To bid farewell to the 2023 season, the Rieju Factory Team took part this weekend in the EnduRoc, les Comes (Súria-Barcelona), the Enduro festival which this year celebrated its 13th edition and once again with a high level of participation, with more than 700 riders at the start, including professionals and amateurs, as well as a large number of spectators who did not want to miss out on the great spectacle of enduro.
On Saturday morning there was a reconnaissance lap and the 40 fastest riders in the timed section qualified for the afternoon SuperPole, one of the most spectacular races of this competition, in which Pau Tomás finished in fourth place, with junior Bruno Bozzo, also competing on a Rieju MR, in 13th position, followed by Eric Miquel in 17th and Mireia Badia in 29th.
On Sunday the riders completed a 38-kilometre route combining dirt tracks, trails and some trial sections over two laps. The rain that fell on Friday left the terrain in good condition, although the low temperatures early on left the ground very slippery, with several patches of ice, a situation that improved during the course of the race.
Pau Tomás was the best classified of the team, at the beginning he struggled to get the pace due to the state of the terrain, but then attacked to place himself in a good fourth scratch position, maintaining this same position until the finish line and climbing the podium as third in the Enduro3 class. Bruno Bozzo surprised again, enrolled in Junior, managed to place 9th scratch and third in the Superior Junior class, with Eric Miquel, the Junior Hard Enduro champion, who started a little behind, but was recovering positions and in the same class finished 5th and 14th scratch. In the Amigos 40 class, Alejandro Andreu won the race on a Rieju MR, and also took second scratch position in the overall Amigos classification.
Again Mireia Badia, despite some crashes, also shone in Enduroc, keeping a very good pace throughout the competition, finishing in 20th place overall and climbing to the top of the podium as the winner among the Women.
This edition of EnduRoc was the first in the Trail category and, as we at Rieju like challenges, Francesc Moret signed up with a new Adventura 500 series bike. On Saturday he finished the lap in 4th place in the Trail category, but on Sunday, a broken footpeg in an impact a few kilometres from the end of the first lap prevented him from finishing the race.
Pau Tomás:
"It was a good weekend, I'm happy, both for the SuperPole and for the race on Sunday, I was able to finish fourth both days in the overall standings. On the second day it was very important to get a good start, as it was icy at the beginning, but then the dust started to settle. I started off quite well, even though I struggled to find my rhythm, but I managed to get back up to fourth and pushed hard until the end, getting close to third, so I'm very satisfied with how the EnduRoc went in general".
Mireia Badia:
"I'm very happy, I made a good start, although as the ground was icy I tried to go a little cautiously, which caused me to be overtaken, also, on the first lap I fell, losing some positions; then I overtook several participants, but halfway through the second lap I fell again; despite this I'm happy with the pace and this was my best result in the EnduRoc, so I'm already looking forward to repeating next year."
Eric Miquel:
"In the Saturday morning section which was quite fast and technical I went well, without too many mistakes, I finished 13th, with this I qualified for the SuperPole, a very intense test, in which I started well and placed myself in the group of the top ten, although at the end of the first lap I had a small fall and I was overtaken by several riders, I then recovered the fast pace, improving positions to finish 17th. On Sunday, a new competition, in which I started a little bad, but I was recovering positions, placing me tenth. Due to the cold I couldn't get a good grip on the handlebars, so I was overtaken by up to four riders. In the end I was able to keep this position and I reached the finish line in 14th place. I'm happy with the pace of the race and to have been fighting with top riders."
