The opening round of the 2012 FIM Enduro World Championship in Chile saw the Beta Enduro Factory Team make an excellent start to the new season, thanks in no small part to the performance of team rider Oscar Balletti. Competing in the highly competitive Enduro 2 class, the Italian finished in a superb third place on day one to secure Beta’s first ever podium result in the EWC.

After a cautious start to the morning on day one, Balletti began to find his rhythm on the extremely dry and dusty Chilean terrain while also starting to challenge for a top three position. Setting the fastest time in the final enduro test Balletti held his nerve with continued strong riding to secure the all-important podium finish, much to his and the Beta team’s delight.

Hoping to match his day one result second time out, Balletti started off strongly and was once again fighting for third place. Unfortunately crashing twice on the cross test robbed him of another podium result as the Beta rider eventually ended his day in sixth. After two days of competition Oscar sits fifth in the Enduro 2 World Championship standings.

Making his EWC debut for Beta, Finland’s Marko Tarkkala was hopeful of a strong showing in Chile. Struggling to get to grips with the slippery conditions on the dusty cross test, Tarkkala could fair no better than seventh on day one, despite setting some impressive test times along the way. Working on improving the set-up of his bike throughout the weekend, Marko improved to sixth on day two to come away from the GP of Chile sixth in the Enduro 3 World Championship Standings.

Oscar Balletti: “I was so happy to get a podium result on Saturday because not only was it a brilliant start to the championship for me but it marked the first time Beta has been on the podium in the EWC. Today I was also close to finishing on the podium once more. I was having a good battle with Guerrero for third place but crashed two times on the Cross Test and finished in sixth. Overall I’m delighted with my results this weekend. I enjoyed the race and hope that I can carry this momentum into the GP in Argentina next weekend.”

Marko Tarkkala: “Overall I’m happy with my progress this weekend. Of course I would have liked my results to be better but I’m quite positive about how the GP has gone. I learned a lot about the bike and continued to improve the setup of it during the race. The dry and dusty conditions made it difficult to push at your maximum because it was difficult to judge the level of grip. But I’m pleased with the progress and will continue to improve in Argentina.”