EnduroGP returned to Wales for the first time in 15 years, and it was a special weekend for our Fantic Brand Ambassador Jane Daniels, even on the other side of the tapes. In her latest blog post, the four-times Women’s Enduro World Champion shares her inside view of the event, along with some cherished memories.
“Now that the dust (quite literally) has settled on the EnduroGP of Wales, what a weekend it was! I felt right back at home in the EnduroGP paddock, and it was nice to catch up with the Fantic Enduro Teams, the riders and team members. It really wasn’t the GP we expected, as the sun was shining, the temperatures were hot and the ground was incredibly dry, but nevertheless, it was a great weekend full of exciting and close racing!”
All around a successful GP weekend
“We arrived early on Wednesday morning to set up for the weekend and have a walk of the special tests. In the Enduro test the first hill at the start felt like a mountain to climb, but it was nice to have a close look at the special tests and what everyone would be racing over the weekend. A huge amount of effort had gone in from the organising club, as they had ticked off every box possible in their preparations for the GP. As a follow rider, it was great to have the Enduro and Extreme tests so close together, we had time to go and have a look at the trickier parts of the Extreme test once the riders had been through the Enduro test and headed back out on a loop of transfer before coming back to the start of the Extreme test.
The Fantic riders had a good weekend with consistent results and podium places, and valuable championship points. Jed Etchells scored 6th E2, 12th overall on Saturday and followed that up with 8th E2 and 16th overall on Sunday. Albin Norrbin improved as the weekend went on and came from a 5th E3 on Saturday to scoring a 3rd E3 and 12th overall on Sunday. Axel Semb earned some great championship points over the weekend with 3rd J2 on both days but improving in the overall Junior result with a 4th and a 3rd. Kevin Cristino had a really good Saturday score with a 2nd J1 and 5th overall Junior, but unfortunately, a DNF on Sunday meant he missed out on further points. Pietro Scardina is ever so consistent in the Youth category as he finished 3rd on both days, which is great points for his championship standings.”
Little Jane wouldn’t have believed it
“It is crazy to think back to 2008 when the last GP was here in Wales and I came to watch with my dad and brother for the weekend. It seems like such a long time ago, and back then when I was watching, I never would have imagined racing that same GP series just four years later, and continuing to do so for the next 11 years! I am sad that I was unable to compete in a home GP during that time, but I am sure I will have the opportunity to do so in the near future as they announced the 2025 Calendar and the GP of Wales will return in just 12 months’ time!
I had a great weekend at the event and almost felt like I hadn’t been away as the weekend came to an end. I would like to congratulate the clubs involved for all their hard work putting on such a great action-packed weekend of racing, and I will look forward to coming back next year, with a 10-month-old, to show them what all the excitement was about when I was pregnant with them and jumping up and down at the side of the track cheering on our friends and their father!
For the next few weeks our calendar isn’t too busy, so we have booked our first holiday, which isn’t involving motorbikes, to Bulgaria. It will be a wonderful week’s break before we return home for the final two rounds of the British Enduro Championship!”
