Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Graham Jarvis added another Hard Enduro win to his career when he crossed the line first at the 2017 Hixpania Hard Enduro in northern Spain, November 3-5.
This was the second edition of the Hixpania Hard Enduro, and Garvis was clearly keen to put his name in the event win column after finishing second to KTM’s Alfredo Gomez at the inaugural Hixpania Enduro in 2016. The three-day event began on Friday where the entrants raced on a SuperEnduro-style course laid out in the town square of Aguilar de Campoo. Saturday featured a 48-kilometer enduro loop around a nearby lake. The race was three laps. Sunday’s main event featured a short but very extreme loop that was contested over a two-hour and 30-minute time. Points were awarded for each day’s racing to determine the Hixpania Hard Enduro Champion.
Jarvis could only manage a seventh-place finish on Friday, but he got on the gas to improve to fourth place on Saturday, knowing that rival and KTM rider Jonny Walker was leading the event. Jarvis knew he would need a win on Sunday and a little luck to claim the Hixpania Hard Enduro title.
Jarvis got away last in the Le Mans-style start, but he steadily worked his way through the field, and he was up to fourth place as the top four riders bunched up at the halfway point. With two laps to go, Jarvis pushed his way into the lead and sealed his victory by reaching the top of an extremely difficult final hill climb. Meanwhile, Walker fell and slipped to fourth place. That left the two men in a tie on points, but Jarvis was awarded the win via the Hixpania Hard Enduro win via the tiebreaker.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to win this one today,” Jarvis said afterward. “Coming into the final race, Sunday’s extreme race, I was about fourth overall in the points classification and so thought the overall win was out of reach. My plan was to just fight for the win in this race and see what happened. I was actually the last rider to reach my bike at the start and so was last away. I picked off a few riders quickly enough, and to be honest it helped not leading. I could read the tracks the guys had made and managed to avoid some of their mistakes with line choices. With about two laps to go I got into the lead and pushed on. The final hill climb was pretty much impossible. But luckily I got there first and was roped up. I just had to watch and see what would unfold next. Jonny Walker had a crash and dropped to fourth. We tied on points but my win was enough for victory. I’m really happy with that because Hixpania was one of the few hard enduro races I’d yet to win.”
Defending Hixpania Hard Enduro Champion Alfredo Gomez finished third overall. Gomez and Jarvis’ teammate Billy Bolt battled with each other on Sunday, but Bolt had a good run up final climb to score fourth overall.
Your Privacy Choices