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An exciting opening day of racing at the FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy (EVT) in Zschopau, Germany, saw the United States claim an early lead with victory in the Acceleration Test.
After Tuesday evening’s opening ceremony, the four-hundred-and-fifty competitors from over seventeen nations woke on Wednesday morning to the first race day in the tenth edition of the FIM EVT.
As per tradition, the time-honoured Acceleration Test, preceded by a short liaison, would get racing underway.
In the Vintage Veterans Trophy category, it was the United States who ended the short test as early leaders of the race. All three riders – Fred Hoess (Husqvarna), Billy Burns (Can-Am) and Terry Cunningham (Husqvarna) – posted times inside the top twelve overall to head the classification on Day One.
Placing close behind them, defending champions Germany got their home FIM EVT off to a promising start by ending today in second. With team member Bert von Zitzewitz (Maico) also topping the outright individual standings, they will be motivated to close the gap to their rivals tomorrow.
Austria ended their day in third overall with a consistent and strong ride. Although four seconds adrift of Germany, they lead fourth-placed Spain by one second at this early stage in proceedings.
With a solid performance, France closed out the top five on Day One in Zschopau. However, with both the Netherlands and Italy trailing them by less than one second, the battle for fifth will prove fierce tomorrow.
Competing in his sixth FIM EVT, France’s François Borsotto is looking forward to this tenth edition of the race in Zschopau.
“Zschopau holds many special memories for enduro,” says Borsotto. “Back in the day, we raced here for the European Championship.
“Along with places like Bergamo in Italy, Zschopau is considered by many as the Mecca for enduro. For sure, this will be a very nice FIM EVT.”
Completing the top ten in the Vintage Veterans Trophy class, Switzerland are eighth, with Great Britain and Slovakia in ninth and tenth, respectively.
In the Vintage Silver Vase class, Germany’s Oliver Schulz powered his 1980 Maico GS 440 to the top of the standings over Austria’s Emanuel Strolz (Husqvarna) in second, with Germany’s Rüdiger Bachmann (SWM) in third.
Germany’s Thomas Baumann (KTM) was best in the Vintage Club Team category, while Spain’s Francesc Puey (Suzuki) topped the Vintage Individual classification.
With the Acceleration Test complete, the intensity and technicality of the FIM EVT will increase for Day Two.
Tomorrow’s route will cover two laps of a forty-kilometre loop that will take riders through the surrounding countryside and famed enduro trails of Zschopau. Each lap will feature two Cross Tests and one Enduro Test.
Results
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