On Saturday morning, timed training sessions were held, while in the afternoon a Super Enduro was held on the Almedina football pitch. On Sunday, the participants had to overcome a short 8-kilometre route around the town, with an arid, soft and dry terrain, with trialeras of large stones, very vertical climbs and descents, in which it was very easy to get stuck.
Francesc Moret arrived at this final round as leader of the championship, despite this, the competition was not at all easy, overcoming some adversities that he encountered during the weekend.
On Saturday, in the qualifying laps, Moret already had a few hitches, after checking that the terrain was very treacherous, with several traps and a terrain that sank easily, despite this, he was able to finish in sixth place.
With a sixth starting position on Sunday, Moret quickly moved into the lead of the race. Although in the Hard Enduro, complications come very easily and precisely at one point in the race, Moret preferred that his rival overtook him, to ride behind him. But at one point, Francesc suffered a brake problem and despite the difficulties, he arrived at the assistance, repaired it and continued in the race, although he lost a considerable amount of time and dropped to seventh position. Francesc then went into attack mode and began to recover positions again, until with two laps to go, he was third, a position he would not leave until he crossed the finish line. Thanks to this result, the Rieju rider was able to score the necessary points to win his first Spanish Hard Enduro Championship title.
With this race, the 2022 Hard Enduro season comes to an end, where Francesc Moret, riding the Rieju MR300, has had a great season, showing himself to be very consistent and without dropping off the podium in any of the events of the year, adding up to 4 third positions and a victory, which finally brought him this well-deserved award.
Francesc Moret:
"The weekend was different, even though I came in as leader, I had no pressure, although we always want to win. In qualifying on Saturday I felt good and with a good feeling, although the track was quite dirty, soft and with very high grass, so I found some traps in which I got caught, finishing a little behind in the standings. On Sunday I started well, placing myself in the top five, and soon after I attacked, improving my position to take the lead, but keeping a little bit of margin. In the course of the race I preferred to be overtaken by my opponent, and then I was behind him. Shortly after I heard a noise, the brake hose was rubbing against my rear wheel and broke, I was able to finish the lap. I arrived at the assistance and changed the brake kit, losing about 14 minutes and dropping to seventh position. Immediately, I was back in the race, imposing a very high pace, pushing to the maximum and despite some mistakes, I finally got the third final position.
I am happy with the comeback, it has been a season in which I have not been off the podium in any race, which I think is very good, you have to be very regular and it is not easy. I'm very happy to have won this Spanish Championship, which I honestly didn't expect after leaving Trial. I would like to thank the whole Rieju team for the great work they have done during the season, the sponsors who help me and thanks to them we have also been able to achieve this, now it's time to think about next season".
Miquel García - Rieju Team Manager:
"At Rieju we are very happy, it's only two years since we entered the world of enduro with this bike. Rieju has made a commitment to racing, which makes me personally very happy; we have been taking small steps, little by little, trusting our people, we know very well who we are, where we come from and what we can do. We do everything very calmly and with a lot of humility and that's how I hope it is seen from the outside.
I am happy for the title won with Francesc Moret in the Spanish Hard Enduro Championship and obviously I would like to thank all the people who have helped us to move forward, the mechanics, the workers, the riders, in the end it is the work of everyone, a group of people who help us and that is normally done out of passion; Rieju is a factory of passion, family and small, and for us all this is very important".
