With temperatures reaching upwards of 40 degrees in the Tuscany hills of Castiglion Fiorentino, KTM Enduro Factory riders claimed victory in all classes.
Frenchman Antoine Meo lead the way on day one in Enduro 1 when he picked up his eighth win of the season. However, an unfortunate mechanical problem ruled him out of contention on day two. Luckily his teammate, Finland’s Eero Remes quickly took control of Enduro 1 and recorded his first win of the season.
Placing second on day one, Spain’s Cristobal Guerrero delivered a faultless performance on day two as he topped the Enduro 2 classification. Enjoying the demanding conditions, the young Spaniard was a model of consistency as he rode to a 22-second margin of victory. His win now lifts him to the top of the Enduro 2 championship standings.
While Guerrero enjoyed the spoils of victory there was double disappointment for Johnny Aubert as a technical issue saw him fail to finish either day.
In Enduro 3, Britain’s David Knight secured his first win of 2012. Switching to a KTM 300 EXC for the GP of Italy, Knight immediately placed at the sharp end of the results by setting the fastest time in the Friday evening super test. Maintaining his advantage throughout day one, he held on to claim a well-deserved win. On day two he recovered solidly from a small crash in the morning to place third.
With Knight winning day one, Christophe Nambotin finally succumbed to his first defeat of the year. Finishing second behind Knight, the Frenchman returned to form on day two to record his ninth win of the season.
Antoine Meo – Enduro 1: “My grandparents live quite close Castiglion Fiorentino so it felt like a home race for me. I put a lot of pressure on myself to win here and it caused me to make many errors. I crashed hard on the Enduro Test and hurt my knee. After strapping it up, I pushed incredibly hard and managed to win.”
Eero Remes – Enduro 1: “I just tried to concentrate on my own race and it paid off. My speed was strong all day and I didn’t make any mistakes. I hope to use this result as a confidence booster leading into my home races in Sweden and Finland in two months time.”
Cristobal Guerrero – Enduro 2: “I’ve extremely happy to have won. My speed has been good all season but mistakes held me back. Finally everything went perfect and I was able to win – it’s been a great day!”
David Knight – Enduro 3: “I didn’t expect to win but it feels good to finally do so. I just tried to keep consistent on day one and managed to remain relatively mistake free. I’m so happy to finally be back on the top step of the podium.”
Christophe Nambotin – Enduro 3: “I learned a lot from my mistakes on day one and was much more controlled on day two. It was a good fight and was nice to put my bad luck behind me to win.”
