As the 2024 racing season approaches its final stages, Fantic Brand Ambassador Jane Daniels shares her thoughts in a new blog post, reflecting on an exciting year for her teammates. For Jane, it has been a different, yet fun experience on the other side of the tapes.
“The 2024 Enduro GP season came to an end in France, and what a great finish it was for our Fantic teams! Pietro Scardina scored a perfect 1-1 in the Youth class to take 2nd place overall in the championship and has really improved in all areas over the year, I think he will be a very strong contender for the 125 class title in 2025. Kevin Cristino took the Junior 1 Championship after scoring an impressive 3-1, despite picking up a foot injury during training. This definitely didn’t hinder his performance, as his final day victory was what enabled him to win the championship by just 1 point! Kevin had to use a boot two sizes larger for the final GP and this didn’t stop him from giving it his all. It is funny how we can adapt to whatever is trying to stop us achieving our goals and dreams that we work so hard for. A huge congratulations to both these riders on some fantastic racing and consistent results throughout the year!
Speaking of consistent, Jed Etchells rounded out the year with two 5th places in E2 and this gave him a 6th overall in championship, which is a great finish for him in his first season in the main class. Albin Norrbin rounded out the year with a 9-7 in E3, a really good year for Albin too, having just stepped up from the Juniors and finishing 5th in the E3 championship. Axel Semb had a 3rd on day 1 in J2 and finished the year with a 7th on the final day of racing, meaning he finished 2nd in both the Junior 2 and Junior Overall championships. The riders and teams have worked really hard this year, as they do every year, and these championship overalls are a great reward for everyone involved.
Here in the UK, we had the final two rounds of the British Enduro Championship which was fun for me as I got to pedal to the special test and get involved with service, making sandwiches and checking the bike over. Albert had a good season aboard his Fantic XE 300 and finished 2nd in the Expert E3 championship this year.
As all the racing slowly eases and the championships come to an end, looking back I have had a great year experiencing enduro from a different point of view. There is so much more to following a rider around than what you realise if you have only ever been the competitor. From line pointing, line choosing, making snacks and sandwiches, refilling the hydra-pak, carrying all the essentials and more in a Kriega rucksack on your back for the whole weekend, it can be just as tiring as racing itself. It definitely opened my eyes to all the times our own follow riders have been stood out in every weather condition waiting for us to come round and check we are okay. They deserve a medal at the end of the championship as well as ourselves because I don’t think any rider would have the same success without these vital people being out there for us. A huge thank you to everyone that's been there to help me over the years!
Meanwhile, the Fantic Rally team was out in Marocco racing Rallye Du Maroc, and I enjoyed keeping up to date with their results. It is great to see Tommaso Montanari, Jeremy Miroir and Sandra Gomez out there flying the Fantic flag and showing what these bikes can do! It is very bizarre to think that just 12 months ago, I had won my 4th world enduro title, and then flown out to Marocco to do this race in hopes to qualify for Dakar, and now I am at home only 1-2 weeks away from starting my own family!
With our due date becoming closer, we finally got the nursery ready for the baby’s arrival, which is a very calming and cozy room, compared to the spare room/office it was previous. As the paint rollers came out, I also convinced myself it was a good idea to repaint most of the house too, and finish up all the jobs that never really got done before because we never made the time to do them, so I am glad everything DIY is nearly finished and I can put the paint brushes away for another few years!”
