On The Pegs December 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 12 | Page 103

On The Pegs Vol. 3 Issue 12 - December 2018 P 103 A treble of home riders stood on the podium of the Gotland Grand National in Sweden as round seven of the World Enduro Super Series turned into a giant mud bath. Albin Elowson (Husqvarna) claimed victory for the first time at the race in front of compatriots Robert Kvarnstrom (Yamaha) and Ken Bengston (Husqvarna). This was the 35th edition of the iconic event, renowned as the world’s largest Enduro race with over 3000 riders competing this year. Riders take on a 22km circuit through Scandinavian forest on the island of Gotland. Nearly 600 hobby riders enjoyed perfect conditions on Friday but the weather turned overnight ensuring the main race will be remembered as one of the wettest in history. After the start of the main race, thousands of riders jostled for position in the mud. Elowson moved into the race lead on lap one followed by Kvarnstrom. The duo then went head-to-head before Elowson pulled clear to claim a convincing win at the end of the sixth and final lap. Bengtson rounded out the podium in third. For the WESS title contenders, Spain’s Josep Garcia crossed the finish line in 12th to slightly close the gap to series leader Billy Bolt, who finished 13th. With this 13th place finish, Bolt extended his advantage over Manuel Lettenbi- chler to 275 points with just one round of the Championships remaining. The World Enduro Super Series concludes with the eighth and final round ,Red Bull Knockout on November 10. “I’m so happy to take the win here in Gotland,” Elowson said. “I knew I had the speed before the race, but you never know what can happen around here, especially in these conditions. I got a decent start and tried to make some pass- es in the early chaos. I went through a lot of goggles – that’s one of the main things at this race, you have to keep your eyes clear in order to ride properly. I know I have the speed, I just have to build my confidence a little and hopefully I can get some more good results in the future.” “I had a tough first lap,” said Bolt. “ Another rider crashed in front of me and I managed to stop, but then someone else crashed into me from behind and we were all stuck in a mud puddle. I got going again but got mixed up in another crash and went down again – that’s when I broke the throttle tube. I made the mistake of stopping to try and fix it and lost so many places as a result. I’m a little bit disappointed not to have finished higher - I think without the problems I could have - but importantly I have stretched my lead at the top of the stand- ings as we now look towards the final round in Holland.”