Racing

Race Report: Trek Enduro Series Finland – Calpis WarmUp

09.05.2014
by

Warm up race for 2014 Trek Enduro Series was held in Calpis on fourth of may with over 145 participants. It was a quite good amount of riders considering that it was only a practise race and not a “real race” all tough in fact it was a real race with all most all of the series top riders there to ride.

Altogether 145 riders took part in this race. Which is quite a lot for a warm up race.
Altogether 145 riders took part in this race. Which is quite a lot for a warm up race.
Henri Pellinen getting loose on the special stage 1.
Henri Pellinen getting loose on the special stage 1.

Race was held in Calpis which is a quite small hill in south Finland but the place has some character and a long history among the Downhill and freeride riders of Finland. It just goes to show that with creativity and hard work you don`t need that big of a hill to enjoy the perks of gravity on two wheels.

Riders eagerly waiting their turn to ride through the starting gate of special stage 4.
Riders eagerly waiting their turn to ride through the starting gate of special stage 4.
Anssi Kuittinen on the special stage 2.
Anssi Kuittinen on the special stage 2.

There were altogether 4 different special stages and 2 of them were ridden twice and the other 2 were ridden three times. So there were 10 race runs.

The special stages were quite short only from 1 to 2 minutes long. Half of the ascents were done with ski lifts and half with good old fashioned muscle power.

Juho Pusa destroying the corner on the special stage 5.
Juho Pusa destroying the corner on the special stage 5.

The win of the race was a battle between two riders, both whom have a distinguished history with Downhill riding, Matti Lehikoinen and Aki Färm. This time Aki Färms riding was more consistent and took the win with the smallest margin ever in Finnish MTB enduro 0.26 seconds. Juuso Pihlaja came in third with 36 seconds from the win.

Juho Pusa on the Special Stage 4.
Juho Pusa on the Special Stage 4.

It was refreshing to see new names (at least from Enduro perspective) with in the top 10. It`s going to be a interesting Trek Enduro Series for the season 2014.





Antti Suokas eating it hard on the special stage 10. He was alright after the crash.
Antti Suokas eating it hard on the special stage 10. He was alright after the crash.
Matti Lehikoinen on the final meters of the special stage 10.
Matti Lehikoinen on the final meters of the special stage 10.

Results:

Three best in Open Men 1. Aki Färm 2. Matti Lehikoinen 3. Juuso Pihlaja

Top Ten in Open Men

  1. Färm Aki 11:12.56
  2. Lehikoinen Matti 11:12.82 +00:00.26
  3. Pihlaja Juuso 11:49.06 +00:36.50
  4. Sukanen Mika 11:57.17 +00:44.61
  5. Tuppurainen Ville 12:00.49 +00:47.93
  6. Pusa Juho 12:03.00 +00:50.44
  7. Nyman Eetu 12:08.95 +00:56.39
  8. Nyman Santtu 12:13.26 +01:00.70
  9. Kokkonen Leo 12:13.36 +01:00.80
  10. Rajala Jussi 12:14.65 +01:02.09
The only and at the same time the two best in women 1. Hanna Melko 2. Kirsi Jounila

Top Two in Women

  1. Melko Hanna 15:39.80
  2. Jounila Kirsi 17:40.50 +02:00.70
Three best in Juniors 1. Oskar Vuori 2. Henri Nieminen 3. Lauri Portti

Top Three in Junior

  1. Vuori Oskar 10:54.49
  2. Nieminen Henri 11:14.94 +00:20.45
  3. Portti Lauri 11:17.89 +00:23.40
Three best in Youhts 1. Petteri Leivo 2. Atte Atrava 3. Patrick Öblom

Top Three in Youth

  1. Leivo Petteri 12:21.81
  2. Atrava Atte 12:46.87 +00:25.06
  3. Öblom Patrick 14:06.63 +01:44.82

More information on www.mtb-enduro.net

Words & Pictures: Jaakko Posti | www.jaakkoposti.com

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