ENDUROCROSS
As popular as ever, having spent the best part of his life on the Trial World Championship scene which was rewarded with the 2004 title, Japan’s original ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll’ trials superstar Takahisa Fujinami still loves a proper blast out on an off-road Moto
Enduroc
With the trials season over, long-serving Repsol–Honda–Montesa team rider Takahisa Fujinami was able to enjoy some fun with his friends in a different off-road arena to the one he is more accustomed to. He was still four-stroke mounted on the Montesa 4Ride but the discipline was miles away from his usual environment of the trials hazards.
SPECTACULAR
Proudly boasting an entry of both professional riders and amateur fun competitors totalling 745, the eighth running of the aptly named Enduroc took place over two days on the 25th and 26th November in Les Comes, Spain. As is the tradition in Spain this event officially closes the Enduro season. It’s very much a huge festival of off-road motorcycle sport, and a crowd of over 3,000 joined in the atmosphere of this special live event. As with all the other major trials manufacturers including Beta, Gas Gas, Scorpa and TRS, to name a few, Montesa is looking at developing its legendary Cota four-stroke machine to give it a level of fun and enjoyment for the rider. This is achieved by making it more of a trail/trial type machine whereby owners can have a ride out on the open trails and take in some trials hazards if they wish. Beta has its Alp model and in the past Gas Gas has presented the Pampera model. In more recent times TRS has introduced its ‘XTRACK’ model which was recently ridden to the summit of a mountain! Yes as you will have guessed it’s adventure that many riders are looking for, including ‘Fujigas’.
FRIENDS — AMIGOS
On the Saturday ‘Fujigas’ had already finished second in the timed section while the other two riders entered on the Montesa 4Ride, Jordi Capelles and Guillem Jorba, set the 11th and 12th fastest times respectively. Fujinami was entered in the multitudinous category, ‘Friends and Amigos’ to you and me, for Sunday’s race. This category, which includes all the amateur riders, also competes on the same route as the Elite category. With the majority of the enduro machines having an electric start they raced away as ‘Fujigas’ had to use the conventional ‘kickstart’ method on his 4Ride. The four-stroke engine soon fired into life, and using his vast experience of off-road riding he started to make progress through the huge amount of fellow riders. To help him in his quest for victory in this class he had replaced the trials tyres on the Montesa for enduro ones to give him a racing edge against his rivals. After a tough race the Japanese ace was able to take victory in his category which contained 331 riders, much to his and the team’s delight. Capelles finished 10th while Jorba was 22nd in a race that started with 331 riders and finished with 255 remaining. In the race itself ‘Fuji’ finished in a time of 57:40.69 which would have given him 8th overall; not bad for a trials rider!