The EnduroGP Paulo Duarte FIM EnduroGP World Championship held its third round with the GP of Finland; a mythical race that had not been held for a few years. Starting the race from the Heinola MX circuit, the riders were faced with a complex terrain, with special stages through sandy forests, roots and stones, along with muddy puddles, combined with very fast sections. On this occasion, providing more difficulty, the riders faced the Enduro Test special with more than 11 kilometres, a test that would prove to be very decisive in the race.
The Rieju Factory Team was represented by Léo le Quéré in this race in Nordic lands and, as it was once again scoring for the Women's class, Mireia Badia and Rosie Rowett travelled there.
On Saturday, Mireia Badia began a tight battle with the championship leader, a battle that lasted until special stage 9, where Mireia continued to attack until she suffered a heavy fall that caused her to break the radius and ulna of her arm. She was then evacuated to hospital for surgery. A real pity for Badia, who has lost all her chances of fighting for the title this season. The whole team conveys a lot of encouragement to Mireia and we hope she has a good and speedy recovery.
Rosie Rowett had better fortune on Saturday, maintaining a good pace and being very consistent on a wet and tricky terrain, Rowett managed to finish on the podium in second position. On Sunday, the conditions changed as the special stages dried out and the times became faster. Rosie, despite attacking, was unable to keep up with the high pace of the riders in front, finishing fifth in the EW class.
The French rider Léo le Quéré, in addition to the strong competition he is facing this season in the E3 class of the World Championship, was facing one of the most demanding races of the championship, all of this, without being at 100% in terms of sensations. The French rider finished in tenth position on Saturday, while on the second day of the race on Sunday, he improved to ninth place.
Léo le Quéré
"The weekends follow one after the other and are similar in terms of results, but the positive thing is that we keep learning and progressing in each race. A very physically and technically demanding weekend. We did the best we could, but it's not the result expected of me, I know, despite giving 100% in every race. We will keep trying next weekend in Sweden. Thanks again to the team for their support".
Mireia Badia
"Bad news, I finish the race early due to a fall in the second stretch when I was second, breaking my radius and ulna, that's racing! Now I'm thinking about recovering and getting back to my best. Many thanks to the Rieju Factory Team for all their support and help, and to all the people who have been there to support me".
Rosie Rowett
"Very good day on Saturday with much wetter conditions compared to Sunday, managing to finish second with some very consistent times. On Sunday the ground dried out and my speed just wasn't as good, finishing fifth, which put me in fourth place in the overall championship standings."
In a week's time the EnduroGP World Championship returns with round four in Sweden.
THE RIEJU FACTORY TEAM AT THE FINNISH GP
Mireia Badia suffers a crash shortly after the end of the first day when she was in second place, the Rieju rider fractures her ulna and radius. Rosie Rowett takes 2nd and 5th in EW and Léo le Quéré takes 10th and 9th places.
