Jarvis gives 'em Hell
By TMX Archives on 18th Feb 11
Hell's Gate is one of the world's most gruelling extreme enduros and the 2011 event was no exception.There is no other enduro that pushes riding skills and fitness quiet like the race based in Tuscany, Italy.The course for 2011 was similar to previous years, with a few revisions to the route along some of the more difficult sections, to truly test the world's best extreme enduro racers.Report and pictures: LLEWELLYN PAVEY
Otherwise the format was simple – a six-hour qualifying time-card enduro in the morning followed by a six-lap race of the hour-long course for the top 30 finishers in the earlier foray into the hills surrounding Il Ciocco.
Tough doesn't do it justice!
Lining up as favourites for this year's event were the legendary British trials duo and last year's only two finishers of the second phase – Dougie Lampkin and Graham Jarvis.
WEC riders, Italy's Xavier Galindo and Alessandro Botturi were also expected to put in a strong showing along with extreme specialists Andreas Lettenbichler (Germany) and American's Cody Webb and Kyle Redmond.
The No.1 plate of Lampkin's machine headed the daybreak start and just over an hour later he set off into the first timed test of the day.
It was a close-fought thing, but Jarvis pipped him to the win by six seconds and in doing so set the mood for the rest of the day.
Test two threw up the only real surprise of the event as Beta-mounted American, Cody Webb, stepped up from fifth place in the first test to win by just a second from Husaberg rider Jarvis.
Webb stayed right at the sharp end of the results as Jarvis ran away with the race to win by an impressive 56-seconds from Lampkin.
A mistake by Webb meant he lost eight-minutes on time and barely qualified for the main event, having to start way down in 28th place.
Galindo placed third and Italian Botturi rounded out the front row of the road-race-style grid.
A strong showing was put in by KTM-mounted Jonny Walker, who came through to qualify in a solid eighth place, despite spending all day passing much slower riders.
Dan and Ben Hemingway qualified in 22nd and 29th places respectively.
A two-hour lunch break gave riders time to eat before they had to be back out and ready to ride for the 3.30pm start of the main event.
In this phase riders were eliminated when they fall more than 30-minutes behind the lead rider.
Following a dramatic false start, the flag dropped followed by 30 right legs.
Jarvis' new 300 Husaberg didn't fire first time and left him flapping for the kick-start, as fellow Husaberg rider Xavier Galindo led the pack off the tarmac and into the forest.
A very average start left Jarvis with a lot of work to do to get back to the front and energy was going to be crucial as the race wore on.
With much of the course away from spectators, everybody gathered at the bottom of the infamous Cascades section tempered with excitement.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX FEBRUARY 18
World Extreme Enduro
Championship
Rd 1 – Hells Gate Extreme Enduro
Il Ciocco, Tuscany, ITALY
Main Event Results: 1 Graham Jarvis (Husaberg) 5 laps, 2 Dougie Lampkin (Gas Gas) +25 minutes.
Elimination Race Results: 1 Graham JARVIS (GB - Husaberg) 41:31.15, 2 Dougie LAMPKIN (GB - Gas Gas) 42:27.89, 3 Xavier Galindo (I - Husaberg) 43:02.18, 4 Alessandro Botturi (I - Gas Gas) 43:12.20, 5 Maurizio Gerini (I - Husqvarna) 43:41.73, 6 Andreas Lettenbichler (D - Husqvarna) 44:13.84, 7 Diego Nocoletti (I - Beta) 44:16.02, 8 Jonny WALKER (GB - KTM) 44:16.81, 9 Michael Vukcevic (LUX - Sherco) 45:05.56, 10 Kyle Redmond (US - Beta) 45:12.73,... 22 Dan HEMINGWAY (GB - KTM) 48:46.06,... 28 Ben HEMINGWAY (GB - KTM) 51:19.33