Enduro European Championship at Kielce (Poland)

DAY 1 – Kawasaki rider Alessandro Battig (photo1) from Italy won the title in his class on the first day of the European Enduro Championship final in Kielce, Poland.
With a further day victory in the class of the four-stroke machines over 250 cc, he was able to extend his lead up to the mathematical certainty of the title.

In the remaining two days of competition he would concentrate on winning the title in the overall standings in addition. There, too, the Italian is in the lead of the European Championship and with his second place in the overall standings on Friday, he has come a little closer to this goal. Although he was beaten by his compatriot, junior Lorenzo Macoritto, he was able to leave behind his direct rivals in the championship, such as the Frenchman Hugo Blanjoue who only finished third.
Maurizio Micheluz (photo2) won in the two-stroke class up to 250 cc and extended his lead to a respectable 29 points.
With his victory in the four-stroke class up to 250 cc Tommaso Montanari increased his lead to 23 points.

DAY 2 – On the second day of the final some other riders were able to secure the title.
Italian Maurizio Micheluz secured the title in the two-strokes up to 250 cc with the day’s victory, so far unbeaten in the Championship. But it is not the first title for the Husqvarna rider, who has often been at the top of the podium in recent years.
Tommaso Montanari won his first European Championship title in the four-stroke class up to 250 cc: the Italian was beaten by local hero Giezma Maciej in the daily classification, but in the Championship the KTM rider stayed ahead of his rival Jonathan Rosse from Switzerland.
Pole Sebastian Krywult on KTM won the senior class for riders aged 40 and over, for the first time since 2016.

DAY 3 – With the overall victory in the final motocross, Italian Alessandro Battig also won the overall championship at the final of the European Enduro Championship after his title in the cubic capacity class.
His dealer team, the Osselini team, also won the European Championship title, as did the Italian national team – again with Battig.
Alessandro Battig hadn’t even expected to ride for the whole Championship at the beginning of the season – he only took part to the opening event because it started in his home country – Italy. Afterwards his team convinced him to contest the complete series.
But for the hosting Country, 42-year-old Sebastian Krywult from Poland won his second European title in the senior class.
In the Women’s singles KTM rider Sanna Kärkkäinen from Finland won her second European title in the class after 2015. She won all heats, except for the last day in the final cross. There she had to let the Sherco rider Nieve Holmes from England take the victory in front of her.
Kärkkäinen’s compatriot Roni Kytönen was able to secure the title with a triple win in Poland for the junior class (under 21), after the leader of the class, Italian Claudio Spanu, had already dropped out on the first day due to a technical defect.

The junior class E1 was won by Thomas Dubost, who rides in the same KTM team as his friend Hugo Blanjoue. Blanjoue was unlucky in the final, when he got stuck at the start and had to fight his way up from last place. As a result, he lost so much time that he could not win the overall standings of all riders.
At the same time as the final, the national competition was also held: the Clubs’ Team series was won by Sweden, as well as the Women’s Team.
In the Junior Team, France dominated (with the two European champions) and the Team Championship went to Italy for the sixth time.
More infos on the Enduro European Championship website:
http://european-enduro.com/
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/630

Photos © Robert Pairan