AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF COMPETITION AT THE ITALIAN ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP, DAY2 WAS CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER. KEVIN CRISTINO FINISHED FIRST ON SATURDAY, DOMINATING THE JUNIOR CLASS. IN THE FOREIGNER CLASS, THE BEST FANTIC RIDER WAS ALBIN NORRBIN IN FOURTH WITH NEWCOMER AXEL SEMB IN SIXTH. FANTIC JUNIOR RACING ENDURO FINISHED FOURTH WITH VALENTINO CORSI AND NINTH WITH PIETRO SCARDINA IN THE 125 CLASS.
The small village of Cavaglià in the province of Biella hosted the Enduro circus for the season opener on the 9th and 10th of March 2024. Despite the bad weather, a big crowed enjoyed a high-level event kicked off on Friday afternoon with the "Prologue" held on the Cross Test track. The Motoclub Azeglio, assisted by Track Inspector Mario Rinaldi, designed a very technical race course for the occasion, but due to the adverse weather conditions, the second day of competition was cancelled on Sunday.
At the opening event of the Assoluti d’Italia 2024, which was therefore only held on Saturday 9th of March, the riders faced three difficult special tests under treacherous conditions due to the heavy rain that had fallen in the days leading up to the race, to be repeated for five laps, excluding the last Cross Test, for a total of 14 special tests.
In the Junior class, Kevin Cristino started the season with an impressive victory on the Fantic XEF 250. Cheered on by the crowd, the local hero recorded excellent times in all special tests which also led to a strong 15th position in the Overall classification.
The first of the Fantic riders in the Overall classification was Albin Norrbin. The Swede, riding the new injection Fantic XE 300 with Minarelli engine, closed in ninth position – less than a minute from P3. A good start to the season for Norrbin, who also took fourth place in the Foreigner class.
Great performance also by the newly-acquired Axel Semb, the Swedish rider showed an excellent feeling riding his Fantic XEF 310 and finished in sixth position in the Foreigner class and in thirteenth position in the Overall class. Fantic will go into the Enduro World Championship with two riders in the Junior class, Kevin Cristino and Axel Semb, in top form and ready to fight for the world title.
During the race in Cavaglià, the reigning world champion in the Junior class, Jed Etchells, tested some technical solutions on the XEF 250 of the Fantic Factory Racing Enduro Team. The Brit rode a good race without too many mistakes, finishing in eleventh position in the Foreigner class.
Fantic Junior Racing Enduro lined up the promising riders Pietro Scardina and Valentino Corsi in the 125 class. Both riders were unable to express their full potential. Corsi finished the only race day of the Piedmont stage in fourth position, about four seconds behind third place. Scardina's race was unfortunate, as he injured his left knee about halfway through the day. Despite the setback, he finished the race recording the best time in the last three Cross Tests.
The Assoluti d'Italia Enduro 2024 will now take a break of over a month before the third and fourth round in Caltanissetta (CL) on the 27th and 28th of April.
ALBIN NORRBIN
“I'm happy with the result I got in Cavaglià because these are not my favourite conditions but I managed to set some excellent times in all the special tests. With the new bike, Fantic XE 300 with fuel injection and Minarelli engine, I'm getting on very well and the feeling is great.”
AXEL SEMB
“First official race with the new team and the new bike, my Fantic XEF 310, and I have to say that I felt at ease right away. I need to be more consistent and make as few mistakes as possible but I'd say that the first race of the year went very well.”
KEVIN CRISTINO
“First of all, I would like to thank all the fans that came to Cavaglià to support me and cheer me on in every special test despite the bad weather. The feeling with the new bike is great and I am happy to have won day 1 in the Junior class.”
PIETRO SCARDINA
“An unlucky first race of the Assoluti. I wanted to do well at the season opener but, unfortunately, halfway through the race I injured my left knee and was unable to perform like I would have wanted to.”
