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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128157
.---'.'- - - - -- .I ~ , .. .off~r·o_i:3d_~ World Championship Enduro Series Round 5: Italy Third on day one was crowd favorite Giovanni Sala_ Riding the big KTM 520 like most would ride a 125cc machine, Sala claimed his best finish of the year, liking the flat grassy special tests. "I really enjoyed day one, it was the best day of the championship for me so far and I was really happy to have been so close to Anders and Bjome," Sala said. "The support that I received from the public was unbelievable too." Day two wasn't as good for Sala, as the heavily rutted, one-lined special tests, and the return of Ahola, pushed him back to fourth_ Third on day two was Husaberg's Bjome Carlsson. In the l25cc class, Swede Rickard Larsson proved that you can't keep a good man down by winning just seven days after crashing out of the French round. Having handed a huge championship advantage to Husqvarna's Petteri Silvan in the process, Larsson was keen to claw back lost points and topped the day by just one 100th of a second, ahead of UFO Corse Yamaha rider Marc Germain. "After last weekend, I just need to push hard until the end of the season and keep the pressure on Petteri," Larsson explained. STORY AND PHOTOS BY JONTY EDMUNDS VAIlJIlERGAMASCI-f, CliISOI'E,ITALY,MAY 18-19 hree-time World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen dominated both days of competition at the fifth round of the World Enduro Series, held in Clusone, Northern Italy, topping both the 400cc class and the Scratch for the best individual performer. Finishing 36 seconds clear of his nearest rival on day one, and 17 seconds ahead on day two, Salminen moves to within four points of 400ccclass leader Stefan Merriman. "This weekend has been great for me," explained Salminen. "I didn't make any mistakes at all on day one, and today, despite the heavy rain, things went exactly to plan again_" Knowing that he's now only four points behind class leader Merriman, and that the remaining two Scandinavi an rounds of the championship should suit his style of riding better than that of the Australian, Salminen admits that his title hopes are looking good. "Yeah, I think the races in Finland and Sweden will suit me better than Stefan, but he's still going to be tough to beat," Salminen said. "I'll be pushing hard on each test, just like I have all year." While Salminen's double win couldn't have come at a better point in the series, championship-leader Merriman, the man many were expecting to win, had to be content with second on both days. "Juha's really been on-form this weekend," Merriman admitted, obviously disappointed that his championship lead had been slashed. "I've been struggling to find a setup with the bike that I'm happy with, which hasn't helped this weekend. I've just got to try the best I can at the final two rounds of the championship and see what happens." Third on both days in Italy was Vor rider Roman Michalik. Originally drafted into Vor's '02 squad as the team's 250cc four-stroke rider, after the unsuccessful debut of the quarterliter machine at the season opener Michalik has proved to be one of the 400cc class' fastest riders. One rider who has had no problems proving himself as one of the fastest riders in the 500cc Four-Stroke class in '02 is Mika Ahola. Locked in a twoway scrap with Anders Eriksson for this year's half-liter title, the Finn saw his championship hopes all but ended on day one after retiring early on. Struggling with a rear-brake problem from the start of the day, Ahola then holed a radiator, broke the Vor's kickstart mechanism and struggled with the bike then being stuck in third gear. Deciding to retire and start fresh on day two, Ahola placed second behind series leader Eriksson on the second day and now trails his Swedish rival by 33 points. A gap he admits he'll only be able to bridge if Eriksson also has problems. "Yesterday was such bad luck. It was just a simple fall, but now my chances of claiming the title are all but finished," Ahola explained. "I can't believe that something like this has happened. After coming so close to winning the title last year, to have this happen is unbelievable. The only way I can win the title now is if Anders has as much bad luck as me." With his nearest championship rival out, Eriksson took full advantage to claim the class win on both day one and two. "It is never nice when something like this happens to one of your competitors, but I'm here to win, and this weekend has been really good," said Eriksson. 42 n.""s JUNE 5, 2002' cue • e (LeftJ Mlka Ahola suffered mechanical gremlins on day one but was able to finish second to 500cc Four-5troke Championship-leader Anders Eriksson on day two. (Below! VorOs Mild Arpa plo_ through the slop on day two, which was hit by heavy rains.