For the second year in a row, the Polish have hosted a Hard Enduro race in Europe’s largest open pit mine. The Red Bull 111 Megawatt Enduro was Held in Klesczow Poland in September.
The hard-core event is designed to take all the great elements of competitive motorcycle riding and mix them into one giant race. Megawatt combines three disciplines of competitive riding into one fast paced three-lap hard Enduro. It’s motocross, extreme Enduro, and Endurocross.
More than 600 riders from 12 nations competed in a straight motocross section of track and then an Endurocross run to become one of the 500 in the main event. This year, Johnny Walker of Great Britain came in first, followed by Graham Jarvis, also of Great Britain, and Sweden’s Joakim Ljunggren in third.
Like any new event, this year’s race saw some adjustments. Sport Director Bartek Obluck recently told Red Bull this year’s event, as the second ever held, brought some changes.
“There were many things to plan and combine, however, I was most worried about unforeseeable situations,” he said.
Obluck said he was concerned some of the riders might not respect the course, and may look for shortcuts.
“There were some places along the whole course without taping, so we hoped that the participants would follow signs and flags,” he said.
To avoid traffic jams on the course, race officials introduced more checkpoints employing contactless readers, which let a few riders pass a checkpoint at once without getting off their bikes.
The rules for finishing were also changed this year. Riders had four hours to finish this time. The logic being that more riders who just want to enjoy the ride would be able to complete the entire course and not have to stop due to time constraints. Of course, the competitive riders, as indicated by the standings, took just over an hour and a half to finish, but that’s not reason not to let everyone else have a good time.
Photo credit: Youtube screenshot
