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Double victory for Pojhola in Paikuse as Walton second in E2! 2023 Borilli Enduro European Championship Round 3 – Race Report & Results

The sun shone in Paikuse for the first day of the Airoh Round #3 of the 2023 Borilli Enduro European Championship. On time at 10 a.m. the Youth class’ Riders officially kicked off the first day of the race, consisting of 3 laps with a length of 64 km and 3 special tests. The first to be faced was the Airoh Cross Test, followed by the Eleveit Enduro Test and finally the 24MX Extreme Test. If the Eleveit Enduro Test and the 24MX Extreme Test shared a sandy solid, the Airoh Cross Test took place inside a fast turf lawn.

Report and Images by European Enduro Championship

With the Start of the first rider, the fight for the Overall first position began; Eemil Pohjola read perfectly all the test and took the lead with a fair margin. Alex Walton skilfully defended himself from the attacks of Diego Haution and Lucas Bergstrom, intent on taking his second position. At the end of the ninth special test the Overall silver was still in the hands of Alex Walton while Diego Haution grabbed the bronze and pushed Bergstrom off the podium.

Eemil Pohjola: ”It was a good race for me, I managed to ride well and I’m happy with my result that I hope to repeat tomorrow”

Alex Walton: “A positive day for me. I’m not a rider who expresses himself best on the sand but I still managed to make a good result.”

Diego Haution: “I’m happy with my riding and, despite a mistake, I managed to win. I hope to do well tomorrow as well.”

Luca Colorio won for the very first time in the Youth class; thanks to the excellent times recorded throughout the day he managed to keep the championship leader Romain Dagna behind him. The gap that separated the two young champions is only 3 cents. Also the gap between the third ranked, Valentin Mersin, and the fourth, Pietro Scardina, is ridiculous. Fifth success for Riccardo Fabris in Junior 1. The italian continues to sting top positions thanks to its own speed. The second position today was the prerogative of Miks Rasmanis. Unfortunately, the podium of this class consists of only two riders, as the remaining protagonists did not complete the day. After fighting hard all day Diego Haution clinched the first win in Junior 2, tying a fast-paced Lucas Bergstrom in second place and Lorenzo Bernini in third place.

Eemil Helander interrupted Andreas Beier’s streak of successes in the E1 class, clinging to the day’s win by a very good margin over runner-up Jacopo Traini. The Italian, after skipping the second round, returned to the stage and got on the podium ahead of class leader Andreas Beier, who finished third. In addition to the Overall victory Eemil Pohjola also won that of the E2 class, with championship leader Alex Walton and reigning European champion Erik Willems behind him. David Abgrall continued to be the best riders of the E3 class; the Frenchman won again today and relegated reigning champion Dietger Damiaens in second position and Polish Gabriel Chetnicki in third. Maurizio Micheluz again topped the Senior Class. Thanks to his riding he managed to confirm himself as the best Senior rider by tying Nico Rambow in second position and in third place Mika Karma. Tanja Schlosser returned to win in the Women class; a succession of excellent times allowed her to triumph over championship leader Vilde Marie Holt and Vivi-Maria Makinen. In the Trade Team, Diligenti Racing still triumphed, second place for Sweden Enduro Team and third place for KTM Team Novi Korona.

To score the best time in both the Airoh Cross Test Trophy and the Eleveit Enduro test Trophy was the Overall winner Eemil Pojhola.

Day One Results

Day Two

Another beautiful sunny day welcomed the 70 riders during the second day of the Airoh Round 3#, valid as the third round of the 2023 Borilli Enduro European Championship. As in the previous day there were three laps scheduled for the riders and also the special tests number remained the same. The Airoh Cross Test again did the honours; a small change has been made to its track, in fact for safety reasons the final part has been enriched with new corners that have lengthened its travel time. The Eleveit Enduro Test and the 24MX Extreme Test remained unchanged, except for the deep ruts that were created within them.

Eemil Pohjola made his own the head of the race from the very first special, proving again to be the riders to beat. The young Finn was able to manage his energies and tension, winning for the second time the scratch. David Abgrall started the day slowly but was then able to find the right pace. He took the second position right in front of his classmate Damiaens Dietger, who returned to the overall podium after a year of absence. At the end of this second day Estonian Abgrall is the new championship leader, thus winning the 24MX Leader plate by right.

Eemil Pohjola: “Another positive day. I drove well in rehearsals and had good times and I’m happy about that.”

David Abgrall: “A perfect weekend; today I had problems with a part of the transfer but then I was able to push to the maximum and win the class and finish second overall.”

Damiaens Dietger: “Finally a day without falls and big mistakes. I’m glad how all the hard work is finally bearing fruit.”

The hard-fought Youth class saw a new name triumph: Gabin Allemand. The young Frenchman and his KTM were able to juggle the pitfalls of special tests and win the final victory against Pietro Scardina and Davide Mei, who concluded again on the third step of the podium after Portugal. Sixth consecutive success and championship victory for Riccardo Fabris! The Italian confirmed what he did on the previous day by winning once again in the Junior 1 class. Dawid Babicz managed to score a second place in front of Miks Rasmanis who finished 3rd. Second win for Diego Haution in Junior 2. The Frenchman repeated the success of Saturday and won P1 again. Sweden’s Lucas Bergstrom still finished second as Matyas Chlum took the first podium of the season. Eemil Helander repeated what he did in Day 1 still winning the E1 class and relegating Jacopo Traini to second place and championship leader Andreas Beier to third. Eemil Pohjola also won in the E2 class by tying Alex Walton in second place and Erik Willems in third. The Enduro 2 podium therefore remained unchanged from that of Saturday.

David Abgrall and Damiaens Dietger not only competed for the overall podium but also that of the E3 class; the Frenchman prevailed on both occasions. David is therefore the first placed, Dietger the second and once again Gabriel Chetnicki closed the podium. Sixth consecutive success for Maurizio Micheluz, who is getting closer to winning the thirteenth European title, this time in the Senior class. Nico Rambow once again took the second place as Andrè Decker closed the class podium. Victory of the day for Women class leader Vilde Marie Holt; the Norwegian managed to put the wheels ahead of German Tanja Schlosser who finished second and Mauricette Brisebard closed in third place. First class win for Sweden Enduro Team, second place for Diligenti Racing and third place for Team KTM Novi Korona.

The third Round of the 2023 Borilli Enduro European Championship has officially come to an end; a race that in its own way changed the standings of the various classes and made the 24MX Round #4 even more decisive for the 2023 European titles. Poland will have the honour of decreeing the next European champions and will do so on 16 and 17 September in Kielce.