Four-times Women’s Enduro World Champion and Fantic Brand Ambassador, Jane Daniels, gives an inside look into her exciting journey off the racing track as well as her view on the EnduroGP season opener in Portugal.
"Since finding out about my pregnancy and it explaining why I was really tired after what I thought was just my body recovering from Dakar, I am now into my 2nd trimester and I am feeling really great! My days are certainly different than this time last year when I was training and racing as much as I can, now I am a little more relaxed and doing more work online rather than outdoors. But I am still training, although with a lot less intensity and listening to my body and giving it the rest it needs to grow our first child."
While her Fantic Racing teammates were preparing for the first two EnduroGP rounds in Portugal, held in Fafe (5-7 April) and Valpaços (12-14 April), Jane shared the wonderful news of her pregnancy with the world.
"To see everyone's positivity about our announcement has been very heart warming and I am very lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful family, friends, sponsors and supporters. I was inundated with lovely messages and comments and I hope this encourages other women athletes to follow their dreams of someday starting their own family too," continues Jane.
"After 11 years of racing every Women's GP round, it was strange not to be a part of the action in Portugal, I did feel like I was missing out a little bit as we watched the Super Test online at home, but the excitement of our new journey of becoming first time parents outweighs any negativity of not being there. I really enjoyed watching the live timing from home and the swapping and changing of positions in all the classes and not just my own class from when I was competing.
It was great to watch the progress of my Fantic teammates throughout the two weekends of racing too. Jed Etchells and Albin Norrbin stepped up into the main classes and have shown they have the speed to fight for the podium positions, Jed’s best result being a 4th in E2 and Albin reaching a 3rd place podium spot in E3 over the two weekends! Axel Semb is dominating the Junior class, only a post-race penalty in Fafe didn’t allow him to win all for days in J2 and Junior Overall. Kevin Cristino moving up from the Youth class to the Junior class and showing he has the speed to be up there in his first year and coming away from the two weekends as leader in the J1 championship so far, with some impressive results in Junior Overall too. Pietro Scardina showed a really strong performance in the Youth 125 class and managed to achieve a 3rd place podium spot too! Unfortunately, Valentino Corsi wasn't able to race the 2nd weekend in Portugal due to a training incident which has forced him to take some time out to recover.
For me the most impressive thing was how close the times were, seconds and milliseconds between 1st-5th sometimes, it was so good to watch and follow along who was leading each class. I watched the women’s times and they were all swapping and changing just like the top men’s classes. I hope this encourages other manufacturers to support the women's class like Fantic have supported me, and then we can continue to grow the whole of the Enduro GP field!
I am excited to still be heavily involved in the off-road world, I will still be attending a lot of races in the UK where I will be mechanic/follow rider for my partner, Albert, as he races his Fantic XE 300 this year. We have been doing a lot of testing with sprockets and suspension, and for me it’s been really nice to help him in the same ways he and my dad have helped me over the years. It’s nice to still be involved in the sport I love even if it’s not racing for myself, but to help and pass on what I have learned in enduro over the last 17 years. I have some new and exciting collaborations I am working on too so I am looking forward to sharing them with you all soon."
