The leadership in the Junior class is still firmly in the hands of Axel Semb (overall and J2) and Kevin Cristino (J1) after a successful Romanian GP. Albin Norrbin put the new Fantic XE 300 on the rostrum in the E3 class on Saturday and came close to another podium finish on day 2, while Pietro Scardina secured two top-3 results in the Youth class.
The third round of the 2024 FIM EnduroGP World Championship was held in Bacau, a small Romanian town in the region of Moldavia, on May 10-12, featuring typical spring weather and a big crowd following the scheduled special tests starting from Friday evening with the Super Test.
The challenging and spectacular 52 km course, designed by the X-CAPE Club, was divided into three special tests that had to be completed four times each day. It included a technical and fast Cross Test of 3.3 km, characterized by hard and dusty terrain; followed by a natural Extreme Test of 2 km inside a forest with hard terrain and some treacherous sections with stones and roots; and a very technical and fast Enduro Test, especially challenging because of steep up- and downhills.
Axel Semb continued his run of impressive performances also in Bacau. Despite a pretty hard crash, he managed two second places in Junior overall and Junior 2 on the Fantic XEF 310. The Swede still holds the lead in both standings. Reigning Youth class champion, Kevin Cristino, took two dominant victories in the Junior 1 class on his Fantic XEF 250, while he scored a second and a third place in the Junior overall classification on the two days of racing.
Albin Norrbin confirmed his excellent form in Romania, putting the new fuel injected Fantic XE 300 with Minarelli engine on the third step of the rostrum in the hard-fought E3 class on the opening day. On Sunday, Norrbin just missed out on third place at the last special test, after another impressive race putting in consistently strong times in all the special tests on the schedule. Jed Etchells, the reigning Junior class champion, fought hard in the challenging E2 class and managed to score a fifth place on Saturday and a fourth place on Sunday.
The Romanian GP marked a very positive weekend for Fantic Junior Racing Enduro’s Pietro Scardina, with a third and a season’s best second place on the two days of competition.
AXEL SEMB:
“I didn't manage to win this weekend but I have to congratulate my opponent on his performance. However, we are still leading both the Junior and Junior 2 class and in Italy we will give it our all to take the win.”
ALBIN NORRBIN:
“It was an incredible first day of racing with the third place in the E3 class on Saturday. On day 2, I was off to a strong start as well and I was running in third for the whole day but at the very last special test I missed out on what could have been another podium finish.”
PIETRO SCARDINA:
“I am happy with the results. Honestly, I could have done better on the opening day when I ended up third but I made a lot of mistakes. On Sunday, on the other hand, I was able to express myself at my best and secure the second place in the Youth class.”
In little over a month, the EnduroGP World Championship will head to Italy for Fantic Factory Racing’s home round, scheduled on June 21-23 in Bettola.
