This year, more than 1500 athletes from all over the world gathered in the famous iron ore quarry, including “CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team” pilots Antanas Kanopkinas and Adomas Gančierius.
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On the first day of the competition, the athletes had to complete a 13-kilometer prologue, which stretched along steep quarry slopes, rocky ascents, and fast and dangerous sections. A. Gančierius performed best among the quad bikes on the first day, while A. Kanopkinas finished fifth.
The “Erzberg Rodeo” competition, held for the thirtieth time, is unique not only for its challenging track, set in a quarry, but also for the extremely large number of participants who do not finish. Great chaos on the track begins already during the main race, when athletes are released onto the track in groups of fifty every two minutes. Meanwhile, in the prologue, which determines the starting positions, participants start every 20 seconds.
“Erzberg Rodeo” is not called the toughest enduro race for nothing – it really is. Today it was only 13 kilometers, but towards the end I was already counting how much was left. The track was very rocky and bumpy, I had to adapt and find the best way to brake in corners, and it paid off. Halfway through the track, I caught up with Antanas and overtook him, and overall I am first in my class. I am happy with the result and I am very curious about what will happen tomorrow,” said A. Gančierius after the prologue finish.
After completing the prologue, A. Kanopkinas, who arrived in Austria directly from the World Rally-Raid Championship stage in Argentina, also spoke about the very difficult track: “The prologue is very difficult, with many sharp places. Some were unlucky. Adomas did everything very well, and I finished fifth – in a few places I was hindered and it threw me off balance. But the biggest problem was that when entering corners, there was a lack of turnability or I didn’t find it. But otherwise, everything is quite good.”
This year’s novelty is the return of the quad bike class to Erzberg after a longer break. The organizers announce that a separate quad bike classification was held until 2017, and now, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the event, it has returned, and a large number of the strongest European and world quad bike athletes gathered at the starting line.
After almost 3000 kilometers of the World Rally-Raid Championship stage in Argentina, this is a completely different challenge for the “CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team” athletes. Here, navigation and the ability to cover hundreds of kilometers are no longer the most important factors – technical skill, quick reactions, physical fitness, and the ability to cope with extremely difficult obstacles determine much more.
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