After an explosive start to the 2014 Enduro World Championship in Catalunya, Spain, the series moves onto Portugal this weekend for round two. Here’s want we want to see happen at the GP of Portugal…
1. Alex Salvini not in pain – it sucked to see him on quarter throttle in Catalunya. It’s battle royale up front in Enduro 2 and we want the ‘Salvo of old’ back up there fighting for the win. Finishing fourth and fifth – with injury – indicates that the Honda rider hasn’t lost any of his speed – he’s just not able to go full gas. Heal up Alex the podium is missing you!
2. Christophe Nambotin to slow down! Damn, that Frenchman can ride a four-stroke – he ran away with the Enduro 1 class win on day two. Unfortunately we can’t see him slowing down anytime soon. Nambo’ is a perfectionist and finishing 19 seconds behind his good mate Pela Renet in the outright standings on day two suggests he’ll only want to go faster.
3. Aigar Leok back on the Enduro 3 podium. By his own admission Aigar was stuck in neutral for the majority of day one but he did pick things up to finish fifth on day two. We can only assume that the lack of a McDonalds in Solsona was to blame.
4. 20-year-old Matt Phillips to keep hauling. It’s been a very long time – if ever – that a junior rider immediately bagged a podium in the senior ranks but Phillips did exactly that in Catalunya. Can the Tassie rider get faster in Portugal – fingers crossed he will.
5. Johnny Aubert to finish in the mix. Johnny Aubert delivered two E2 podium results on his debut ride with Beta and he also won the Super Test. But despite leading both days in Catalunya, he just didn’t have the legs to run with Antoine Meo and Pela Renet in the closing stages of the race.
6. Joakim Ljunggren to find his mojo. The Swede delivered a shocker on day one to finish 12th and then blew his knee on day two before he could redeem himself. Let’s hope he’s ok and can turn things around in Portugal.
7. Danny McCanney to keep on a roll. It was awesome to see the Manxman back on top form in Solsona. After struggling to show his true potential during 2013, McCanney’s double win at round one weighs him in as a serious Enduro Junior title contender.
8. Even more close racing. On day two at the GP of Catalunya three different manufactures shared the E1 podium and five manufactures filled the top six in both E2 and E3. Competition is alive, well and diverse in the EWC.
9. A Super Test? Actually there’s no Super Test in Portugal. That means riders get an early night’s sleep on Friday and we don’t have to bring calculators to figure this new scoring system out.
10. Medical neck braces to become cool? No, we lie, we don’t want to see that! It was cool to watch Loic Larrieu to deliver two podium results despite wearing that constricting thing but hopefully he can take it off in Portugal and give McCanney a decent run for it – even with his broken finger.
