Reigning Enduro 3 world champion, KTM’s David Knight, once again showed the world that, when the tough gets going he gets tough! Riding his 300cc KTM, David conquered the physically demanding Hell’s Gate race once more, winning himself 8’000 Euros after having the power and stamina to make it to the very top of Hell’s peak.
The morning’s enduro qualifying featured several ice patches and David managed to win each of the three special tests to qualify first for the main Hell’s Gate race. Knight who also managed to finish ahead of Britain’s Wayne Braybrook and Italian Maurizio Micheluz, did more than enough to guarantee he would start in pole position for the four-lap main event. Dakar rider and KTM’s David Casteu finished in 10th position; this put him in a very strong position for a good result in the Hell’s Gate race.
With just four laps of an exceedingly difficult and in places extremely icy track ahead of him, Knight took the lead from the start, but was back in second place after getting caught up in the first river section. Not really too bothered about being in second, David moved to the front of the race at the start of the second lap and stayed there until the end of the race. Winning the 2006 races of Hell’s Gate was anything but straightforward for Knight as the 15 minute lead he had opened up during the second and third laps was reduced to just three and a half minutes at the end of the race following problems with the lights on his bike.
The lights on David’s bike failed just as he needed them and were the result of a minor crash. David was soon in complete darkness and managing only with just his helmet lights, it wasn’t too long before they stopped working too. Cautiously making his way towards the final peak of Hell’s hill, the reigning 2005 ISDE champion stayed ahead of Braybrook, who was fast catching up in second position. Knight, then added another victory to his other triumphant rides of 2006 at The KTM Tough One and the Genoa International Indoor Enduro. In placing his KTM on the top step of the podium David was presented with a cheque for 8’000 Euro by event organiser Fabio Fasola.
David Knight said, “This year’s Hell’s Gate race was certainly difficult for me. The track had a lot of ice in places, which made the morning’s qualifying race interesting. Winning the morning enduro was good because it gave me a good position on the start for the main race. I had a small problem on the first section of rocks and got stuck a little bit so I didn’t really lead the race until the start of the second lap.” He continued, “I pushed hard during the second and third laps to open up a lead and I think I was about 10 or 15 minutes ahead. Just as it started to get dark my lights stopped working. Then I tried my back-up lights and for some reason I couldn’t get them to work either. Making things worse was the fact that my helmet lights only lasted for about five minutes before they stopped too. Then I was really in the dark. Thankfully, I made it to the last hill of the race and with the help of the spectators I made it to the top. Winning the race for the third time is great.”
KTM’s Dakar rider David Casteu finished in sixth position, he said, “The Dakar is certainly a difficult race but Hell’s Gate is difficult in a very different way. Although it is very short it is very hard but very enjoyable. After spending so much time on a rally bike it was a little bit strange riding on an enduro bike again but with the support of my friends I am really pleased to have finished the race. I didn’t have any problems during the race but I was close to not making it to the finish because of how far I was behind David Knight. Anyway, I did make it and I am extremely happy to have finished.”
The results for the Camel Hell’s Gate Race are as follows:
1. David Knight KTM 4 laps.
2. Wayne Braybrook Honda + 3.30 minutes
3. Paul Edmondson Honda + 15.30 minutes
4. Gregory Eyries Yamaha + 1 minutes
5. Graham Jarvis Sherco + 13 minutes
6. David Casteu KTM + 6 minutes
