Callaghan takes outright lead in EWS U21 class
By Stephen Leonard
KILLIAN Callaghan has taken the outright lead of the Enduro World Series Under 21 division following a tenacious performance on home soil in County Wicklow last Sunday.
The Walkinstown lad came through a double crash on the opening stage as well as a bad shoulder injury sustained after hitting a tree on Stage Five, to finish fourth overall and race 110 points clear at the top of his EWS division.
His cousin Greg Callaghan continues to hold on to the top spot in the Pro Men’s class despite having a tough time of it in Wicklow where he had to settle for a tenth place finish.
It means he has just 20 points to spare over closest rival Sam Hill from Australia with third place Adrien Dailly from France a further 40 points back.
“Really wasn’t my day today. Had no energy and made far too many mistakes to fight for a win” said Greg Callaghan.
“Still made it up here though, stoked to still be leading the World Enduro Series and Killian to have the Under 21s too” he added.
Killian, meanwhile, was coming into his home round of the series level on points with Vojetch Claha, but looking to capitalise on the Czech’s absence from the Irish round as a result of an untimely injury.
Yet Saturday’s torrential rain made for much more treacherous conditions than had been anticipated and Callaghan was soon in trouble after suffering two crashes that left him seventh after the opening stage.
Yet he pulled more time back in Stage Two to move up to third before carding fourth and fifth place finishes over the next two stages.
Hitting a root that turned him full force into a tree, Callaghan sustained a back knock to his shoulder, but fought on over the remainder of Stage Five, the end of which he had dropped to seventh.
Yet he pulled out all the stops on the sixth and final stage, which featured the infamous ‘Carnage Corner’ and posted the fastest time to secure fourth place overall, just 0.80 of a second off third.
It was enough to see him exert a tight grip on the EWS Under 21 division ahead of closest rivals Daniel Self from New Zealand and Nathan Secondi from Corsica in second and third respectively.
It sets him up nicely for the next round of the series in Millau in France on June 30/July 1, but first up for the Walkinstown man will be Gravity Enduro Series outing in Three Rock on June 17/18.
