Single day round three of 2022 SloEnduro series still draws 140 riders to Dobrna. A great comeback of Krokar to the series.
“This was our sixth race, we had four 4Fun events and now a second SloEnduro. We’ve been moving the date from April to late May and we always get ‘lucky’ with the rain,” said Denis Tomazin, chief of organization for Krokar cycling club.
Or like Cri Maierhofer put in in that Kenda SuperStage preview in 2018: “If you like it wet and dirty, you’re going to like it here!”
It was a wet race but still well attended and well ran. The spirits remained high throughout the day while Kärcher’s bike wash helped in keeping the bikes running after each stage.
140 riders from four countries came to race the maximum of three special stages in a single day event. For the riders on the long course this meant close to 1500 elevation meters along with the training lap.
Long course overall winners
On the long course the 2021 SloEnduro champ, still junior rider Miha Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) won two out of three special stages by small margins. After a 5th and 3rd place in first two rounds of the series it was enough for his first win of the season. David Ivartnik (Golovec trails) placed second 3.47 seconds back at the roughly 10 minutes and 30 seconds of racing. Austrian Timmy Fockenberger finished third 16 seconds behind. Tim Jež (Kamplc racing team), fastest in SS2, and Jan Markič (ŠKTD Avče) finished in 4th and 5th, respectively.
In women’s race Tina Smrdel (MBK Črni Vrh) took another huge win. In hard conditions she was almost 4 and a half minutes faster than second placed Croatian Sanda Šarko (BK Opušteno). Tina’s teammate Maja Vojska finished third.
Siblings Miha and Tina were also fastest in Kenda SuperStage, SS3.
From the winners
Tina: “In training was the first time I rode these trails, they were nice and flowing. The weather was not ideal and the trails were very muddy but it wasn’t so bad. The trails suited me and I’m happy with the results. I’m sorry that only three girls finished the race.”
Miha: “The race was very intense, we were close with David all the way. The trails were great, we just missed some sun. I’m happy with the result even if I know that I could have done much better. I’d like to thank to my team and sponsors and especially my parents.”
Categories
Apart from junior winner Smrdel and elite winner Ivartnik – Blaž Černigoj (Kamplc) was the fastest master 1 this time in 8th overall. Nace Krivonong (Bosch Black Hole Enduro Team) won the amateur category in 11th overall. David Taucer and Stefano Negovetti (both Federclub Trieste) won masters 2 and 3.
Short course
On the short course (SS1 & 3) it was a U15 rider on top again, this time Matija Ferjančič (Kamplc) in front of U17 riders Jakob Lorber and Juš Ažman (both KK Završnica). Nežka Libnik (Bosch Black Hole Enduro Team), a U15 rider herself, was once again the fastest girl, in front of another U15 rider Ana Inkret (Calcit bike team) and U17 winner Lucija Mlinar (KK Ravne).
Jakob Praček (Kamplc) won the U13 race which was held on one special stage.
Results
Series ranking follows here shortly
Round four of the series is close – SloEnduro Gorjanci on June 12th in Novo mesto, Slovenia. Propositions and registration dropping here any time now!
Photos by KD Krokar
