Last Weekend was the third round of the Santa Cruz Montenbaik Enduro by MTBLab. Almost two months away from the second round that held the Enduro World Series, 370 riders arrived in the small town of Machali.
Braving the cold, rain and even snow, more than 350 racers participated in the third round of the “Santa Cruz Montenbaik by MTB Enduro Lab 2014” National Championship, held in Machalí Sixth Region, which was the center of the current monarch of the tournament, Nicolas Prudencio and the former moto rider of the Dakar Rally, Josefina Gardulski.
The young athlete from team Giant Chile, who has just finished 40th in the EWS in Scotland, and is ranked World Ranking 30th, won the Enduro 1 class with 19:07.76 in the three Special Stages. In second Place Francisco Uribe (Just Bikes), 19:56.58, and the experienced Claus Plaut (Giant Chile) with 20:06.37.
Felipe Vásquez (MTB Lab) finished fourth with 20:21.15 and fifth, Max Franke (Mountain Works) with 20:37.28, who reached his first podium in the category. Pedro Ferreira, another traditional top rider, couldn’t finish the race because of a crash, while a notable absentee was Martin Flaño, who had a big crash a couple of weeks before the race.
In Enduro 2, Jorge Verdugo Cañete celebrated with 12:38.20, escorted by Alejandro Noemi with 13:28.42, and Siguer Otsu Jr. with 13:46.04. They were followed by Nicholas Calvo, with 13:57.57 and César Vásquez, with 14:01.61.
Finally, in Enduro 3, the former rider in the Dakar Rally, Josefina Gardulski, the team Mountain Works, was the fastest, with 17:20.93, ahead of Antonia Würth (18:01.96) and Laura Sosa, KTM, with 21:21.47. In Elite Women, no racer completed the demanding course. Fresh ice, in addition to the technical difficulties, presented major challenges along with the abundant mud, rain and snow in the upper circuit.
More information on www.montenbaik.com
Words: Eduardo de Solminihac | Pictures: Claudio Olguin
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