A big scare for Zachary Pichon!

World Enduro Championship in Spain 

After a good first day where he finished third in the E1 class at the Spanish Grand Prix, Zachary Pichon was victim of a violent accident on Sunday. Forced to abandon, he is still doing well and will be back on his Sherco very soon.

It was time for the second round of the World Enduro Championship in Spain. After his great start in Italy a few weeks earlier, Zach was confident about the GP and the beginning of the weekend was going to bring him the results he expected. "I did a great extreme special right from the start when it rained, that's when years of trial practice pay off! I did a great first lap as I was fifth in the scratch ranking, before losing about 20 seconds in a very hard extreme climb; so far nothing catastrophic as everyone lost time. But at the end of the second of the three laps, in the fourteen minutes long special stage, I have a technical problem from the start which costs me thirty five seconds. It didn't spoil the final result, but it prevented me from fighting for second place," said Zachary, who finished the first day third in the E1 category and seventh overall.

A chance in his misfortune

Sunday started well for Zach, who was second in his E1 class and eighth overall after three stages. But it was while driving on the road to the next stage that the accident happened. "When you get out of the stage you think about everything that happened, and while we were driving on a road open to traffic I wasn't focused enough. On the liaison, at the exit of a roundabout, I turned to the right, and while I was looking at my watch to see how much time I had to clock in, I hit a car that was parked on the side of the road with full force. I couldn't do anything to avoid it, I must have been doing 60 km/h and I didn't even have time to brake. I hit the car about 20 meters further; I don't really know how I fell back, luckily I only have two small cuts on my knees. I wanted to get going again but the bike was out of shape due to the violence of the impact" continues Zach on the way back to the Sarthe. Luckily the World Championship calendar is not too dense, as the next Grand Prix in Finland is only three weeks away. "I'll take some time off to recover from these emotions, do some tests to make sure my knees are okay because this morning I had a little trouble walking, but I can consider myself lucky considering the violence of the shock."

The results of the GP of Spain

Saturday: Third in E1, seventh in scratch ranking

Sunday: withdrawal after the third stage (accident)

Championship: fourth in E1, seventh in scratch ranking

Photo Credit: Sherco/Mastorgne