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World Championship Enc:juro Series Round 6: Finnish Enduro STORY AND PHOTO BY JONTY EDMUNDS OTAVA, M1KEW, FINLAND, JUNE 8·9 (;::l reat weather, challenging special ~ tests and the worst course that the World Enduro Championship has seen in recent years is how those compet· ing in round six of this year's series will remember the Finnish event, held 140 miles north of Helsinki. Despite nearly all describing the course as being a "roadrace," with over 80 percent of it being on public highways, the event saw two Scandinavian riders crowned World Champions for the first time ever, as home rider Samuli Aro became 250cc TwoStroke World Champion and Swede Peter Bergvall was crowned champion in the 250cc Four-Stroke division. Both riders topped their respective classes on both days. For Aro, a season of consistency and hard work finally paid off as the CH Racing Husqvarna pilot wrapped up the title at the end of the first day's competition. Despite a heavy crash on the day's second crosscountry test which saw him have to fit new bars to his Husky, Aro remained composed but clearly overjoyed at claiming his first World Championship. "I'm so happy to have won the World title: Aro beamed. "Winning here in Finland makes it extra special too. I wasn't taking any risks because I knew that I could win the title, but it's hard to ride in the sand when you don't attack." Aro's nearest competitor on day one was UFO Corse Yamaha-mounted David Knight. Knowing that he must finish ahead of Gas Gas-mount- 40 JULY 3, 2002' cue I lit ed Finn Jani Laaksonen in order to defend his second-place position in the quarter-liter championship, Knight did just that on both days, scoring a 2-3 to Laaksonen's 3-4 something that pleased the Manxman greatly. The surprise performance of the 250cc class was that of Portuguese Honda rider Helder Rodrigues. Having impressed many with his performances in the opening round's mud, on the hard pack in Italy, and now in the Finnish sand, Helder maintained his reputation as the series' most consistent and best performing non-factorysupported rider and will likely take up an official WEC team place in '03. Claiming the 250cc Four-Stroke World Championship, Swede Peter Bergvall had started the '02 series expecting to win. Having finished runner-up in '01 to his then-WR250F Yamaha-mounted teammate Stefan Peterhansel, Bergvall and his Yamaha again proved the most competitive quarter-liter-thumper package and topped the class with reasonable ease in Finland. "It's been a great season for me this year: he explained. "The team have worked really hard, and my bike has run perfectly all year. I can't thank them enough." The battle for the runner-up spot in the 250cc Four-Strokes was hotly contested in Finland, with the second-, third- and fourth-place riders on day one being separated by just four seconds. Second on day one was Husqvarna's Oblucki Bartosz. Placing ahead of Farioli KTM rider Niklas Gustafsson and his Husky teammate Paul Edmondson, Bartosz dropped to fourth on day two as Gustafsson n lit _ S claimed second, his best result of the year. Erno Aro, brother of newly crowned 250cc Two-Stroke World Champion Samuli Aro, claimed third on a Yamaha. One of the biggest surprises of the weekend was the day-one result of 125cc-mounted Gas Gas rider Petri Pohjamo. Fast, but often inconsistent, he not only topped the eighth-liter class but also the overall, for best individual performer irrespective of class - proving that you didn't need to be on a "big bike" to post fast times on the deep, sandy special tests. Topping the class by 22 seconds on day one, and then by almost seven seconds on day two, Pohjamo's name was the first of nine Finnish riders all within the top 15 of the 125cc class on both days one and two. "Everything has gone well this weekend: Pohjamo admitted. "My bike has run perfectly, and I haven't crashed. I hope I can ride the same way in Sweden at the final round of the championship". Petteri Silvan, the 125cc championship leader, had to settle for third both times out, seeing his lead extended once again when his closest rival, TM's Rickard Larsson, was disqualified on day two. Claiming that he was riding well within himself, Silvan now needs only to claim a handful of points at the championship's final round in Sweden to claim his third Husqvarnapowered World Championship. Despite being disqualified on day two, Larsson placed second on day one, 22 seconds behind Pohjamo. Second