KTM’s Albergoni’s 2-3 E3 result in France for third overall in the championship

| September 26, 2010 | 0 Comments

After KTM rider David Knight securing the E3 world championship title in Turkey, it was up to KTM factory rider Simone Albergoni to secure an overall podium place when Enduro riders went to Noiretable in central France for the two final rounds.

Riders were confronted with challenging weather conditions after heavy rain reduced much of the slippery grass track to mud that lingered on through Sunday adding challenges to the already difficult track, which included a steep rocky extreme test and difficult hill climbs. But what might have been made to measure for the French riders who excel on slippery grass proved challenging for the other riders at the end of a long and hard season.

Tricky weather adds level of difficulty

Rainy and very slippery conditions Saturday saw KTM’s David Knight crash out and withdraw with a slight thigh injury. This left the way open for his Italian teammate Albergoni to shine. He was in the lead going into the final test but was then caught by French rider Sebastien Guillaume who went on to win by just eight seconds. This meant that he and Guillaume were battling it out on Sunday for the two minor places in the overall standings. Regrettably for Albergoni, Guillaume was on top of his game and another victory in Sunday’s race settled the final three. David was able to start on Sunday and finished in third place with another podium and 20 more points to his season title.

Good year, Farioli says

Reviewing the season, Fabio Farioli of the KTM Enduro Factory Team said it had been a positive year. “We took the world titles in the E3, in EJ and in the Youth Cup and we had all of our factory riders on the podium in the final season standings,” he said. “We had some very good, hard races during the season and the standard of riding was at a very high level.”

David Knight and the other champions received their awards at the prize giving ceremony and dinner at the Casino of Noirétable, in the French town in the heart of the Rhone-Alpes area right in the middle of France.

E3 Results Saturday

1, Sebastien Guillaume, France, Husqvarna

2, Simon Albergoni, Italy, KTM

3, Christophe Nambotin, France, Gas-Gas

4, Bartosz Oblucki, Poland, Husqvarna

5, Oriol Mena, Spain, Husaberg

David Knight (already world champion 2010) DNF

E3 Results Sunday

1, Sebastien Guillaume, France,

2, Simone Albergoni, Italy, KTM

3, David Knight, Britain, KTM

4, Marcus Kehr, Germany, KTM