After four long and demanding months of racing Bel-Ray Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Alfredo Gomez signs off on the 2015 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship with a fifth place result in the final series standings.
Delivering Husqvarna Motorcycles’ best performance at the season ending finale in Cahors, France Gomez brought his FE 350 home in fourth overall.
With the sixth and final round taking place on an extremely tight, technical and physically demanding course, Gomez was hoping to put his years of trials experience to good use and deliver a strong result. But during the night’s second practice session the Spaniard tore a ligament in his finger.
Determined to ride on, Gomez battled his way to three fourth place results to secure a top five position in the overall championship standings.
Bringing his SuperEnduro season to a close, Daniel McCanney endured an up and down night. Qualifying for the SuperPole showdown, Danny claimed sixth place in races one and two. Unfortunate mistakes in the final race left him eighth overall on the night. He ended his season ninth overall.
Making his first appearance in the SuperEnduro series in 2015, Mathias Bellino was hoping to make good on his podium result from last weekend’s Enduro Indoor de Barcelona. But with the course favouring the trials specialists, Bellino was unable to deliver the result he wanted in front of his home crowd and he placed ninth overall.
Sampling SuperEnduro action for the very first time, Colton Haaker made the trip over from the USA to compete. With the SuperEnduro series proving far different than his regular AMA EnduroCross Championship, Haaker struggled to adapt to the conditions and had to settle for tenth overall.
Alfredo Gomez: “This wasn’t quite the result I hoped for tonight. I was feeling really good on the track but in the second practice session I tore a ligament in my finger. I was in a lot of pain and was barley able to use the front brake. But it was the last round of the series and I wanted to race and protect my position in the championship. I struggled but managed to finish fourth three times to end the championship in fifth.”
Mathias Bellino: “After missing out on the entire championship I only came to this race to have some fun. I wanted to put on a good show for my French public and try to give them a good race. But without any proper training I just wasn’t ready for this track. It was so tight and technical – I wasn’t comfortable on it and I didn’t want to risk more than I needed to. Eighth overall is not ideal but I’m happy to be safe and now focused on the Enduro World Championship.”
Daniel McCanney: “France just sort of summed up my SuperEnduro season really. The course suited the trials type riders and I really struggled to find any rhythm with it. I managed to place sixth in the first two races but mistakes in the final race cost me a chance at improving my overall position. Generally it’s been a tough series for me but hopefully an important one. I’ve learned a lot about my new bike and feel motivated to head outdoors for the EWC.”
Colton Haaker: “It was a last minute decision to race here so I didn’t really have any expectation. I just wanted to experience this style of racing. It took a few races to get into things, it wasn’t until the second last race that I began to improve my speed and confidence. Tenth overall is far from ideal but racing in Europe is a completely new thing for me and one I want to do more of in the future.”
Results – 2015 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, Round 6
1. Jonny Walker (KTM) 59pts; 2. Cody Webb (KTM) 55; 3. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 48; 4. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) 39; 5. Paul Bolton (KTM) 30… 8. Daniel McCanney (Husqvarna) 26; 9. Mathias Bellino (Husqvarna) 20; 10. Colton Haaker (Husqvarna) 16…
Championship Standings – 2015 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship
1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 320pts; 2. Cody Webb (KTM) 282; 3. Jonny Walker (KTM) 277; 4. David Knight (KTM) 231; 5. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) 212… 9. Daniel McCanney (Husqvarna) 128