David Knight has claimed his first international enduro victory back on a KTM having dominated the ‰Ûª10 running of The Tough One extreme enduro.
An event that Knight has only failed to win once, this year Knighter dominated from start to finish to claim a massive winning margin having lapped all but the second placed rider.
Despite freezing overnight temperatures the technical, rocky course held up well, allowing for great racing in all classes. Recording the fastest lap time during the morning qualifying ‰Û÷hot lap‰Ûª session David was soon into the lead in the two-hour main event. Despite spending much of the opening lap passing the Expert class riders that started ahead of the Pro class competitors David opened up a two-minute lead by the time he made his one and only fuel stop.
During the second half of the race David extended his lead as he pulled away from second placed rider Tom Sagar. Lapping every other competitor apart from Sagar, Knight claimed a convincing and deserved win in what will be his last extreme enduro outing ahead of the start of his British and World Enduro Championship campaigns.
Former World Trial Champion Dougie Lamkin finished third with Yamaha mounted Kiwi Rory Mead 4th.
‰Û÷Winning The Tough One is a great way to start the year," Knight said.
"Every other year I‰Ûªve won the event I‰Ûªve gone on to win either a World Enduro Championship or US GNCC title, so let‰Ûªs hope the same happens this year. I really enjoyed the race, and it was certainly a good work out for me ahead of the first round of the British Enduro Championship.
"I banged my clutch lever up as I went off the start and managed to break my handguard pushing it back down, so I had that flapping around for a while. But once I got going things went well. Because we started behind the Expert class riders I was soon in amongst them, and getting stuck at the back of some of the single-track sections of the course. Every time I pulled away a bit I‰Ûªd get stuck in amongst a load of riders so I decided not to push too hard during the first few laps.
"Once I was past all the Expert riders I pushed hard. There were a lot of places that were one-lined so you had to wait. I had about a two-minute lead after the first hour, when I came in for fuel and goggles. The second hour went really well. I extended my lead and didn‰Ûªt have any problems from there to the finish. The track was frozen in a few places but it rode well. All in all it was a good race for me," Knight concluded.
Results ‰ÛÒ The Tough One ‰Û÷10
1. David Knight (Farioli KTM)
2. Tom Sagar (Suzuki)
3. Dougie Lampkin (Beta)
4. Rory Mead (Yamaha)
