BP2

Knight at Hell's Gate

Hell's Gate Extreme Enduro: Il Ciocco, Barga (Lucca), Italy

D3-Racing KTM rider David Knight proved once again that when the going gets tough he certainly knows how to get going as he placed his D3-Racing KTM on top of the winners podium at the first ever Hell's Gate extreme enduro. Finishing a massive 27 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, and having lead the four-lap race from start to finish, David's performance was made all the more memorable due to the fact that it was the first time he'd ever raced a two-stroke KTM - and that he finished the race with no lights. Determined to stamp his authority on the event that marked the start of the '04 international enduro season, the Manxman, who has only been back riding again for two and a half weeks after a lengthy winter lay of due to surgery, finished second in the mornings qualifying enduro, just one-second behind Australian Stefan Merriman. Feeling little ill effect of having been off a bike for so long, David's confidence was high going into the four, 20km laps that made up the main Hell's Gate race. And with a great start ensuring a clear track ahead of him he quickly opened up what would become an unbeatable lead. But then things went from good to bad. Nearing the end of the opening lap David lost his lights and despite the best efforts of his D3-Racing team he was forced to continue with no front light - something he feared would lose him the race when darkness fell. Pushing as hard as he could in the available daylight, David continued to increase his lead determined that the €8'000 winners prize was going to be his. Somehow managing to make his way around the final lap with severely limited vision, an extremely tired David placed his D3-Racing KTM on top of the podium, much to the delight of the handful of British supporters who had travelled to Italy to help him. "It's brilliant to have won," explained an overjoyed but tired David from the podium. "I'd never ridden a two-stroke KTM before the race," he added. I knew the race was going to be hard but I was confident I could do it. It's just a great way to start a new season for a new team. "The morning went pretty well - it was just like a tough enduro. There were a few tricky hills but the cross-country test was probably the toughest part, so it was just a case of riding at a steady pace. I didn't feel too bad, which was good. Having been off a bike for so long I was expecting to be a little more tired than I was. My arms got a bit stiff early on but then they freed off. I was just worried about the main race and wanted to save as much energy as possible. After the morning race I was confident that with a bit of luck I could win because Merriman and Despres all ready seemed to be having problems with some of the hills. "It was a little bit strange riding a two-stroke again. I only rode the bike on the road on Friday before the event so it took a little while to re-adjust - some times I found it better than a four-stroke and others times I think a four-stroke would have been better - but I'm glad I rode the two-stroke, it was much easier to throw around. "In the main race I started well but at the end of the first lap I thought it might be difficult to win because I lost my lights. I just tried to push as hard as possible so I could get as much riding done in the daylight. The course was really good. On the first lap I had to go a bit steady so I didn't miss any arrows, the whole course was covered in rocks and leaves so it was hard to push. On the second lap I started to push harder, which was a good lap but I wasted about five minutes trying to fix my lights at the end of it. I had to do the same thing again at the end of the third lap. "On the last lap it was completely dark and I thought that I had no chance of winning. When I got into the woods I couldn't see a thing. I haven't got a clue how I got 'round. The light on my helmet made things worse so I turned it off and just tried to follow the lines from the previous laps as best I could with no lights. When I arrived at the bottom of the final hill I hadn't realised where I was. It was way to difficult. I had to attack it three times but there was no way I was getting up it so it was just a case of getting as far as possible and then getting dragged the rest of the way. It was a massive relief when I finally got to the top of the hill." With David topping the event it looked at one point as if two D3-Racing KTM riders might make it onto the podium as Edward Jones mixed it at the front of the field after struggling during the events morning enduro. Running as high as third, Edward found himself losing valuable time on the second lap and was eventually forced to stop by the organisers nearing the end of the third lap having fallen a little over the allotted 30 minutes behind the race leader - his team-mate David Knight. "The morning didn't go that well really. I just didn't feel that good - I felt really tired and couldn't get into the race for some reason. I wondered how the hell I was going to start again in the afternoon. After a sleep I tried to eat and drink all the right things to prepare myself, and thankfully I felt a lot better. "I think I was about third away from the start line in the main race and I just went like hell. I knew that David would be pushing as hard as he could and if I didn't it wouldn't be long before the organisers would pull me out of the race because I was half an hour behind. I wasn't that tired when the organisers pulled me out of the race, just disappointed. "I was between third and fifth early in the race; I actually had a few big named riders holding me up at that point. I think I was about eight minutes behind David at the end of the first lap but then I got stuck on the second lap in a place where there were no spectators to help. I lost quite a lot of time there because Stefano Passeri was stuck across the track. With David setting such a fast pace I just tried to push as hard as I could then but I was stopped along with French rider Marc Joriot nearing the end of the third lap. It's disappointing not to have finished, but when you consider that riders like Stefan Merriman and Cyril Despres didn't finish either I guess I can't be too disappointed."

Team manager Julian Stephens: "We knew that the event was going to be an extreme one, so we were confident that David could do well, but you can never be sure exactly how things will work out with these type of events. It is so important for the team to have started the season like this because we are able to repay the faith our sponsors have shown in us, and to hopefully find some more companies willing to support our racing effort. It shows that we are a serious and ambitious team and that David is serious about winning this year.

Results - Finishers 1. David Knight D3-Racing KTM 3:23'22.79 2. Bartosz Oblucki UFO Yamaha 3.50'01.40 3. Mario Rinaldi UFO Yamaha 3.57' 24.22

Results - non-finishers 1.Stefano Passeri Sherco 2. Alessio Paoli TM 3. Philippe Cottet Yamaha 4. Marc Joriot Husqvarna 5. Edward Jones D3-Racing KTM 6. Andrea Beconi Yamaha

Jonty Edmund's TMX report