"Start As You Mean To Go On"
After a long off season away from the races, athletes lined up this weekend in Rotorua for EWS #1 to see if all their hard work would pay off! After a rain soaked race in Rotorua two years ago, athletes were pleasantly surprised by five dusty stages. The arena was primed for a perfect kick off into the 2019 season!
Sometimes it's just not your day, but with only a few days before the next round of the EWS, Ines Thoma's shot at redemption will come soon enough!
Mark Scott making easy work of Rotorua's technical trails; a solid 18th place to kick off the season and ready to move up the rankings next week in Tasmania.
Iago Garay earned a career best 14th place in Rotorua; a hard winter of training paying off instantly!
Hot off his win at the NZ Enduro, Dim Tordo came into Rotorua feeling good and backed it up with a 9th place finish.
After a rough start to the day on stage 1, Rocky Mountain's Remi Gauvin fought back hard, collecting some impressive stage times and finishing in 7th, a great start to his 2019 EWS campaign!
Jesse Melamed looked strong all weekend and backed it up in the race, finishing in 4th place, putting himself in a great position in the early championship battle.
An almost guarantee for a top 10, Florian Nicolai set his 2019 off to a great start, grabbing a 3rd place finish.
Start as you mean to go on; Martin Maes came into Rotorua surrounded by hype and excitement and he did not disappoint. Winning all 5 stages on the way to winning round #1 was a dream start to the Belgian's season! Stay tuned this week as the series moves to Tasmania for round #2!
Photos: Sven Martin + Boris Beyer
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