The sixth round of the FIM Enduro GP World Championships took place in Hungary at the weekend and Italy’s Andrea Verona was crowned world champion in the E1 class with one GP to spare.
In EnduroGP and E2 class was a double for Joseph Garcia. Victories also for Albin Norrbin in Junior2 and Kevin Cristino in Youth.
The 2022 FIM EnduroGP World Championship continued its run and just seven days after the GP of Slovakia riders took on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 5-7, the sixth round of the season on Hungarian soil at Zalaegerszeg, a small village about 200 kilometres from Budapest.
A weekend characterised by high temperatures that saw the riders measure themselves with predominantly soft and sandy terrain alternating with some passages on grass and a track inside a wood.
For the occasion, the Motoclub Track Race Promotion designed a course of just 47 kilometres, which kicked off on Friday evening with the Super Test, followed by two days of competition, both comprising three special tests to be repeated four times a day.
An Enduro Test about 5.5 km long with soft terrain and many roots, a Cross Test about 3.5 km long, quite fast and with sandy terrain, followed by a very short artificial Extreme Test on the same 1 km course as the Super Test on Friday evening.
It was a masterful race for Garcia (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
In the EnduroGP class the Spanish rider dominated both days of competition, setting a pace impossible for the competition.
On Day One the podium was completed by Verona, official Gas Gas rider, and Nathan Watson (Honda Racing RedMoto World Enduro Team).
At the end of the race weekend, Verona remained leader of the provisional EnduroGP standings with only one GP to go.
In Hungary and with one GP to go, Verona (Gas Gas Gas Factory Racing) became World Champion in the E1 class for the third consecutive year. On Day One, Australian rider Daniel Milner (Fantic D’Arpa Racing) took the third step of the podium in the E1 class.
In the E2 class, as in the EnduroGP, the absolute star was Garcia, who won both days of racing, demonstrating his superiority. Excellent second place for Watson on the opening day.
Mikael Persson (Husqvarna Factory Racing) is the new provisional leader of the E3 class thanks to two second places in Hungary.
The Swedish rider rode a consistent race without making too many mistakes and received the class leader’s table in his hands at the end of the race.
Brad Freeman (Team Beta Factory Enduro) arrived in Hungary with a sternum injury from the previous weekend’s GP in Slovakia and was unable to shine as usual.
Roni Kytonen (Honda Racing RedMoto World Enduro Team) collected two excellent second places in the hard-fought Junior class while new signing Norrbin (Fantic Factory Team E/50 Racing) won both days of competition in the Junior2 class.
The Fantic fight for the Youth class title between Harry Edmondson (Fantic JET Racing) and Kevin Cristino (Fantic Factory Team E/50 Racing) continues. The winner of this long and hot Hungarian weekend was Cristino, who scored a second and a first place in his class.
The FIM EnduroGP World Championship will now take a long break before moving to Zschopau, Germany, where the last round of the 2022 season will be held on October 14, 15 and 16.
Results:
Classification EnduroGP
VERONA Andrea p.193
RUPRECHT Wil p.165
GARCIA Josep p.155
Classification Classe E1
VERONA Andrea p.237
OLDRATI Thomas p.188
CAVALLO Matteo p.164
Classification Classe E2
RUPRECHT Wil p.191
WATSON Nathan p.179
GARCIA Josep p.170
Classification Classe E3
PERSSON Mikael p.192
FREEMAN Brad p.189
PAVONI Matteo p.167
Classification Classe Junior
PICHON Zachary p.229
KYTONEN Roni p.186
FARGIER Luca p.162
Classification Classe Youth
EDMONDSON Harry p.210
CRISTINO Kevin p.191
PUHAKAINEN Samuli p.154
Photo courtesy Metzeler
Find BikesportNZ.com on FACEBOOK here