on day two was Finn Mikko Pihlajavesi, aboard his KTM. Having started the season as a privateer before being drafted into the Farioli KTM squad, Mikko was again riding as a privateer. Juha Salminen stamped his authority on the 400cc Four-Stroke class once again and turned his fourpoint deficit into a 39-point advantage - not a bad weekend's work by anyone's standards. Finishing ahead of Husaberg-mounted countryman Marko Tarkkala on both days, Salminen, like 125cc-c1ass-leader Petteri Silvan, needs only to score a handful of points at the final round in Sweden to claim his fourth World title. Knowing that he would have his work cut out trying to stay ahead of Salminen, Australian Merriman saw his World Championship aspirations ended in Finland as a lowly ninth on day one and a non-point-scoring 17th on day two ruled the Husqvarna pilot out of a final-round showdown. Injuring his left knee during his second fall on day one, Merriman rode much of day two standing up, as bending his knee proved extremely painful. Third on day one was Vor rider Roman Michalik. Despite admitting to not liking the sand, the former 125cc World Champion again proved to be both fast and consistent. Third on day one, after trapping his leg in his Yamaha's rear wheel and receiving BRIEFLY••• Vor factory rider. Spaniard Miki Arpa. was the most notable non-starter in Finland, having crashed while training for the event in Sweden. Arpa injured his left shoulder In the crash. fracturing the ball of the shoulder joint. Lying in fourth in the 400cc Four-Stroke championship prior to the Finnish event, just five points behind third-placed rider Finn Marko Tarkkala. Arpa will likely miss the final round in Sweden too. Despite having some of the most challenging special tests yet seen in the '02 World Enduro Championship. the Finnish race also had the worst course - something that angered many. With many riders having traveled thousands of Kilometers, from all comers of Europe. all were greeted by a roadrace. "It's a real disappointment.' expressed 500cc Four-Stroke championship leader Anders Eriksson. "It's by far the worst course of the year. There's way too much road work." Offering a possible explanation as to why the event was run mainly on roads. three-time World Champion Juha Salminen said: "The forests in this part of Finland are extremely difficult. especially if it rains. The course would have been too hard as there are many swamps and a lot of rocks. I hope this is the reason they used so much road." Unsurprisingly. riders from Scandinavia topped each of the five classes on both days' competition. with only newly crowned 250cc Four·Stroke World Champion Peter Bergvall not being from the host nation Finland. The best non-Scandinavian rider was round-one overall winner David Knight. aboard his UFO Corse Yamaha. Knight was fifth overall on both days in Finland. Fonmer U.S. Hare Scrambles Champion and four-time World Enduro Champion Paul Edmondson saw his hopes of claiming the '02 250cc Four-Stroke title finally vanish when he suffered a motor failure midway through day two. Having suffered a DNF on day two at the championship's previous round in Italy. Edmondson's chances of actually winning the title were slim coming into the Finnish event. He has openly expressed an interest in switching to either the 125cc or 400cc class for '03. While it was a great weekend for Husqvarna factory rider Samuli Aro. the "home race" of fellow 250cc-mounted Finns Simon Wilk and Jani Laaksonen didn't prove quite as good. For TMmounted Wilk. the weekend saw him DNF twice· firstly. after a big crash on day one. and then with a broken clutch perch on day two. For Laaksonen, who needed two good results to move ahead of UFO Corse Yamaha rider David Knight in the quarter-liter championship. third on day one and fourth on day two saw him place behind his British rival on both days. Swedish TM rider Rickard Larsson was excluded from the second day's competition in France after finishing second in the 125cc category on day one. Riding with a handlebar-mounted steering damper filled to his Italian-made TM, larsson. who has been asked by FIM officials on more than one occasion already this year to cover it with a bar pad. was spolled without a pad and asked to cover it. At this point, halfway through day two, the Swede allegedly spun his bike around. covering the FIM official in dust and gravel before riding against the course en route to his team's truck - something that is against WEC rules.