Pascal Rauchenecker secures hard-fought double podium result
Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pascal Rauchenecker has finished on the podium and in third position on both days of competition at round three of the 2017 EnduroGP World Championship, the EnduroGP of Italy in Spoleto.Battling with Spain’s Josep Garcia and Britain’s Jamie McCanney from the start of day one, Pascal topped the extreme test on laps one and two to keep himself in contention for the class win. Keeping up the pressure during the third and final lap he eventually finished third and just 9.22 seconds from the top step of the podium.
Determined to improve his result on day two Pascal made a strong start during the opening lap before again posting the fastest time during the extreme test on laps two and three. Although not quite able to close the gap to Garcia and McCanney ahead of him, he nevertheless secured a second hard-fought podium result in third and sits fourth in the Enduro 2 championship standings, just 12 points from third.
Competing alongside Pascal in the E2 class, Danny McCanney battled through the GP of Italy to finish with sixth and fifth place results. Making a number of small but costly mistakes early on day one, Danny topped the extreme test on the closing lap to finish less than one-second behind fifth placed Manuel Monni. 
Danny McCanney
Improving one position to fifth on day two, Danny struggled to find his rhythm on the long enduro test early in the day. But with strong times in both the extreme and motocross tests he made a positive end to the third round of the 2017 EnduroGP World Championship.
Frustratingly for EnduroGP class riders Christophe Charlier and Antti Hellsten the GP of Italy ended early as both riders were forced to withdraw from the second day’s competition following injuries picked up on day one. Placing seventh and 11th respectively at the end of the first day’s competition, Charlier made a highly promising start to day one, topping the extreme test on lap one. 
Christophe Charlier
Pascal Rauchenecker: “I’m very pleased with finishing on the podium on both days, but as a racer I want to be fighting for the win. This weekend my speed has been really good so that is very positive. If I can remove a few small mistakes I know I could have been fighting for the win. Day one went well from the start. I put in some good test time, got a good rhythm going, and was really pleased to finish third. I tried to improve on third on day two and really wanted to fight for the win. I took the Enduro 2 class lead at one point but lost my rhythm a little at one point. It’s been a very positive GP for me with good points. Now my focus is to try and finish one step higher on the podium.” 
Antti Hellsten
Danny McCanney: “It’s been a challenging GP for me. I had some very good test times, but just couldn't gel with the enduro test, which in many ways was the most important test. I felt good but the times just weren’t where they needed to be. I was down 20 seconds on the first extreme test on day one when I got stuck on one of the climbs, but it was the enduro test I struggled with. Finally, on the last lap on day two, I attacked it in a very different way to all other laps and it went much better. Not the best of weekends but some good championship points.” (source: husqvarna factory racing)
Round four of the 2017 FIM EnduroGP World Championship takes place in Hungary (Paradfürdo) on June 23-25.