SloEnduro: Grožnjan Final Provides 2016 Series Champions

The Slovenian international enduro series finished in Istria, Croatia. Vid Peršak and Yana Dobnig win the overall, Petra Bernhardt and Peršak fastest in Grožnjan.


After Saturday’s prologue and Sunday’s five special stages on trails near the town of Grožnjan in Istria, Croatia, Slovenian Vid Peršak (Gaes Orbea Enduro Crew) emerged as the winner of Enduro Grozni, the final round of SloEnduro International Series. Peršak won with just over 14 seconds of advantage over Austrian Gerd Skant (Giant Stattegg). This duel also decided the overall title winner and Vid became the series champion for second year in a row.


Italian Luca Braidot, better known for his cross-country achievements like 7th place at this year’s Olympic race, took third place in his first ever enduro race. Slovenian Tadej Razpet (Pedal Racing Team) secured third overall with 5th place.

Skant was leading after five rounds of the series while Peršak was rounding out the top five just 70 points behind. Razpet, Peter Mlinar (Blackthorn) and Daniel Schemmel (Cube Action Team) were in between.


Schemmel did not show up at Croatian round while Mlinar dropped his chain in stage 1, crashed in stage 2 and was out of contention for top places. 6th placed overall Nejc Huth (Energijateam.com) was doing great and was in second position after 4th stage, but flatted on last stage and slid to 4th. Mlinar finished the series in fourth and Huth in fifth.

After Polish masters 1 rider Marcin Motyka (Romet Racing Team) won the prologue, Peršak won three stages on Sunday, including the Kenda SuperStage (2nd stage of the day), and Skant and Huth each won one.


For third time in her first enduro season the Austrian Petra Bernhardt (RC Gravity Eagles), this time from Croatian Gorana Težak (KBBXS Adrenalina) and Italian Giulia Albanese (UC Caprivesi). Other Austrian rider Yana Dobnig (RLM Mondraker Racing Team), who secured the overall title before the final, finished fourth.

Matjaž Istenič (Energijateam.com) remained undefeated in men’s junior category, this time he was 9th fastest overall. In master 1 Motyka won with 7th overall while the overall title goes to Slovenian Robert Kordež (Black Hole Enduro Team). In master 2 Slovak Peter Drabik (Kaktus Bike) won the race and second placed Austrian Cri Maierhofer (Radlager Racing Division) became the series champion. Nejc Kotnik (Bike Nomad) won the final race and Blaž Hölcl the overall in hobby class.


130 riders representing 11 countries entered the third edition of Enduro Grozni, organized by Grožnjan mountain bike club. It rained overnight from Friday to Saturday, then the course was drying slowly during the day. On Sunday only sections were still muddy and slippery.

Finish line stories
On Saturday it did not seem very likely that Peršak would be able to climb from fifth to first overall the next day. After crashing hard into a tree he spent most of the day in the hospital. But his ribs were not cracked and surprisingly he was not in that much pain on Sunday morning. “I rode all day not risking too much. It is nice to end the season this way. It has been a long season and my head was getting tired. A great weekend and a great race,” Vid said.


“Third stage was my best, I won it, but then I was not able to find the flow in fourth,” said Skant. “It was a great season, I became Austrian champion and won my first SloEnduro race in Kamnik. I am looking forward to racing here next year.” It was the first time that Luca Braidot joined his brother Stefano in an enduro race: “I love the discipline and the event, the atmosphere was so relaxed.”

Razpet successfully defended first place in Kenda SuperStage ranking and finished third overall but chose wrong tyres for race day: “Very aggressive mud spikes were great until stage three but then it was too dry and I was lacking control.”

Women’s race winner Petra Bernhardt was tired at the end: ” There was a lot of pedaling and the stages were hard to memorize. The grip was good at the end but I crashed twice on stage three. I rode all the transfers with the girls and I really enjoyed it. I would like to do all SloEnduro races in 2017 and I hope there will be around in my hometown Graz.”


Ajdovščina hosts the end of season event again
There is only the end of season event left in the SloEnduro calendar. Ajdovščina will host the day of riding and evening of ceremonies again on Saturday, November 19th. Besides the top three in each category, SloEnduro will also award the rookie of the year, the “superriders” who finished all 16 events of the season, the best team and the best event of the season.


Results: Enduro Grozni

More on: sloenduro.com