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World Championship Enduro Series Round 7: Swedish Enduro STORY AND PHOTOS BY JONTY EDMUNDS EKSJO, SWEDEN, JUNE 15·16 H Racing 250cc Husqvarna rider Samuli Aro claimed the overall victory on both days of the final round of the series to wrap up a nearperfect season, one in which the Finn claimed both his first-ever World title and a well-deserved runner-up spot in the overall classification. Already crowned champion in the 250cc class at the series' penultimate round in Finland, Aro had no pressure in Sweden, and despite struggling to motivate himself early on day one, he showed exactly why he has earned the quarter-liter two-stroke title. Finishing over a minute clear of Portuguese Honda rider Helder Rodrigues on day one, and a halfminute ahead on day two, Aro again showed why he is going to be a tough rider to beat in '03. "It was difficult to motivate myself on day one," revealed Aro. "I made a few mistakes and took a while to get into a rhythm, but once I knew I had a strong lead, I relaxed a little. The tests really suited me this weekend. To win is a great way to finish the World Championship season." Second to Aro on both days was Portugal's Rodrigues. Having improved steadily with each round of the championship, he put himself at the top of several teams' "wanted" lists, with two solid second-place performances. Finishing comfortably ahead of the 250cc class' third-place finishers (UFO Corse Yamaha's David Knight on day one and TM's Simon Wilk on day two), Rodrigues also finished the weekend in second place overall, again behind Aro. "This has been a great way to finish the year," admitted the clearly overjoyed Rodrigues. "I hope I can carry my form into the ISDE and then into next year's 250cc championship." Third on day one, helping him claim second in the highly competitive 250cc championship, was Knight. Knowing that he had to finish ahead of Gas Gas rider Jani Laaksonen in order to claim the runner-up spot, Knight, as in Finland, posted better results than his Finnish rival, giving him the second-place slot for the second consecutive year. Laaksonen finished sixth on both days to finish third in the series, eight points ahead of Rodrigues in fourth. Claiming one of the three World C 50 JULY 10. 2002' cue • e Championships decided at the end of day one, Finnish CH Racing Husqvarna rider Petteri Silvan lifted his fourth World Championship (his third on a Husqvarna in the 125cc class) with a second-place finish to countryman Petri Pohjamo on day one. Having taken control of the championship at the season opener in Spain, Silvan's steady performances and inconsistent rivals have allowed him to maintain enough of a lead to not worry too much about winning, and to concentrate instead on lifting the title. With the championship won, Silvan crashed out of day two after a highspeed get-off on the cross-country test. "I've just been doing enough to win the title," commented Silvan, when asked about what many saw as an end-of-season dip in form. "The championship is what matters to me, so there is no point in taking risks to try and win each race. This weekend was the same; I did enough to win." Winning day one and continuing his good form from the Finnish round, Gas Gas' Pohjamo finished half-aminute clear in the 125cc class on day one (before having to accept second on day two) behind Farioli KTM rider Simone Albergoni. With poor performances on the second day's fourth and fifth tests affecting n R _ S his chances of a double victory, Pohjamo finished 20 seconds behind first-time World Championship winner Albergoni. Third on day two was Finn Mikko Pihlajavesi, on a KTM. In the 250cc Four-Stroke class, Peter Bergvall claimed a double-class win for the sixth time in '02, having only been beaten on the opening day's competition in Greece. Also finding it hard to motivate himself (he had already claimed the title), Bergvall finished 40 seconds clear on day one and over a minute ahead of his rivals on day two. "It's great to come to my home race as the winner of the '02 250cc Four-Stroke World Championship," Bergvall explained. "I found it difficult to really push hard this weekend, which shows in my overall positions, but I'm happy with the way things went." Second on both days, and in the 250cc Four-Stroke final standings, was former U.S. Hare Scrambles Champion Paul Edmondson. Disappointed at not being able to be more of a championship threat to Bergvall, "Fast Eddy" was only ever interested in winning the title. "Finishing second or third doesn't really make any difference to me," Edmondson said. "I wanted to win the title; it's as simple as that." Third in the final standings - and on day one, before a mechanical DNF put him out of day two - was Husky's Oblucki Bartosz. Third on day two was Swede Niklas Gustafsson, on a KTM. Juha Salminen (or "Wonder Boy," as his championship T-shirt called him) topped not only the 400cc class - claiming his fourth World title in as many years - but also the overall standings. Needing only to place near the front of the class after Stefan Merriman (his closest 400cc championship rival), Salminen was all but guaranteed the title despite a bad performance at the previous round, and he came through to win both days. "It has been really difficult to motivate myself this weekend, especially today, because there was nothing to fight for," explained Salminen. "I'm really happy with the way I'm riding now. I've changed the bike back to how I had it at the ISDE last year, and it's working great. To win the championship after battling with Stefan is something I'm very happy about." Second on both days, having led day two's competition until the last special test, was UFO Corse Yamaha rider Mats Andreasson. Having learned a lot during his first season of enduro competition, the tall Swede showed that he now has the makings of a champion, haVing put his injury from the French round of the championship behind him. "I had to give that last special test my everything," explained an overjoyed Andreasson. "I was four seconds ahead of Juha going into the final test, so J gave it everything. Unfortunately, I crashed, but I'm