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From Stefan & Lexy.
Italian Cadetti Race, Treviglio:
After a relaxing holiday in Australia and New Zealand, Stefan and I have returned to a hot and sweaty Italy.
The weather here is quite strange. It reaches a humid 30 degrees and by the afternoon a thunderstorm arrives. Suffering the heat and jet lag we though it best to get racing to get back into the swing of things. Last Thursday Stefan picked up his new six-day bike, a new completely standard WR125. On Friday we left home in Varese for an Italian Cadetti race, 1 hour west of Milan in a small village called Treviglio.
After getting off the ring road of Milan in the wrong place, my dodgy navigating landed us lost in the town of Gorgonzola (I think where the stinky cheese is made!) A couple of deviations due to road works and a few stern conversations later we made it to Village Treviglio. The race was situated at a recreational fishing reserve. There was three special tests around the lake, only 300m apart. The format was a little different for the race than the usual enduro. It started at 9pm on Saturday night. All the riders are required to do an accelation test, where they go as fast as they can down a straight and their clocked time is multipled by 4, to give the first special test time (remember they are doing this in pitch black with only a headlight!!). Then there was a motocross test (4mins long)which was lit up by 3 floodlights. Each rider had to complete this test three times and then the fastest oveall wins.
Stefan finished second to local rider, Albergoni who knew the track so well he may as well have ridden blindfolded! Then the next day all riders were to complete the three special tests (two were in maize paddocks)five times, to give a total of 15 special tests on the Sunday. The weather was hot and sticky and some riders pulled out of the race, suffering heat exhaustion and cramps. Stefan managed to win the day over home town favorite Albergoni, despite losing 15 secs in a crash. The combined times of Saturday and Sunday, earned Stefan first place overall and a $1000AUD prize money, which will cover the costs of going to the race and the costs of going to the race in Rome next weekend. Next weekend is the next round of the Italian Championships. The race will be held in Terni, Rome. Today I am off to Milan to sort out my visa to go to the Czech Republic for the six days of enduro at the end of the month. Stefan is testing the bike with some mechanics today.
