World coming to Parry Sound!

From World Enduro Canada

The North American swing of the Maxxis World Enduro Championship or WEC is now three months away. The World Enduro Championship will descend on Canadian and U.S. soil for the first time ever July 15-16 and July 22-23 with the full support of the FIM, the AMA, CMA and ABC Communications, the series promoter.

The Canadian event will take place first in Parry Sound, ON, a picturesque town two hours north of Toronto on the shores of Georgian Bay. The following weekend the WEC riders will land in Hancock, NY in the heart of the best fly fishing country East of the Mississippi for the sixth of the eight-race series.

The first race of the series was held in Swedish snow during the month of March with resounding success and a surprise winner in the Enduro1 (E1) class. Spanish KTM rider Ivan Cervantes showed his adaptability by laying down fast tracks in Ostersund. The second and third events of the series take place May 6-7 in Guimaraes, Portugal and the next weekend in Gernika, Spain. The WEC teams and riders are anticipating good weather and rugged conditions for both enduros on the Iberian Pennisula.

What may be considered to be the most competitive WEC class is the middleweight Enduro 2 or E2 class where current World Champion Samuli Aro stamped his mark of authority in March in Sweden. This outcome was expected as the Finnish KTM rider is accustomed to riding in winter conditions. His main rival and countryman, Mika Ahola slotted into second place aboard his Italian-based HM Honda team CRF ahead of former Grand Prix motocross rider Johnny Aubert who recently signed on with the UFO Yamaha team.

There were no surprises in Ostersund in the Enduro 3 or E3 class which saw Isle of Mann rider David Knight continue his last year’s dominance adapting quickly to the varying snow conditions and winning his class over Finn Marko Tarkalla and Swedish rider Bjorne Carlsson.

The two North American events are welcome additions to the WEC series which is now what most insiders consider to be geographically a true World Championship. Notable homegrown U.S. riders who are slated to enter are Destry Abbott, Jimmy Lewis, Wally Palmer and Matt Stavish. Potential Canadian wild card riders include Guy Giroux, Guy Perrett, Kelly Graffunder, Barry Rempel, Clarke Peters, Dave Neumeister, Patrick Beaule, Alain Lachappelle and Klade Glasgow.

As wild card riders both Americans and Canadians will have to wait until all the seeded WEC riders decide to enter or not before knowing for certain whether they have one of the 120 spots in the events, but it looks promising fro a great number of North Americans.

Other off-road stars who have expressed interest in the two-day North American WEC events are current AMA GNCC champion Juha Salminen, and former World Champions Paul Edmondson and Shane Watts who are both U.S.–based this season.

The entry deadline is May 15 for the Georgian Bay Country Canadian Grand Prix and May 22 for the Moose US Grand Prix. Visit www.worldendurocanada.com and www.usgpenduro.com for details on how to enter. U.S. riders should contact the AMA to obtain the necessary rider release letter and appropriate FIM license for the Canadian event.