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/ENDURO~· : ·.Etlduioseries :' . Round 2"" France . ." 'W.o .C . rld hanipio ilShip - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - (Lett) Mounted on a modifiedYamaha VZ125 , Giorgio Grasaotook advantage of a bit of good luck to score tha overall win In France. (Below) Gas-Gas pilot Paul Edmondson had tha win sewed up until the final loop was thrown out when It was discovered that several Italians had been receiving outside assistance In the tougher sections. He settled for second overall. (Bottom) Shown here splash ing throught a stream, Swede Sven Erik Jonsson won the Lightweight FourStroke class on both days , establishing a small advantage In the series point standings. rasso UC SOU By Geoff Meyer 32 SERVIERES LEGIATEAU, FRANCE, MAY 14-15 talian Giorgio Grasso, the 1993 250cc World Enduro Champion, got a lucky break as he won the second round of the series on his Totip-sponsored Yamaha YZ125. Grasso had some help from his fellow countrymen, as the final loop was thrown out wh en it w a s foun d that the Italian riders had been getting assistance through some of the toughe r sections, which a Saturd a y night thu n derstorm had ren d er ed nearly un ridable. The .decision was a bitter blow to defending 12Scc World Champ ion Paul Edmondson . The Brit had turned in th e bes t sc or e on th e loop , and taken over the ove rall lead, but the Gas-Gas rider had to settle for sec on d overa ll after the loop was thrown out. "I knew wh at I had to do going into the las t lap, and I rode really well," said Edmondson. "I gave it my all; then they find out the Italians' are cheating:' But Grasso w a s silent about the issue, and appeared satisfied with the outcome. And wh y not ? Because of the d ecision, h is class lead in th e series standings is now 10 points more than it would have been had the lap coun ted. He leads Edmondson 71-55. One Italian who did comment wa s '93 500cc Four-Stroke Champion Fabio Farioli. "Sure, the Italians help each other, but everyone does - not just us." Farioli ended up third in the Heavyweight Four-Stroke division - with a little help from his friends. Like most stops o n th e World End uro circuit, the French round was held in a magnificent area, with plenty of hills, mud and rough special tests. DAY 1 Hu sky-mou nted Finn Silvan Petteri took an early lead in the Lightweight class by winning the first special test ah ead of Italian Aprilia rider Stefano Passeri and Edmondson. By the end of th e d ay, h o w ever, Edmondson had taken command of the tiddler category, winning th e third and fifth tests. The Eng lis hma n 's times pu t hi m six seconds ahea d of Grasso and gave him 20 championship points. "I can get some points back, and so far it 's loo kin g good, " sa id Edmondson, who didn't finish the first round. "I have kep t my lead an d he need s ' many points to catch me," said series lead er Grasso. Th e return of French ra lly king Steph ane Peterhansel was bad news for round-one aces Giovanni Sala and Cyril Esquirol in the Heavyweight division. Coming off a win in the Tunisia Rally, Peterhansel was in a mood to conquer, an d the Yamaha France rider won the day ahead of Swede Joachim Hedenahl and Italian Tullio PeIlegrinelli. The Swedish contingent was expected to do weIl -.and in the Lightweight Four-Stroke class, at least, th ey came th ro ugh. Defending champ Sven Erik Jo nsson led fellow Swede Anders Eri ksson, and was sa tisfied w ith his day. "I won the first sp ecial test and jus t kept my head ," he sai d . "We are ha ppy w ith the result, as my points lead is now looking good." The first day gave the Heavywe ight Four-Stroke class lead to Slo vakian [araslov Katrinak, who finished ahead of Finn Kari Tiainen. The Husky pilot's four out of five wins in the special tests had him weIl ahead . Defending champion Fari oli was ha ving a bad day, back in fourth.