The Rieju Factory Team faced this weekend the first round of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship in Fafe, Portugal.
As usual, on Friday afternoon the riders disputed the Super Test, which was short, but with technical and slow areas, which was complicated due to the rain that fell before and during the competition, leaving a waterlogged and very slippery terrain, which could easily go to the ground.
Àlex Puey went out very fast, looking for the best lines, making one of the best performances that were seen in the afternoon, finishing with the best time of the Junior class 1:49.64, taking a deserved victory and also achieved a spectacular fifth place scratch.
When the Enduro3 riders started, the rain was heavy, worsening the track conditions, but Dominik Olszowy, used to this kind of scenarios, made his new MR300i fly and set a great time: 1:49.03, the best time of the night, a time that would not be beaten by any other rider, taking his first victory in EnduroGP.
Saturday and Sunday's races changed scenery, the riders had nine special stages and more than seven hours of competition ahead of them, under a terrain that combined areas of grassy meadows and wet soil, with several mud pools and large rocks, all very slippery, fortunately, on Sunday it was drying out.
In the Women's class, Rachel Gutish in her debut with Rieju was fighting most of the day on Saturday for the victory, although some mistake finally left Rachel in an equally good second place on the podium. Rosie Rowett, a little more erratic, finished in fourth place. On Sunday, Gutish tuned to lead the class, but on the second lap she was overtaken by her main rival, repeating the second position just 2 seconds from the victory. Rowett maintained a similar performance to the first day, finishing in fifth place. In the provisional Championship standings, Gutish is second with 34 points and Rowett fourth with 24 points.
Facing more established riders and specialists of traditional enduro, Olszowy was battling intensely, highlighting his times mainly in the passage through the extreme special, to finish Saturday in the fifth position of Enduro3 and 17th overall. On Sunday, with a drier terrain, the differences were a little more pronounced, in addition, a penalty left Dominik in the ninth position of Enduro3 and 26th overall. With these results, the Polish rider is seventh in the provisional E3 classification.
In Junior, with a very fierce competition and in the class with the highest participation, Àlex Puey started the day in an eventful way, in the first extreme special, which was very delicate, he had a hard fall, losing a lot of time, a handicap that dragged throughout Saturday, despite this, during the second lap he pressed to recover positions, finishing in 9th place in Junior1 and 14th in Junior. On Sunday the course remained demanding; after the first special stages, with a somewhat irregular performance, Puey completed the first lap in 12th provisional position, but despite attacking, again various errors were delaying him to finish in 16th place. In the provisional general classification of J1, Àlex Puey occupies the 8th position.
Statements:
Dominik Olszowy:
''Thrilled to share that our hard work with the new Rieju MR300i over the past year keeps paying off!
Last weekend, we competed in the first round of EnduroGP in Portugal, where we secured our first-ever overall win in the Super Test!
Saturday was solid with a 5th place finish in E3 and a good, steady pace, but Sunday brought its challenges as we haven’t fully adjusted yet after the intense, short-format SuperEnduro season.
But we’ll get there soon!
Excited for what’s ahead and can’t wait to write more new chapters in Rieju’s history together!''
Rachel Gutish:
“The EnduroGP round in Portugal was quite good, with variable weather conditions, from torrential rain to bright sunshine. Both the rally and the special stages were tough and challenging; it was real enduro. Overall, I am happy with my results, finishing second on both days. Given that we only planned to race EnduroGP two weeks ago and that the Rieju is still new to me, I think it's a good result. Of course second place won't be enough to win the championship, so I still have a lot of work ahead of me before Wales! But I'm really looking forward to it and I really appreciate all the help and support from Rieju, who make this EnduroGP season possible.”
Miquel García, Manager Rieju Factory Team:
“Good start of the race with the victories of Dominik Olszowy together with Àlex Puey in the Super Test, happy also with the team debut of Rachel Gutish. Although we need to improve on Saturday and Sunday's performances in the race specials, I leave Portugal happy overall with all our drivers.”
The second round of the FIM EnduroGP World Championship will be held in Oliana, Lleida, from May 2 to 4, a highly anticipated GP as it will be held at home.
