Great Outing for Santa Cruz Syndicate at Enduro World Series #1
The opening round of the Enduro World Series in Punta Ala, Italy was a great introduction to enduro racing for the Santa Cruz Syndicate. The objective of checking out enduro racing for the first time to gain knowledge and a understanding of the format was well met. The riders were very relaxed for the race and happy to challenge themselves. Realizing that many people had practiced heavily on the tracks put into perspective expectations for race results. Happy to place 30th, 33rd and 50th respectively, Steve, Greg and Josh were pleased with their fitness and outcome considering having just one practice run on each of the four tracks.
The event opened with a street race prologue in the seaside town of Castiglione Della Pescaia. As riders practiced, the heavens opened and buckets of rain drenched the street. The race carried on when the streets dried and was a lot of fun with spectators lining the course. The next day riders rode approximately 60 kms to get to the tracks for their timed runs on the varied descents.
Greg said, “What an experience! One of the best 60 km rides I’ve ever ridden. I will be back to do more enduros, but next time I’ll be ready to race.”
Also new for the mechanics, Jason Marsh sums up their feelings, “With the enduro race format I felt like a WWII airplane mechanic waiting for the fighter pilots to return from their mission. You don’t know when they’ll be back, or what type of damage the bikes will take while out there, so you don’t know exactly what work you’ll do when they arrive. It’s nerve wracking.”
Steve also enjoyed the racing and was paired up with long time competitor Nicolas Vouilloz, “My first enduro experience went okay for how unprepared I was. I feel these events should raced blind as much as possible to make it more fair. I still feel good that I finished the day and was impressed with the top guys how prepared and serious they were. It’s certainly a different sport to downhill and different preparation is needed. My Santa Cruz Bronson was the right bike for me today, so I can now look forward to my next GXC experience.”
All smiles and laughing after a crash where he lost his shoe, Josh said, “Doing the enduro really brought it home to me. All the things you really like about downhill, learning a track and preserving your energy for the race, really make it an elite sport. I didn’t know the tracks well enough to go at race pace and I realized this twice when I crashed due to lack of track knowledge. I’ve learned a lot about how to prepare to give myself a chance to do better next time.”
The day ended with riders taking a dip in the sea and having beer, wine and Brazilian BBQ in the camping village. Thanks to Enrico Guala and his Super Enduro crew, and Chris Ball for all their efforts to make the first EWS event a huge success!
You can check out a full gallery of photos from the event here...
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