A DISAPPOINTING day two saw Simon Wakely miss out on a top-10 finish in the third round of the World Enduro Championship, held in Sardinia, Italy.
A mistake and a derailed chain hampered the Dorch-ester rider’s chances and he had to settle for a respectable 15th place finish overall, the position he currently occupies in the championship standings.
Wakely was competing in the highly competitive E2 class aboard his 450cc MPS Husqvarna.
Starting the weekend off steadily, he soon got into gear on the first mx test and was sitting inside the top 10.
The long enduro test seemed to suit Wakely as he posted some impressive times, and with solid times in the extreme special he was fighting it out with some of the world’s best factory-supported riders.
The last special of the day, the mx test, was the most impressive for Wakely as he posted the seventh fastest time in class, and 15th overall, to secure a top 10 finish on day one of the event – his best result of the season so far.
Day two was looking just as good for Wakely until a costly mistake on the extreme test on the first lap, and a chain derailment on the second, lost the county town man just over 40 seconds.
These unfortunate problems resulted in a 15th place finish at the end of the day.
Wakely said: “Overall I’m happy with the way things went for me, but day two was disappointing as I really wanted another top 10 finish.
“But after losing so much time in the extreme test I should be happy really with 15th as this class is so competitive.
“I just want to thank the whole MPS Husqvarna team and everyone who has supported me so much to get this good result, as getting in the top 10 in the world championship is a tough thing to do.
“I just hope I can improve on this and I’m looking forward to the next round in Finland already.”
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