Loic Larrieu has secured a first victory for the all-new WR450F after battling against both on-form Enduro 2 class competition and unexpectedly wet and muddy conditions in Grevena, Greece.
Expected by most to be a return to dry weather conditions, the GP of Greece saw riders battling against a wet, muddy and extremely difficult course. Featuring three special tests each lap, and a total of three long and challenging laps each day, the event proved to be anything but easy for riders in all classes.
For WR450F mounted Loic Larrieu the event ended with the Frenchman having produced his best form of the series to date. Forced to slip and slide his way through the opening day’s competition, despite the difficult terrain he secured a well-deserved runner-up Enduro 2 class result.
Recording the fastest Enduro 2 class time on the second day’s opening special test things suddenly took a turn for the worse for Loic on the enduro test. Crashing heavily he thankfully managed to complete the test before bouncing back in impressive style. Losing at least 20 seconds to his rivals following his mistake, over the remaining six special tests he managed to claw back the lost time and amazingly position himself at the top of the Enduro 2 class results. Completing a near mistake free final enduro test Loic secured a first Enduro World Championship victory for the all-new WR450F.
Frustratingly for Cristobal Guerrero day one of the GP of Greece ended prematurely for the Spaniard as a nasty crash on the enduro test forced him to retire. Injuring his shoulder Cristobal’s injuries thankfully weren’t as bad as he first thought. Able to start the second day’s competition Guerrero battled his way to a hard fought fifth place result.
After three rounds of the 2016 Enduro World Championship Loic Larrieu sits joint third in the Enduro 2 championship standings and just five points from the runner-up position. Cristobal Guerrero is placed seventh.
The 2016 FIM Enduro World Championship now moves to Heinola, Finland for the fourth round of the series on June 11/12.