Phillips dominates junior world enduro

Enduro Junior rookie Matt Phillips ensured a highly successful GP of Spain for the Husqvarna Factory Team as he enjoyed victory at the third round of the 2013 Enduro World Championship. For Phillips a double class win put the young Australian into the lead of the Enduro Junior World Championship.

Marking the first of five Enduro World Championship events taking place in Europe, the GP of Spain was for many one of the toughest EWC races for many years. With the extremely dry ground in and around Puerto Lumbreras quickly becoming heavily rutted, the incredibly fine, lose dust proved to be increasingly unpredictable, something that saw mistakes from riders in all classes.

For Matt Phillips the GP of Spain ended in the best possible way with winning rides in the Enduro Junior class on both days. Finding the event extremely difficult, and despite making some big mistakes on day one, Matt gave his all and topped day one by an eventual 27 seconds before winning day two by seven seconds.

Winning the opening four tests in the EJ class on day one set Phillips up perfectly for what would become his second-ever EWC win. But despite his sizeable eventual winning margin it was anything but an ‘easy’ win for the youngster.

Locked in a three-way battle throughout the second day with Italian Giacomo Redondi and Spaniard Mario Roman, Phillips kept his cool and delivered solid performances on each of the day’s 12 special tests. Starting strongly and remaining largely mistake free, in winning the day Matt moved himself to the top of the EJ championship standings.

"It feels so good to have won both days here in Spain. I spent some good time training with Matti Seistola before the race, and I was feeling confident," said Matt. "I knew what to expect from the race and the other guys in my class, but the conditions were tough. I’d say it was one of the hardest events I’ve ever raced, but to get two wins is amazing. The team did so much to help me this weekend, they really pushed me all the way to the end of the second day. I think I made as many mistakes as the other guys in my class but I just kept pushing and pushing and things worked out great.”