EWC – Double podium for David Knight in Spain
KTM Enduro Factory Team rider David Knight has claimed a double podium result at the third round of the 2012 Enduro World Championship, the GP of Euskadi, Spain. Placing as runner-up in the Enduro 3 class to teammate, Christophe Nambotin, on Day 1, on Day 2 David slipped to third after a close battle with Swede Joakim Ljunggren. David remains in the runner-up spot in the 2012 Enduro 3 championship standings.
Well and truly moving on from the heat and dust of the opening two rounds of the 2012 EWC series, the GP of Euskadi saw a return to muddy conditions as the championship made its first of six stops in Europe. Following heavy rain in and around the host town of Munitibar in the weeks leading up to the race it was immediately obvious to all competitors that the GP of Euskadi was going to be a challenging one. With slippery grass as well as mud and ruts the order of the weekend on all special tests, David pushed as hard as he could throughout the two days of competition, beaten in the E3 class only by riders on lighter, two-stroke machinery.
Third fastest in the Enduro 3 class on the Friday night Super Test, David was among the first riders onto each of the first day’s special test. With the grass that covered so much of the tests extremely slippery David completed a mistake free day that saw him finish second in class behind Christophe Nambotin.
Day 2 saw riders complete another three long and demanding laps of the already heavily rutted course. Thankfully, the threatening rain held off but it was nevertheless a tough day. For David, the slippery opening lap proved to be the most challenging of all as his two-stroke mounted rivals were able to get the upper hand. Some 30-seconds off the pace on the opening motocross test, David fought back during the second and third laps but wasn’t able to repeat his day one runner-up result. David nevertheless secured his fifth podium result of the championship so far, just 24 seconds behind second placed Joakim Ljunggren.
“It was a hard weekend for me,” said David Knight. “Conditions couldn’t have been more different to what they were in Chile and Argentina, and it was really tough on the bigger bike. Riding a big four-stroke in slippery, muddy conditions is always hard and this weekend I just couldn’t push any harder. Again I felt like I was riding well, taking good lines and being light on the bike, but there was no way I could get close to Christophe. He rode really well. The first day was tough for all E3 class riders as we were first onto all the tests. It was on the motocross test that I was losing most time on. I rode well on the extreme tests, and the enduro test was really challenging. Day two was pretty much like Day 1.”
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