Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Graham Jarvis has won 2017 Red Bull Minas Riders Hard Enduro ahead of KTM Enduro Factory Racing’s Cody Webb and Alfredo Gomez.
With the four-day event cut short after day two due to environmental concerns beyond the event organisers’ control, Jarvis was declared the winner of the 2017 edition of Minas Riders having ended day two as the overall leader.
Jarvis entered the second edition of the Brazilian race determined to start things off with a victory. Ending a rain-soaked prologue as runner-up, he then went on the attack when the race entered the mountains for the first off-road day.
Pushing hard throughout the five-hour plus opening day of hard enduro racing, the Husqvarna rider claimed a three-minute margin of victory to establish an early lead. Maintaining his position at the head of the field with second on day one, Jarvis was holding a two-minute buffer over his nearest rival Cody Webb as the race entered its second half.
But with days three and four cancelled, Jarvis unexpectedly found himself as the early winner of the 2017 edition of the Brazilian Hard Enduro Rally.
With victory in Brazil, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider now looks to add one more victory to his 2017 campaign at Austria’s ErzbergRodeo in June.
“It’s great to come away with the win here in Brazil but it is a bittersweet victory due to the race being cut short by two days,” said Jarvis. “It was a situation that arose beyond the event organisers’ control and it’s disappointing for them and the sport for this to happen.
“They do an excellent job and I want to thank them for all their hard work, which often goes unappreciated. The first two days of the race were awesome. The conditions were tough, made harder by the weather but trails were fantastic. I was enjoying the fight with Cody too. We rode together quite a lot and I could feel that battle was going to continue right until the chequered flag. We were pushing each other a lot, at times I had an advantage and at other times he did. Day one was probably where I ultimately got the event won.
“I attacked hard from the beginning because last year I lost too much time on the opening day and didn’t want to let that happen again. I won the day by three minutes and then was able to maintain that on day two. It’s been good to end the second edition of the event in Brazil with a victory and I’m now looking forward to bringing that winning momentum to the ErzbergRodeo next month.”
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For Webb, who was making his hard enduro rallye debut, the race was gearing up to be a battle for victory right until the chequered flag.
Placing third in the event’s rain-soaked prologue aboard his KTM 300 EXC machine, Webb then picked up his pace when the race entered the mountains for off-road day one. Despite it being his first GPS navigated hard enduro rallye, the KTM rider coped impressively to end day one as overall runner-up.
“All-in-all this has been a pretty crazy few days,” confirmed Webb. “It was good to get through the prologue ok but I started the first day as the first rider – I knew Graham and Alfredo were pushing hard to chase me down. I had to ride hard to react. Graham caught me and we rode together a lot before service. Towards the end I managed to catch and pass him on the final section. But it was good.”
Picking his pace up dramatically Webb then went on to win day two and close the gap to then provisional leader Graham Jarvis. But with organisers given no option but to cut the race short due to environmental concerns Webb was forced to settle for second.
“It was insane out there on day two, one hell of an experience,” told Webb. “I’ve ridden some hard stuff before but that was on another level. It was relentless for more than five hours of unforgiving terrain. We were up in the mountains on crazy goat trails and then deep in the jungle with tight, tight trees to squeeze past. To get a stage win was amazing, it’s just a shame that it was also the end of the race.”
As the event’s defending champion, Gomez started his campaign in winning style by topping the prologue. But a series of crashes and mistakes hampered his progress on day one, dropping him to third. Unable to close the gap to the leading duo on day two, the Spaniard ended his race third overall.
“It’s great to race in Brazil and starting Red Bull Minas Riders off with a win in the prologue was perfect,” told Gomez. “I don’t think anyone was really expecting the kind of weather we’ve had here in Brazil. It’s disappointing but following the prologue things didn’t go well for me. On day one I just made so many mistakes and crashed way too many times.
“Also, a few weeks ago in training I hurt my shoulder and then on day two I hurt it again, so most of the day was a struggle. When I arrived at a hard section I couldn’t push and made mistakes.”
Results — Red Bull Minas Riders, final classification
1. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 5:46:47
2. Cody Webb (KTM) 5:49:29
3. Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 6:03:51
4. Philipp Scholz (KTM) 6:15:01
5. Paul Bolton (KTM) 6:37:28
6. Pol Tarres (Beta) 6:52:57