With the race season coming to a close it was the SloEnduro Series’s turn to host it’s final round for the year in Grožnjan, the words below come directly from the event organizer.
The final race of SloEnduro series was held in Grožnjan, Croatia, during the past weekend. Grožnjan offered a nice atmosphere, great weather and perfect trails which made a super two days of racing for 121 riders. The final race welcomed special guests Gustav Wildhaber and Ludwig Döhl from Cube Action Team who had a great race, but couldn’t reach the very top spot. It was reserved for Vid Peršak (Orbea Enduro Crew) who confirmed his domination in 2016 season.
After Saturday’s prologue Wildhaber was in the lead in front of Peršak and he kept his lead also after first Sunday’s stage. After that Peršak was getting stronger, made a gap of ten seconds on the second stage and increased in the third stage, so he was feeling comfortable before last two stages. Due to the ambulance taking one rider to the hospital there was a long brake before fourth stage which had to be cancelled due to a big delay, so riders headed to the last, fifth stage of the day. Peršak lost some time on that one, but still managed to hold his lead and made it to his fifth victory of the season in front of Wildhaber. Third spot was filled by Kristijan Medvešček, while top five was rounded out by Primož Štrancar (Orbea Enduro Crew) and Ludwig Döhl.
In women’s competition unfortunately we didn’t see the series leader Nina Rupnik (MBK SportR.si), but “missing” Ana Zupan (Energijateam.com) joined the riders on the start. Ana was still searching for the racing rhythm in Saturday’s prologue and let Giulia Albanese (U.C. Caprivesi) and Gorana Težak (KBBXS Adrenalina) to pass her. On Sunday’s race Giulia didn’t find the best way down the trails and she lost her lead and even dropped out of top three, while Tina Rejc managed to step on the gas and headed up to the top. Anyway she still couldn’t pass Ana and had to be happy with second spot, while Gorana ended where she started with the prologue, in third place.
In juniors competition Maks Trobec (Pedal Racing) was happy to reach his first victory of the season. He was faster than his team mate Matjaž Istenič and Ciril Zupan (Energijateam.com). Fastest rider in Master 1 category was Robert Kordež (Black Hole Enduro), like expected, while second spot was filled by Sebastjan Stres (Kamplc Racing) and third by Iztok Slapnik (Energijateam.com) Master 2 category was once again won by Primož Štrancar (Orbea Enduro Crew), who was faster than Alen Jurjević (BBK Grožnjan) and Janez Golmajer (MTB Klub Kranj) in second and third spot. Kristijan Medvešček was the fastest rider in hobby category, while Michael Liendl (Lemur Racing) and Christoph Eder (URC Scheiher Gnas) reached second and third position. Race was stopped due the ambulance emergency drive, which took Davor Kacin to the hospital after his crash. He already informed us he was OK and just needs a few days of rest.
Full results can be found at SloEnduro.com
Words & Photos: SloEnduro
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