Day one
After the summer break, the Enduro World has landed in Scandinavia with the sixth event of the series taking place in the town of Karlsborg, Sweden. Gas Gas team cannot extend its podiums streak in a ground of rocks, roots and mud very auspicious for Nordic riders. Ivan Cervantes, who was fifth yesterday in the prologue Super Test, could not improve this result in the E2 class. The rider from Cambrils saw how Juha Salminen, Alexandre Pierre Renet and Johnny Aubert set the pace from the start in a journey of 70 km of very technical and complicated terrain. Cervantes had focused on the fight for fourth place with the Spanish rider Cristobal Guerrero who finally finished third at the expense of Aubert.
Initially Cervantes was penalized due to a delay in the last control because marshals slowed too many riders in the rally section before the tire change. Following a formal complaint, the race direction removed the penalty to Ivan who is now fifth in the championship.
In Enduro Junior, Danny McCanney surprised his rivals by holding second place in the first lap behind the championship leader Mathias Bellino. However, the British Gas Gas rider lost chance of a podium when he crashed in the Extreme Test and dropped to fourth position. However, McCanney consolidated his third place in the championship standings.
Sebastien Guillaume and Jordi Figueras have had serious difficulties in the enduro test clearly the special that makes the difference. Guillaume, one of the best in the Extreme Test, made some mistakes in the enduro test and finished seventh, while Figueras has been eleventh in E3. Meanwhile, Portuguese Gonçalo Reis has obtained the 15th position in the E1 category
Day two
The second day of the Grand Prix Sweden was difficult for Gas Gas riders, but the youngster Danny McCanney returned to the podium. The Isle of Man rider fought face to face with the master of the Junior class, Mathias Bellino, until a crash that stopped him from challenging for victory. Despite this setback, McCanney just lost 30 seconds and retained the second position ahead of local rider, Robert Kvarnström and Jonathan Manzi. McCanney joins five podiums in his debut season with 162 points and approaches the championship runner-up, Manzi (178 p).
In the other side Ivan Cervantes was forced to retire in the second lap of the course. The rider from Cambrils was in the sixth position of the E2 class when a stone hit his bike’s chain guide and was impossible to continue. However, Cervantes, who yesterday was fifth, retains fourth place in the overall standings.
With the ninth position and as it did yesterday, Sebastien Guillaume entered in the 'top 10' of a disputed Enduro 3 category. At the end of the day, the Frenchman has highlighted the difficulty of the special because of the rain that fell early in the morning making the Enduro Test particularly critical for all participants.
In the first round, Jordi Figueras had to leave on the same zone as well as the Portuguese Gonçalo Reis who crashed and suffered that caused a bruise in the ribs. Therefore the Gas Gas rider in E1 class decided to retire as a precaution as next week is the penultimate event of Enduro World Championship in the town of Heinola, Finland.
Danny McCanney: "It was a great day for me. I've had some problems and hit a tree losing some time. But I'm very happy because we had the pace and got back on the podium"
Ivan Cervantes: "It's a shame because we lose many points for the championship not only to win but to be close if any of our competitors fail in the next races. But now we have to charge batteries for Finland to try to finish in the top 3 in the championship although it's very difficult.”
