From Friday to Saturday, two prologues were held on the same course, the Iron Road, 13.5 km over rocky mountains, which the riders completed twice, counting the best time of the two passes. The goal is to enter the list of the 500 riders qualified to compete in the final line-up for Sunday's test of fire.
In this international test, the Rieju Team was formed by Francesc Moret, along with four foreign riders: Quinn Wentzel (USA), Mitch Brightmore (GB), Nicola Grossi (Italy) and Adam Extance (GB).
The best time among the team drivers in this prologue was achieved by Mitch Brightmore, finishing in 70th position, followed by Nicola Grossi in 83rd, with Francesc Moret in 89th, Quinn Wentzel in 91st and Adam Extance in 111th place, all our drivers managed to qualify for the final, starting on Sunday from the second row.
Sunday was the most complex and hardest part of the race, where riders must overcome up to 27 checkpoints through very technical areas, with complicated trialeras. For this they have 4 hours.
Francesc Moret, in his first participation has been the rider of the team who obtained the best result, despite not being finisher, he made a race from less to more, improving significantly at each checkpoint. He started in 50th position at CP1, to reach CP 21 (Carl's Dinner) in 20th place. Good also for Brightmore who stayed at the same point in 25th position. Further behind were Wentzel 62nd at CP 18, Grossi 112th at CP 16 and Adam Extance 214th at CP8.
Francesc Moret: "It has been a tough race. We arrived on Wednesday and walked for two days. I did the prologue on Friday and Saturday, my best time was on Friday, even so I am not satisfied with my result, it was a very fast prologue and there were riders who are used to speed. I qualified 89th, this forced me to start Sunday from the second row, making it difficult to overtake riders. I lost 35 minutes on a climb where there were many riders stopped, there we helped each other to get on the bikes. This time I lost was key to be able to advance more in the race, not to finish, but to improve the result. I passed CP21 and I was almost at the next CP, I had advanced three or four more riders, but the time to CP21 counted. It was a good experience, the race is picturesque, the atmosphere is very festive ... but well, looking forward to returning next year, although we suffered a lot the bike did not give any problems and endured well the most complicated and hardest race of the Hard Enduro 2022 calendar.
The fourth round of the 2022 Hard Enduro World Championship will be held on July 9 and 10 with Red Bull Abestone, in Italy, a race that will once again feature our riders.
Pending the general classification of the championship after the third round of the world championship.
