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Photo - Merriman at San Remo demonstrating that Trials experience does help:
Photo: Paolo Carruba
Check out the WEBSITE: of Stefan Merriman, the Kiwi born Enduro ace (across the ditch they claim him as an Aussie) for photos (including this event) his profile, latest and archived news etc.
By Lexy Thorogood:
The second round of Italian Enduro Championships (Assoluti d'Italia) was held in San Remo on the weekend. Many riders from the World Enduro Championships took part in this race as training/testing for the upcoming season. British riders - David Knight, Euan McConnell and Paul Edmondson would all take part in addition to the foreigners (non-italians) who usually ride this series - Mika Ahola (FIN), Valteri Salonen (FIN), Petri Pohjamo (FIN), Rickard Larsson (SWE). The beach resort of San Remo, hosted the event which would begin on the waterfront by the beach and wind up steep hillside into the mountains. Riders were to complete a 4 lap loop once they reached the mountain village of Bairnardo - doing the 2 enduro tests and one extreme each loop.
Due to the unusal cold snap that had been through Italy in the weeks leading up the the event, much of the race was on snow and ice covered track despite the sunny weather over the weekend. Problems with 'green' groups (conservationists) meant that most of the transfer between special tests was on the road and the organisers were limited as to where they could have special tests. There was two enduro tests and one extreme on rocky muddy trails, and no cross test as there was no space for this type of test on the steep mountain slopes.
The first enduro test was on a wide uphill fire break trail, 3rd-4th gear most of the time, very fast and dangerous. The sunny weather melted the snow making the ground very muddy. The track was littered with rocks and ice and got bumpier as the weekend progressed. The test was quite dangerous due to the speed and the obstacles (bumps and rocks) on the track.
The third test was also an enduro test - half uphill and half downhill. This was quite a fast test on a 4wd drive road on the side of a steep mountain. The track wound alongside a hill and was more dangerous that the first as there was a lot of blind corners and it was difficult to remember which corners were wide and which were like right angles. If you lost control in this test you would shoot over the edge and lose your bike down the side of the steep hill and probably spend the rest of the day trying to get your bike back onto the track. The terrain in this test was mostly flat rock, with bits of snow and ice. It was difficult for Merriman to get good traction in this test.
The second test was a very difficult extreme test up the side of a mountain. The test was very narrow and did not allow riders space to pass another rider. As the test neared the top the track had some sharp windy uphill corners over big rocks. The steep narrow winding track made it almost impossible for Merriman to 'Trials ride' the section as he would lose momentum on the corners and have to put his feet on the ground to push. The side of the test was littered with spectators and track marshalls who were there to pull riders bikes up for them when they got stuck. Apparently the Director of the race allowed this as too many riders would get stuck creating a 'bottleneck', however it goes against the rules of enduro which states that riders should not have outside assistance. Somehow the Italian federation allowed it saying that it made interesting viewing for spectators.
However the extreme test was on the top of a ridge near a small mountain village with no parking and limited access for spectators. The two enduro tests were not able to be accessed by spectators either. So this was a bit of a pointless excuse, and did not make for fair racing. Many riders were stuck in the extreme test and the test wasn't wide enough for a another rider to pass and so this rider got stuck and there was a bottleneck of riders on the test with spectators pulling the bikes up the hill. How can you compare the results of each rider when some riders had a clear run with no one in front - ie. the first rider in each class - Belometti, Botturi and Albergoni and others like the foreigners who start at the back of the class behind the slowest riders?
On Saturday the weather was clear and sunny, but cold. Merriman got stuck all three times in the extreme test. The first time he lost momentum going over a rock and then had to paddle the rest of the way through the test with his legs, wihich requires more brute force than skill. The second time he allowed a 40 second gap between himself and the next rider and when he reached the final uphill, there were two riders in front stuck with people in the test helping the bikes up and so he had to wait until they cleared before he could finish the test. He lost 30 seconds in this one test alone!
On Saturday, Merriman said," After walking the tests on Friday, I couldn't believe that the organisation could make a race like this (with an impossible extreme test) and the federation could allow it as a National event. Everyone knows that outside assistance is not allowed in enduro and yet they allowed for this event people to push the riders bikes up the difficult parts of the extreme test. It is not a competition if the riders aren't competing on their own. The two enduro tests were OK. I lost most of my time in the extreme tests as my legs are too short to push the bike up. Enduro is about skill riding the bike, how can you judge the skill of the rider when he is off the bike pushing it up the hill. The federation may just kill the sport if they continue to make races in this fashion."
In addition to these problems the new transponder timing system, which failed at the first race in Sicily, wasn't functioning again and the riders had no idea of special tests times or results during the day. In fact, no test times were shown until 11pm on Saturday night, making it difficult for the riders to know where they stood in the race during the day. Merriman was fortunate despite all these problems he finished the first day in second position behind, David Knight. Knight also admitted that the special tests were dangerous and not a good basis for competition.
Sunday was much the same as Saturday. The timing system once again failed and Merriman got stuck everytime in the extreme and had to push his bike through the test. He lost more time than Saturday, losing 30 seconds in the first extreme test. On Sunday Merriman finished up sixth.
Italian Enduro Championships - San Remo ITALY;
