KTM ENDURO FACTORY TEAM FARIOLI ‘06 PREVIEW
01 May 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

2006 World Enduro Championship – round 2 Guimaraes, Portugal and round 3 Gernika, Spain

The opening round of the ’06 World Enduro Championship was a hugely successful event for the KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli squad as well as for the WEC itself. The first time that the world’s most prestigious enduro series has started with a winter enduro, KTM riders Ivan Cervantes, Samuli Aro and David Knight got their championship campaigns off to the best starts possible. After the first event of the eight-round series the three riders lead their respective Enduro 1, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 class championships while KTM sits in first and second position in the WEC Team classification.

In the Enduro 1 class reigning world champion Ivan Cervantes carries a four-point lead into the second round of the WEC series having finished with a 2/1 score in Sweden, which netted him 47 points. As a former motocross rider from southern Europe many expected Ivan to fail to perform at his best in Sweden but the determined Spaniard simply proved too strong for his rivals. After a difficult weekend at the championship’s opening event, one that saw numerous crashes prevent him from claiming a better result, Italian Alessandro Belometti currently holds seventh position in the E1 championship standings and is determined to put his disappointing Swedish results behind him and battle it out for podium positions in both Portugal and Spain.

In the Enduro 2 class Finn Samuli Aro sits six points clear of his nearest rival following two impressive class wins in Sweden that gave him a maximum 50-point score. Looking every bit as smooth and focused in Sweden as he did during the entire ’05 season, Samuli will be looking to extend his E2 championship lead when the WEC reaches southern Europe. After his first event as an officially supported KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider talented Frenchman Fabien Planet holds fifth in the E2 class with 33 points and like Belometti in the E1 class is set on making it onto the podium in Portugal and Spain.

Like Aro in the E2 class Manxman David Knight claimed a maximum 50-point score in Sweden, topping the Enduro 3 class on both days. Having won on all but one day during the ’05 E3 championship the ’06 winter enduro was an event that David knew would be hard to win. But despite constant pressure from his factory KTM team-mate Marko Tarkkala David did just that and continued his winning ways. Following David home on both day one and two in Sweden was Finn Tarkkala who ensured that KTM sit in first and second positions in the E3 championship.

The success of KTM and its factory backed riders in Sweden was the result of several months of focused training and preparation. And with seven weeks separating the WEC’s first event from the second round of the championship in Portugal KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli riders have again been working hard to ensure that their results will be every bit as good in Portugal and Spain as they were in Sweden

With the ’06 World Enduro Championship shortly arriving in Spain KTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider Ivan Cervantes is hoping for more good results at his home round of the championship

KTM: Ivan, the opening round of the ’06 World Enduro Championship went extremely well for you finishing as runner-up in the E1 class on day one before winning on day two. Obviously you wanted to win but were you surprised by your result?
Ivan: “If I had finished anywhere inside the top three it would have been a great result for me in Sweden. I didn’t go to the race expecting to win. Everything about the race was completely new to me and I knew that racing with spiked tyres for the first time would be difficult. Finishing second on day one gave me the confidence to really push hard on day two. I was more relaxed on day two, and it showed in my riding. Finishing second in those conditions on day one was like winning for me but then when I won on day two it was incredible. I was really, really happy, and a little surprised.”

KTM: Scandinavian riders were expected to dominate the event in Sweden but you showed that a former motocross rider from Spain could master the frozen conditions and win. Why do you think you performed so much better than other southern European riders?
Ivan: “I think it was because of my attitude. I know that a lot of riders weren’t sure about the race and possibly didn’t really want to race there, which is the wrong attitude to have. If you like the conditions or not you still have to race in them. I learned a lot during ’05, especially that your attitude and motivation have to be right to win, and I think that helped me in Sweden. Also, I went to Sweden before the race to learn as much as I could about the conditions and like David Knight showed that it was possible to win.”

KTM: It seemed that being a completely new event opinion among riders was mixed as to whether starting the series in the snow in Sweden, as opposed to in Spain or Portugal, was a good thing for the championship. Do you think it was good for the championship?
Ivan: “The race in Sweden was very different to anything the WEC has had before and some riders liked the new challenge and others didn’t. I think it was good to start the championship with a new type of race, which was good for the spectators, TV and also looked good in the magazines. But we were lucky that the weather wasn’t as cold and there wasn’t as much snow as there could have been. The time checks were very difficult to ride because there was just one line that you could use. You had to put both legs out and ride like that for 30 minutes at a time. If there had been more snow the tests would have been the same, then it would have been a very difficult race.”

KTM: The WEC series returns to southern Europe now after the winter enduro with back-to-back races in Portugal and Spain. Is competing in your home round of the championship something you look forward to or do you feel under more pressure than normal to perform?
Ivan: “Competing at home definitely puts me under a little extra pressure, but at the same time it is really nice having the support of my home spectators. I won on both days in Gernika last year so I know that I can win there. I have to win because my fans expect it (laughs). Seriously, it is very important that I win there because this year’s championship is one race shorter than last year and we have two races in Canada and the US. It is important for me to win the races I know so that if conditions in Canada or the US don’t suit me I don’t have to push hard to win.”

KTM: Looking at the remaining rounds of this year’s world championship what are your thoughts about competing in Canada and the US?
Ivan: “I think it will be good. We don’t know exactly what the races will be like until we get there but it is important that the world championship is a real world championship. At the moment it is really a European championship because all the races are in Europe. It will make the series a little more expensive for the teams but I’m looking forward to racing in the US.”

KTM: As part of your training you are competing in the Spanish Enduro Championship. How are things going for you in your home series?
Ivan: “The Spanish championship is going well, really well. I have been the fastest rider at all three of the rounds we have had so far this year but I finished second at the first event because I was penalised 10 seconds for losing my time card. I was 20 seconds faster than Cristobal Guerrero at round two. At the third round I broke my little finger on my right hand, but it is not serious. I still managed to win.”

KTM: The production version of the 250 EXC-F that you are currently racing in the WEC is being released by KTM very soon. Have you ridden the production bike yet and if so how does it compare to your factory bike?
Ivan: “I have been doing all my training with a standard bike recently and it is great. My factory bike has a little more power from the bottom and at the top but not that much more. The standard bike is great – very easy to ride and a lot of fun. I think people will be really impressed with it when they get to ride it.”

Photo courtesy of KTM

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