM) be stopped? That’s the question that the riders of the Enduro Junior must ask themselves. From the first laps, the Finn sailed ahead leaving Jeremy JOLY (FRA - HM HONDA) and Jonathan MANZI (ITA - KTM) as the runner ups. The Italian subsequently saves the national honour and wins a new and brilliant victory in the FIM 125cc Youth Cup. After a poor start, Victor GUERRERO (ESP - YAMAHA) made a fantastic climb ending in 4th place . Antti HELSTEN seems far above the rest as can be seen by his times that would have placed him in the Top 3 of E1. On Sunday, Francavilla di Sicilia will witness a grand finale which will be watched no doubt by an ever-larger audience who will not hesitate to encourage the riders who will be using up the last of their reserves.