It’s been a dream year for the newly crowned Enduro Youth Cup champion. Winning all bar the opening race of the season in Chile, the KTM rider has firmly stamped his authority on his class. Clocking up victory after victory he continued to stretch his advantage over his classmates, while also posting times that would see him place towards the sharp end of the Enduro Junior class. With the world championship his, Giacomo continued to push for glory on day two. Winning his class again, he also went one step further and ended his day over 16 seconds clear of riders he will face next year in Enduro Junior. With the title winning celebrations settled, Giacomo took some time out to speak with Enduro21…

Enduro21: Congratulations, on becoming world champion.

Giacomo Redondi: “Thank you, it’s been a perfect season for me with many victories. I’m so happy to have won the championship already.”

Knowing that winning the title was possible this weekend, were you nervous coming into this race?

“No I wasn’t nervous. There was no pressure from my team to win the title here. I just tried to do my best and it all worked out. I had already built up a strong points lead so I new that if I didn’t win the championship in Sweden then it would still be possible to do so in Finland. The most important thing was to remain safe and not to crash as a result of trying too hard to win.”

How was the race, was this was your first time to compete in Sweden?

“Yes, this was the first time that I raced in Sweden, although I did race the ISDE in Finland last year and the conditions were similar to that. I enjoy riding in sand so I was looking forward to this race. It was quite tough and the enduro test became extremely bumpy towards the end of the weekend. Day one was hard. On the liaison sections there were many mud holes to contend with and at times it was easy to become stuck. Luckily, the event organisers cut many of them out for day two, which made it a lot better.”

This year has almost been the perfect season for you. How have you developed as a rider?

“Aside from the first day in Chile I managed to win every other race so it’s been a dream season for me. Each time I race I try to improve my rhythm and become more focused. I also compare my times to that of the Junior class. Doing that has helped me to improve my speed, as it’s not possible to relax even if I build up a big lead in my own class. The tactic worked out and on day two in Sweden I would also have won the Junior class by about 16 seconds.”

During the winter you also spent some time training with both Antoine Meo and Simone Albergoni?

“I went to France to train with Antoine and then also spent some time in Italy with Simone. I think that’s part of the reason for my big step forward this year. Last year, I was mentally too young to cope with the pressure of racing for the world championship. Once I made a mistake it somehow caused me to make another one. Training with both Antoine and Simone has helped me to develop as a rider and be more complete in my racing – I’ve learned a lot from them.”

Of all the races this season, which has been the best one?

They’ve all been good but ultimately winning the title in Sweden is the most special. Riding out of that final special test and knowing that I’d just won the world championship was an emotional moment for me. I’ve worked so hard over the last three years to get to this position and now to finally do it means a lot. I’ll always remember this race.”

Presumably, you’ll compete in the Junior class next year but is it still too soon to discuss that?

“At the moment I’m not too sure what will happen. For sure I will race the Youth Cup in Finland but after that I will speak with my team manager to see if it’s possible to move into the Enduro Junior class for the final round in France. My objective is to move into that class for 2013 so it would be good training for me to race the 250f in France as preparation for next year.”

Finally, congratulations on becoming world champion!

“Thanks. It’s a great feeling to have won. I’d like to thank everyone that’s made this possible – my mother, my team, my sponsors and everybody that’s helped in some way.”