Mathias Van Hoof about his double in the Italian GP!
On Sunday, Antoine Magain took his first podium with the big boys in E1. Mathias Van Hoof won twice in the World Cup Open 4 stroke class, each time ahead of fellow countryman Dietger Damiaens. Just to say that the Belgians had a historic weekend during the second EnduroGP round in Spoleto.
However, Van Hoof did not get the victory and had to go very deep, especially on Sunday, to capitalize on his victory. The club around the village of Spoleto, about 150 km north of Rome and located in the middle of the Apennines, had spared no expense to create a beautiful course. A selective connection, a fast cross test, a beautiful but very difficult enduro test and an extreme test... completely worthy of its name!
It started well for Van Hoof on Friday evening with a win in the Supertest and he was able to start his 2 rounds on Saturday morning with confidence. He immediately opened well in the enduro test and took a 23 second lead. The extreme test also went well and extended his lead. After the first lap the Husqvarna rider had a lead of 26 seconds. However, things went wrong in the 2nd round. Slipped in the enduro test and ended up in the abyss. Many precious seconds were lost. But fortunately his lead was enough to eventually win and add more than 20 points to his account.
Sunday started with a nice sun, but during the first test the heavens were open and the enduro test became very slippery and treacherous. But this is where the difference is made and the tougher the conditions, the better the Herentals player becomes. He drove the fastest time. But then got stuck in the rock in the extreme test... But in the cross test, Van Hoof did put the finishing touches and won again!
In the meantime it had become extremely wet in Italy. The tests were shortened because there was no way to get through. But the Kempen Husqvarna rider gained even more self-confidence, put on fresh Shot gear and started round 2 with. Just after the halfway point of the race, the lead was about 40 seconds. In the extreme test no more risks were taken and the last cross test ended with a win. The bike was put into the parc ferme in the evening and victory was achieved with a lead of more than a minute.
Mathias Van Hoof: “I wanted to win here and the very tough conditions suit me: The wetter, the greasy, the more difficult… the better I feel. After all that drought, I had forgotten what a completely rained-out enduro was like :). I'm just having fun, especially in that cross and enduro test, which were really smooth, I did well. If they told me we had to do it 3 more times I would have done it with pleasure! The enduro test made the difference there and it was just perfect for me. I am very happy with this double victory and will prepare with good courage for the last competitions in Portugal at the beginning of November!”
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