Mikael Persson Claims Enduro Junior Class Victory In Greece

Following his strong set of runner-up results less than a week before at the EnduroGP of Hungary, the WR250F powered rider entered the Greek GP with his eyes set on the top step of the podium in the under 23 class of the championship. Sucessfully battling through the Greek heat Persson enjoyed a great weekend of racing in Grevena that started with him claiming victory at the short opening SuperTest on Friday evening.

Suffering a small mistake early on Saturday morning Mikael quickly got back up to speed and kept pushing for a good result until the last test of the day. With his strong point being his speed at the technical extreme test the young Swede wrapped up the first full day of enduro racing in Greece with third in his class.

Stepping it up a notch on Sunday the Johansson Yamaha Junior Enduro Team rider gained the provisional lead halfway through the opening lap and never looked back. Wrapping up day two 10 seconds ahead of his closest rival he secured a long-overdue win, his first career victory in the under 23 class of the EnduroGP World Championsip.

Currently placed third in the Enduro Junior’s championship standings, Mikael has managed to reduce the gap to the rider in the provisional lead to 18 points. He’s also just one point behind the rider in second place.

Mikael Persson and the Johansson Yamaha Junior Enduro Team will return to action in Castelo Branco, Portugal, with round six of the 2017 Enduro World Championship taking place on July 21/23.

Results – 2017 FIM EnduroGP World Championship, Round 5, Greece

Day 1 – Enduro Junior
1. Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 58:51.64
2. Davide Soreca (ITA), Honda, 59:04.19, +12.55
3. Mikael Persson (SWE), Yamaha, 59:31.92, +40.28
4. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Husqvarna, 59:41.70, +50.06
5. Albin Elowson (SWE), Husqvarna, 59:49.60, +57.96
6. Enric Francisco (ESP), KTM, 1:00:09.15, +1:17.51
13. Antoine Magain (BEL), Yamaha, 1:03:04.76, +4:13.12

Day 2 – Enduro Junior
1. Mikael Persson (SWE), Yamaha, 57:54.30
2. Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 58:04.36, +10.06
3. Davide Soreca (ITA), Honda, 59:10.80, +1:16.50
4. Albin Elowson (SWE), Husqvarna, 59:11.58, +1:17.28
5. Matteo Cavallo (ITA), Beta, 59:16.10, +1:21.80
6. Kirian Mirabet (ESP), Sherco, 59:33.36, +1:39.06
12. Antoine Magain (BEL), Yamaha, 1:01:11.71, +3:17.41

2017 FIM EnduroGP World Championship Standings (After Round 5)

Enduro Junior
1. Davide Soreca (ITA), Honda, 204pts
2. Brad Freeman (GBR), Beta, 187pts
3. Mikael Persson (SWE), Yamaha, 186pts
4. Matteo Cavallo (ITA), Beta, 139pts
5. Kirian Mirabet (ESP), Sherco, 137pts
6. Enric Francisco (ESP), KTM, 112pts
16. Antoine Magain (BEL), Yamaha, 44pts
31. Erik Appelqvist (SWE), Yamaha, 13pts
34. Hugo Blanjoue (FRA), Yamaha, 11pts
35. Jean-Baptiste Nicolot (FRA), Yamaha, 10pts
36. Thibaut Passet (FRA), Yamaha, 10pts