Robert Beats Walker in Enduro Ukupacha Prologue

Taylor Robert edged Jonny Walker out for prologue win at Enduro Ukupacha in Ecuador.

The Enduro Ukupacha Hard Enduro got underway in style in downtown Quito in Ecuador with an action packed endurocross race. Built in a bull-fighting arena, the packed stadium of spectators were treated to some close racing with Kawasaki’s Taylor Robert narrowly beating KTM’s Jonny Walker for the win.

For the pro final, Robert claimed the all-important holeshot as Walker crashed on the third corner. Quickly remounting he pushed hard to track Robert down. Working his way up to second, Walker kept the fans on the edge of their seat as he closed the gap to the Kawasaki rider. But with the laps winding down, Robert had enough in hand to take the win.

With Robert and Walker clear out front, Graham Jarvis took third.

Commenting after the race, Walker remarked…

“It was a lot of fun out there. The course was cool  – not too difficult – but with the high altitude here in Quito it was tough to ride. Crashing on the third corner made things hard for me but I was pleased to close in on Robert as he’s on top of his game in the endurocross series in the US. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”

Sunday’s main event will see Robert start first with riders flagged away at two-minute intervals.

With event organisers keeping course details secret riders are expecting a tough and challenging at extremely high altitude. Almost 4000m in places will make things difficult.