After the opening three rounds that produced some of the most scintillating and action packed racing the Enduro World Series has ever seen, it’s rather apt that the man who emerged from the chaos (the least) unscathed would be the local lad Greg Callaghan who has his sights set firmly on making it three for three in Wicklow. The weekend started in the same fashion it had for the previous two Irish encounters with blazing spring sunshine greeting the racers, for now, who have already had their share of wet weather action in 2017. Carrick Mountain’s stages are now well familiar with the racers, although a brand new fresh cut stage and the culling of another sees Sunday’s race tally sit at six with a short overall race time around the twenty minute mark. The racing will be super tight.
On Friday the racers would be tasked with practicing stages one through to four before tackling the remaining two on Saturday while the challenger race took place. The compact hill with options to repeat sections if need be gave the riders a pretty laid back practice before the rain rolled in to spice the action up, adding another dimension to Sunday’s race with the tracks unlikely to dry out much. The diverse trails will demand flat-out racing with fine margins likely to separate big groups of riders; if you had Greg Callaghan and Cecile Ravanel down as secure winners then perhaps it’s time to rethink, as who knows what the 2017 EWS season will serve up next…
Delve into the Irish gold below to whet the appetite for Sunday’s showdown.
MENTIONS:
@davetrumpore /
@rossbellphoto
That photo of Josh Bryceland, wonderful. And hey, whoever had opinions on Josh wasting his career, look at that photo and take it either as something to put a smile on your face and look for the bright side of life, or as a big fat f*ck you to your high horsed career advice. Maybe you'll keep them to yourself next time and try to put your own shit together because that dude is having fun like 99% of us never will. All the best Rat Boy!
/s
And just to beat a dead horse, your coverage has consistently been outstanding.
1. Joe Barnes
2. Josh Bryceland
3. Sam Hill
Pro Women:
1. Cecile Ravenel
2. Isabeau Courdurier
3. Ines Thoma