It was a strong start to the season for the Italian nation as they collected victory in seven of the nine classes on offer while KTM's Mirko Gritti secured the overall win.
Situated in the town of Arsie near Lake Corlo in northern Italy, the first day of competition saw the 231 competitors entered fight for glory over five special tests. With three laps to contend with, the cross test was timed each lap with the enduro test timed only twice.
In Enduro 1 Suzuki's Paoli Alessio got his championship off to a perfect start with victory on day one. Taking advantage of early pacesetter Luis Oliveria's (Yamaha) crash during the penultimate test, Alessio secured the win by four seconds over Poland's Michal Szuster (TM) with Germany's Andreas Beier finishing third. Oliveria remounted to finish seventh.
Setting the fastest time in three of the day's five special tests, Italy's Diego Nicoletti (Beta) topped the standings in Enduro 2. Placing just seven seconds behind Nicoletti, Belgium's Cedric Cremer claimed the runner up position, while Britain's Jamie Lewis (Husqvarna) recorded an impressive result in his EEC debut with third place.
Italy's Mirko Gritti (KTM) claimed a surprising win in Enduro 3 as he comfortably beat defending champion Maurizio Micheluz (Honda) to also claim the overall victory. With Micheluz unable to respond to the pace set by Gritti he had to be content with second. Holland's Amel Advokaat (KTM) placed third.
Davide Roggeri (Suzuki) ensured a strong start to his 2012 title hopes with victory in Enduro 1 Junior. Unbeaten in all of the day's special tests, the Italian finished almost 30 seconds clear of second place Jacopo Cerutti (TM) with Husaberg's Martin Larsson rounding out the top three.
In Enduro 2/3 Junior Italy's Gianluca Martini (Beta) secured victory on day one. Behind him Slovakia's Thomas Hostinsky (Husaberg) fended off Poland's Pawel Szymkowski (KTM) to finish second.
Italian Guido Conforti (Yamaha) won the Junior Under 20 class, while in the Women's class Germany's Heike Petrick (KTM) claimed the win on day one.
Results:
