Great performance from Rachel Gutish and Rosie Rowett, who leave the EnduroGP of Portugal leading the World Championship, thanks to their first and second places achieved on the opening day of competition.
The FIM Paulo Duarte EnduroGP World Championship once again returned to Portugal for its fifth race of the season, replacing the French round. This time, however, it moved to the center of the country, specifically in Vila de Rei.
With very dry and dusty terrain, the race featured fast yet broken special tests, hiding stones beneath the fesh-fesh, forcing riders to remain highly attentive. Unfortunately, on Sunday the race had to be cut short due to a forest fire in the same area, preventing the participants from completing the final lap.
Within the RIEJU Factory Team, all eyes were on the performances of its Women’s class riders, Rachel Gutish and Rosie Rowett, who arrived in Portugal holding provisional second and third place in the World Championship standings.
On Saturday, Gutish took the lead at the beginning of the second lap and maintained it until the finish line in a triumphant day, claiming the first victory of the season for the American. She was followed by her teammate, Britain’s Rosie Rowett, who secured a magnificent second place.
On Sunday, Rachel Gutish fought hard for first place, eventually finishing in second. Rosie Rowett, meanwhile, ended the day in fourth place. These results mark a major step forward for the RIEJU Factory Team in the World Championship, as both riders earned enough points to climb to the top of the provisional standings. Gutish now leads the championship with 105 points, while Rowett moves up to second place with 94 points.
This fierce title fight will intensify at the final round of the EnduroGP Women’s World Championship, which will take place from October 17 to 19 in Zschopau (Germany). There, the RIEJU Factory Team riders will face their last and most decisive challenge to keep their title hopes alive.
In the premier Enduro3 class, Dominik Olszowy started the event strong, setting the fastest class time and fourth overall in Friday’s Super Test. However, over the next two days he struggled to find his rhythm on this type of special test, finishing sixth on Saturday and seventh on Sunday. With these results combined, Olszowy now sits sixth in the Enduro3 World Championship with 94 points.
In the Junior category, Àlex Puey delivered a very consistent race. On Saturday he finished fourth in J1 and sixth overall in Junior. On Sunday he repeated fourth in J1 and was seventh in the overall Junior standings. After a series of complicated races, Puey is now ranked sixth in J1 with 94 points.
Both Olszowy and Puey still have two more rounds to complete the EnduroGP World Championship: Italy at the end of September and Germany in October.
Statements
Rachel Gutish:
"I’m really excited to be leaving with the red plate after the EnduroGP of Portugal. Normally I struggle in dry and dusty conditions, so I’m really happy to finish first and second. I’m looking forward to EnduroGP Germany in a few weeks."
Rosie Rowett:
“Overall, a good weekend of racing. On Saturday I started strong with a second place in very tough and demanding conditions. The second day was a little slower with too many mistakes, which left me in fourth, but I’m very happy to be second in the championship heading into the final round.”
Dominik Olszowy:
“We finish the fifth round of EnduroGP with a race that was overall tough, with demanding and fast specials, a lot of rocks and dust. I’m quite happy with my Friday run in the Super Test. Saturday and Sunday were not as good, as I tried to find the flow but couldn’t, so I wasn’t able to ride as I wanted. Now there are two more races left before the end of the EnduroGP season, so we’ll come back stronger.”
Àlex Puey:
“I’m happy with the weekend, finally I’ve managed to put in a good race in the World Championship, the way I wanted, fighting for the front positions. On Saturday I finished sixth overall in Junior and fourth in J1, really close to the podium, less than 30 seconds away. On Sunday, while fighting for the podium, I had a crash where I lost several seconds, otherwise I think I would have made it to the podium. They stopped the race because of the fire and I was disappointed since I was only 13 seconds off the podium, but still, I take away the pace I had all weekend and how good I felt on the bike. We’ll try to do the same at the next round in Italy in two weeks, push hard to do our best, and I want to thank the whole team and Miquel.”
