Trail Bike Adventure Magazine

First EWC Win For Josh Green

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 11:13

Josh Green secures first EWC win at GP of Greece

Electraction TM team rider Josh Green has claimed his first ever Enduro World Championship victory, topping the competitive Enduro Junior class on the second day of the GP of Greece. Returning to the EWC competition having spent little time on a bike prior to the event as a result of a knee injury picked up at the fourth round of the series in Poland, Josh made a steady start to day one but ended the event in the best possible way, by claiming his maiden EWC victory.

The opening day’s competition was for many the hardest of the series so far. With temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius the dry, dusty terrain quickly became rough and rutted. For Josh the Friday night Super Test didn’t go as planned as a small mistake resulted in him placing 18th in class. During the opening lap on day one Josh set about re-familiarising himself with the demands of world championship competition. Steadily improving his pace throughout the second and third laps Josh ended the day as one of the fastest riders in the EJ class but due to his opening lap performances could only manage fifth in the overall results, just 52 seconds behind class winner Lorenzo Santolino from Spain.

Day two proved to be very different for Josh. Fourth fastest around the opening extreme test he then topped the second extreme test to take an early class lead. Remaining both consistent and fast, and dealing well with the constant pressure piled on him by regular EJ class front-runners Jeremy Jolly and Lorenzo Santolino during the middle of the day, Josh remained out front. With a few mistakes creeping into his riding during the third and final lap Josh nevertheless managed to maintain his lead eventually claiming a well-deserved win, three seconds ahead of eventual runner-up Antti Hellsten from Finland.

Josh provisionally sits in sixth position in the Enduro Junior World Championship standings. Round seven of the EWC series takes place next weekend in Turkey.

Josh Green: ‘I’m really pleased that I’ve claimed my first world championship win. To be honest that was my goal before the start of the race, or to at least get on the podium. I’ve had some good speed during some of the earlier rounds of the series but now I know I have to start turning that into results. The event didn’t start too well as I had a spin on the Friday night test, which cost me a little bit of time. I then made a slow start to the first full day. I finished strong but the time I lost on the first lap really cost me and I finished fifth. I took a look at the tests at the end of the first day and worked on some better lines and then just started as strong as I could on day two. I was running up front right from the start of the day and although I made a few mistakes towards the end of the day I kept it together. I’m going to keep pushing hard now and see if I can get a few more wins before the end of the series.’

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Greece – Day 1

Enduro Junior
1. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 57.20:76; 2. Jeremy Joly (Honda) 57.33:63; 3. Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) 57.46:93; 4. Victor Guerrero (Yamaha) 57.58:99; 5. Josh Green (Electraction TM) 58.13:54; 6. Mario Romain (KTM) 58.20:38; 7. Antoine Basset (Husqvarna) 58.21:97; 8. Benoit Fortunato (Husaberg) 58.49:22; 9. Pierre Pallut (KTM) 59.22:03; 10. Johan Carlsson (Beta) 59.47:77

2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Greece – Day 2

Enduro Junior
1. Josh Green (Electraction TM) 56.29:35; 2. Antti Hellsten (KTM) 56.32:38; 3. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 56.45:74; 4. Benoit Fortunato (Husaberg) 56.49:98; 5. Victor Guerrero (Yamaha) 56.52:14; 6. Jeremy Joly (Honda) 56.59:19; 7. Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) 57.19:40; 8. Mario Roman (KTM) 58.19:91; 9. Armand Monleon (Yamaha) 59.26:45; 10. Pierre Palut (KTM) 59.36:52