EWC enduro starts in Spain!
No, there is no spelling error above. On the contrary, in its omnipotence, the FIM decided last winter to change the name of this season's Enduro World Championship to E.W.C., Enduro World Championship. The FIM would like to harmonize a number of world championship names for marketing reasons.
A gear higher
Promoter wants to use the new name EWC Alain Blanchard give the championship more impetus. ABC, Blanchard's company that runs the Enduro World Championship, has stopped promoting the French Supermoto Championship to focus entirely on Enduro. An approach that is already paying off because ABC has already managed to attract a powerful main sponsor with Red Bull.
The calendar was also changed compared to last year. The expensive move to Mexico was replaced by a round in Turkey. Furthermore, the competitions were grouped in such a way that savings could be made on transport costs. In this way, for example, the GPs of Spain and Portugal will take place during two consecutive weekends. A bit strange is the complete absence of a GP in Scandinavia. Especially when one considers the large numbers of Swedish and Finnish participants in the EWC. Given the growing success of the French riders and the resulting popularity among spectators, the final GP of the World Championship will also take place in France in 2010.
New impulses
From a sporting point of view, the EWC has a big novelty this year. In 2010, for the very first time, there will be competition in a women's class. After all, this means a logical continuation of the competition for women's national teams during the ISDE. An initiative that is of course also part of the FIM's “Women ride” philosophy and could be very successful in the long term. For the time being, however, things are not going well for this World Cup, which will be held over three GP weekends. Check out a video with the fast Frenchwoman below Ludivine Puy (GasGas).
We can already conclude that the EWC still has room for growth from the new media partnership that ABC entered into with Eurosport. For six years, the World Cup was broadcast in Europe by niche channel MotorsTV. Yet Blanchard and various partners felt that a reach of 16 million potential viewers (subscribers) was gradually no longer in line with the ambitions of the EWC. Bee Eurosport2, where the Enduro GPs will be shown on the following Thursdays, has a potential reach of 40 million viewers.
With the arrival of Rieju, that it is 14e brand is in the EWC, it becomes once again clear that this championship offers manufacturers an interesting platform to showcase their products.
Calendar EWC 2010
10-11 April GP of Spain Valverde del Camino
17-18 April GP Portugal Fafe
22-23 May GP Italy Lovere*
12-13 June GP Poland Kwidzyn*
19-20 June GP Slovakia Puchov
28-29 August GP Greece Serres
04-05 September GP Turkey Fethiye
25-26 September French GP Noiretable*
* counting towards Women's Enduro World Cup
A preview of the E1, E2 and E3 classes of the EWC can be found here.
Photos credit: Jonty Edmunds/ABC-WEC, Oscar Carrascosa/Red Bull Photofiles
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