Fantic is making giant strides in the enduro ( and motocross ) paddocks . Its Euro-adaptations of Yamaha ’ s YZ and WR thoroughbreds have brought works-level refinements to production machinery and proven themselves winners at the highest levels – claiming 32 ‘ international ’ off-road championship titles since their comeback in 2019 . Now Fantic has gone a step further , filling in the gaps in its enduro range with an all-new ( almost ) 300cc two-stroke and a neatly sorted 310 four-stroke . It ’ s all good . Only a small rocky track set in the mountainous Dolomites with sub-zero temperatures and falling snow might not have been the best time and place to launch them ...
XE 300 TWO-STROKE Snow falling or not , the XE 300 looks every inch the part – a sleek , purposeful and well finished racing machine . Fantic and Minarelli have put years of work into evolving this brand new motor , and into the final packaging , it all speaks to premium values .
There is a lot going on . Fuel injection for a start – never an easy function to realise when working on high-power two-strokes ( just ask KTM ...). Then there are the other E-additions , in the shape of the electronic power valve actuation and electric start , plus the engine mapping – oh yes , and 10 levels of traction control . The XE 300 motor has evolved from its point of origin ( Yamaha ’ s YZ250 ) into a whole new entity , with its own cylinder and head , own crank cases and entirely new engine management . And now being entirely produced at Minarelli – yes , it ’ s their own motor . Of course it needs to be , given Fantic is pitching this model against such enduro greats as KTM ’ s 300 EXC and Beta ’ s RR 300 . Ahead of this launch , ahead of production , Fantic has worked hard to prove its competitiveness . In 2022 and 2023 , prototypes have been racing in the Italian and World enduro championships , with some success – Davide Guarneri leading the 2022 E3 world champs up to the moment of his career-ending crash in the Italian championships , and after that Albin
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