Best views from SS3 start, highest point of the race
Three in one for this weekend in Ireland: 2019 Irish Enduro Championships, the third race of the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup and EWS 2020 series qualifier.
All this together makes this race by far the most physical of the season for the moment but that doesn´t stop 285 riders to get the best of it. Been an EWS qualifier event, there are some basic rules to follow and one of them is mandatory to have +15min in total between all the stages. The third stage of the race will make up for about almost one-third of this time, expect times of around 4-5min for the top riders. A long technical stage, with wild rock gardens to navigate, slippery and rooty sections that will make riders struggle to get to the bottom without crashing.
In total, 5 timed stages, to complete around 26km and +1200m. Queen stage will definitely be the third one, but anything can happen inside the forest with tons of puddles and still muddy conditions even after a couple of days of sun. There is some rain forecasts for tomorrow after 1 pm, hopefully, current sunny conditions stay in for the full race day.
All top riders will be battling to have the honor of using the Irish Champ sleeve for the next season. Leah Maunsell, Hannah Harvey, Greg Callaghan, Kelan Grant, Killian Callaghan, Harry Byrne, Scott Wallace, Glyn O´Brien, Jack Devlin, even Nathan "The Lizzard" McComb has come from sunny Malaga to test himself against the best and see if a season out of racing has taken a toll on his skills, and from today's training, we can say that he still has some trick or two under his sleeve. Sadly, young gun Ronnan Dune is out for tomorrow after a crash on SS3, he twisted his ankle badly and can not race, heal up Ronnan!
Racing starts at 9:30 and last riders to depart will be the elite category at 12:30. Stay tuned for the race report.
Each rider got a personalized race plate, no need to explain each of these
Kelan trying to replicate his pose on the poster, think he did it
Cheainreaction Belfast store providing mechanical support for the riders..and having fun at the same time
Kelan Grant looked fast, the battle for the 2019 Irish champ will be epic
Jack Devlin enjoying himself, taking the fast line on the upper section of SS3
Paddy Grant charging hard as usual on the SS 3 upper section
Young rider Ronnan Dunne sending it on the start section of SS3. Sadly just couple hundreds of meters after he had a crash and injured his ankle and the will not be able to race tomorrow
You know how to start, but no one knows how is gonna end
More than one line to choose here, muddy and slippery is the name of the game
Glyn O'Brien focused and balancing between race organization and racing
The Gregster sending it
Nathan McComb is busy with his EnduroMalagaMTB business, but couldn´t resist visiting his home soil and race for the Irish Championships
The Lizzard following the Gregster on the SS4 open midsection, one of the few completely dry and even dusty
Kelan tucked on the open fast midsection of SS4
Jacko looking fast and having fun as usual
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