PREVIEW: 2006 WORLD ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
14 July 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

Rounds 5 & 6 GP Canada & GP USA

The six riders of KTM’s Enduro Factory Team Farioli squad jet off to Canada and New York State in the USA for rounds five and six of the ’06 FIM World Enduro Championship during mid-July where the team is looking to strengthen its position at the top of the World Enduro Championship. With the Canadian and US events the first ever WEC races to take place outside of Europe they also mark the passing of the half way point of the ’06 championship. With four rounds gone and with four remaining things are looking good for KTM’s three reigning World Enduro Champions Ivan Cervantes, Samuli Aro and David Knight as they each currently lead their respective E1, E2 and E3 world championship classes.

In the Enduro 1 class KTM’s reigning world champion Ivan Cervantes has opened up a sizeable 29-point lead ahead of Italian Simone Albergoni with his KTM team-mate Alessandro Belometti third. Having topped the E1 class on six of the eight days held so far this year Ivan has continued to show exactly why he topped the E1 world championship in ’05. With his confidence at an all time high, Ivan is just one of the KTM factory riders looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in Canada and the US.

For Alessandro Belometti the two North American events are also extremely important. The fastest rider in the E1 class at the fourth round of the WEC series held in Italy, Belometti placed in a lowly 15th on day one when he bent his rear sprocket while leading the E1 class. The former motocross racer hopes to use both the Canadian and US GPs to claw back lost championship points before the series returns to Europe at the beginning of September.

Putting in his best performance of ’06 in Italy by winning the Enduro 2 class on both days Finn Samuli Aro is now back where he started the season – at the front of the Enduro 2 world championship. With winning rides on four of the eight days held so far this season Samuli is currently 11 points clear of his nearest rival Australian Stefan Merriman. Confident that during rounds five and six he will be able to extend his class lead further Aro knows that wining in both Canada and the US will be anything but easy. With no rider having any home or team advantage the Canadian and US events will play a hugely important role in deciding the ’06 Enduro 2 world championship.

Aro hopes that his trip to North America will see him edge further ahead in the Enduro 2 championship race KTM’s second E2 class rider Fabien Planet will be looking to claim his first WEC podium of the season. Having been unable to reproduce the sort of form that saw him challenge both Aro and Merriman for the ’05 E2 world championship, Planet hopes that a change of scenery will bring with it a change in his WEC results.

With a massive 48-point advantage at the top of the Enduro 3 class David Knight is planning on remaining as the only unbeaten rider in the ’06 World Enduro Championship. Having claimed eight day wins from the four events that have already passed Knight is set on continuing his winning ways and hopes to show the Canadian and US WEC spectators exactly why he is currently the world’s fastest enduro rider.

In contrast Knight’s factory KTM team-mate Marko Tarkkala will be using the Canadian and US events to regain lost points after failing to finish the fourth round of the series in Italy. Dropping from the runner-up spot in the championship to fourth in the E3 points standings as a result of crashing out of the Italian GP Marko will be hoping to keep the pressure up on Knight and in doing so return to second in the E3 championship.

Of all the KTM factory team competitors travelling to North America reigning Enduro 3 world champion David Knight is the rider best known in Canada and the US. Winner of last year’s Las Vegas Endurocross and Red Bull Last Man Standing events, Knighter has already shown spectators in the States just how fast European WEC riders are. At both rounds five and six Knight will be hoping to extend his unbeaten run of E3 class wins in ‘06.

KTM: David, your goal at the beginning of this season was to win each and every day of the WEC in the E3 class and so far you have managed that. Could the first four rounds of the ’06 world championship gone any better for you?

David: “No, not really. So far things have been great for me this year. I worked hard at the start of the season to prepare myself for the opening round of the championship – the winter enduro in Sweden. I knew that would be the hardest event for me to win because I had never raced with spiked tyres before. Winning on both days at the first round gave me a real boost in confidence. At rounds two and three things went well again and several of the special tests really suited me. So far everything has gone exactly to plan.”

KTM: At round four of the series in Italy it seemed like you didn’t make any mistakes at all, despite the event being extremely difficult. Were you happy to have reached the half way point of the season with a 48-point lead in the Enduro 3 class?

David: “The race in Italy was hard, a lot of riders suffered. My team-mate Marko Tarkkala crashed out on day one, which made things a lot easier for me. He had been my closest rival in the championship up until that point so I was able to open up a big gap in the championship when he failed to finish either day. It’s not nice when your rivals get injured but it’s part of racing. Being 48 points ahead half way through the season takes a little of the pressure off me but I certainly don’t intend on finishing second at any of the races now that I am comfortably ahead in the points.”

KTM: The WEC now moves to North America for the first time ever, are you looking forward to two 100 per cent new events?

David: “Yes, very much. We have had some great events in Europe during the last few years but they are always in the same countries – countries that love enduro. It will be good for all the riders to compete in a completely new country. I have raced in three different events in the US and they have all been great fun. I know that there is a lot of support for the WEC in North America so I am sure the races will be every bit as good as we have in Europe.”

Photo courtesy of KTM

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