Grimbo wins on Day 2
Husqvarna’s Graham Jarvis was the rider to beat on day two of Red Bull Minas Riders with the British rider leading the field home. With ground to make up on race leader Alfredo Gomez (KTM) the King of Hard Enduro went on the attack as the race made its way from Belo Horizonte to Oro Preto. With the punishing 160-kilometre long track to his advantage, Jarvis pulled two minutes back on Gomez’ lead.
Delivering competitors a long and demanding day of riding, the route from Belo Horizonte to Oro Preto was both physically and mentally taxing for all. With challenging climbs, mountain top single track trails and fresh, grassy off-cambered hills littered with hidden rocks and stones, keeping full concentration for the duration of the seven-hour day was anything but easy. From Gold to Bronze class almost every rider sampled their fair share of Brazilian dirt.
With the top three riders from day one allowed to select their starting position for day three, Gomez opted to leave third, resulting in Paul Bolton (KTM) leading everyone out at 6.30am sharp.
Immediately Jarvis went on the attack and before the service point had put himself into the lead. Going on to win the day, his winning margin may have been even greater if not for one costly error. Mistiming a stream crossing, he ended up waist deep in water in an attempt to save his bike from drowning.
Claiming a career best second place, KTM’s Philipp Scholz was one of the day’s standout performers. Bouncing back in style following his day one disaster, the German ended his day just one-minute behind Jarvis.
Race leader Gomez’ race took a turn for the worst 30 minutes before service. Falling off a narrow single-track ledge, he almost put himself out of the race. With his bike lucky to catch a tree lower down the slope, it took the efforts of Gomez, Scholz and Lars Enockl to pull the bike back to the trail.
Needing to work overtime to recover the time lost, Gomez put in a remarkable charge during the latter half of the day. One of the fastest riders following the service, the Spaniard ended his day two minutes adrift of Jarvis to maintain a three-minute lead as the race enters its second half.
Despite starting first on the track, Bolton didn’t have the best of days and finished 11 minutes behind Jarvis in fourth while Lars Enockl completed the top five in the Gold class.
Graham Jarvis: “I started out second on the road behind Paul Bolton and caught up to him close to the service point. The course wasn’t incredibly difficult but the combination of slippery dirt and hidden rocks and stones made for a physically draining day. I only really had one major mistake when I mistimed a ditch jump and almost drowned my bike in a stream. I was left standing in waist deep water trying to save it. Other than that it was a really enjoyable day. I’ve closed the gap to Alfredo Gomez in the overall standings so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Alfredo Gomez: “I made one major mistake about 30 minutes before the service point. My bike slid of a narrow ledge. I tried to pull it out by myself but it wasn’t possible. When Lars Enockl and Phillip Enockl arrived next we managed to get it out. A big thank you to them otherwise my race might have been over.”
Philipp Scholz: “After the problems yesterday today has been fantastic. This is my best ever result in Hard Enduro, finishing second. I’m so pleased with that. Before service I helped Alfredo Gomez recover his bike from a ledge and after that we rode together. He was riding really hard but I followed him. It felt great to ride that pace, I learned so much doing that. Hopefully I can keep this form going for the final two days.” (source: future7media)
Provisional Results – Gold Class, Day 2: 1. Graham Jarvis, 2. Philipp Scholz, 3. Alfredo Gomez, 4. Paul Bolton, 5. Lars Enoeckl