Mathias Van Hoof: “Everything is possible!”
The Enduro World Championship also takes place this weekend. After Antoine Magain's historic podium in the E1, a new Belgian success is also in the making in the World Cup open 4s class. Dietger Damiaens and Mathias Van Hoof will enter the final side by side!
Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the last EnduroGP will also take place at the same location in Portugal. The super test that would normally take place this evening, always a crowd puller, was canceled due to the corona measures. Just like in the MXGP, the paddock, the specials and the stage are also completely shielded from the public. All pilots, team members and employees of the organization had to first take a negative corona test before gaining access to the paddock and the specials. In any case, everyone involved did their utmost to ensure that everything was as corona-proof as possible.
Mathias Van Hoof and Dietger Damiaens are tied in the standings. That the two are evenly matched was demonstrated once again last weekend. “I got off to a good start on Saturday. During the first test I did suffer from 'arm pump'. I made some small mistakes that resulted in a fall. After the first lap I was second, 30 seconds behind Dietger who was in the lead. However, in round 2 I set a super good pace and was able to make up more than 20 seconds by winning 3 tests in a row. At the finish I was just 10 seconds short of winning.”
The Husqvarna pilot ended the day with a good feeling. In the end it even unexpectedly became a victory. Five minutes before the podium, he was informed that Damiaens had received a 1-minute penalty for tinkering in the closed park, the morning before departure. Day 2 was completely different! After the first test, the heavens opened and the announced rain came down in buckets. Both the connection and the tests were transformed into a mud bath and the extreme test only became even more extreme and slippery.
Mathias Van Hoof: “The first enduro test went well, I managed to win that, but afterwards it became a completely different match. I like bad weather and tough conditions, but I had not experienced this much before! I crashed twice in the cross test in the mud. However, the extreme test went well, the difference was barely 1 sec after 0,26 round! But things went wrong in the enduro test of round 2. I fell after 30 seconds and my gear pedal broke and I had to drive in 2nd gear during the entire test. More than a minute lost and the match was over. In the end the day ended well. Of course I was disappointed by the bad luck, but unfortunately that's part of it. I'm really looking forward to Saturday and Sunday. We are equal on points so anything is possible to win the title!”
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