Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

also learn ed that mistakes were costly afte r fall ing in the demand ing rock sec t io n. "T he Two -Stroke race went p retty well for me; the best m an wo n, if I'm h o n e st , " Ed monso n sai d . " Ste fa n ,..., ~a d e a m ess of one o bstacle ea rly . ~ ~ - .- on , and I made a rri'ess of ano ther. To rac e against th e riders th at fi nished at the fr ont of the ISDE is great. Winnin g all my heat races t old me th at I was Super fina l resulted in a thrown chain and a bent gea r leve r, which ende d his ra ce on lap tw o. As the o n ly Tw o -St rok e finalist mounted on a 200 cc ma ch ine, Portug uese ride r Helder Ro d r i g u e s pla ced his KTM in third. eN Pa la u Sa n! J ordi Barcelona, Spain Resu lls : November 16, Z003 2 / ST RK FIN AL: 1. Stefan M errim an ( Ho n); 2 . Paul Edmo ndson (Yam); 3. Helder Rodrigues (KTM); 4. Robe rto Bazzurri (Hus) ; 5 . Cyril Despres (KTM). 4 / STR K FINAL : 1. David Knig ht (Yam) ; 2. J uha certainly on the pace, but I di dn't p ut quite as m uc h effort into the start in t he fi na l becaus e I w a s ge tting so many good ga tes in m y heat rac es." U nf ort un atel y for Ed m o n d son a m i st ake in t h e ro ck se ctio n of th e JOIN THE HUNDREDS OF SUCCESSFUL, ACTIVE DEALERS WHO SELL f!tft!i.(6Itln e W S Salminen (KTM) ; 3 . Mika Ahola (Vor ); 4. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) ; 5. Ivan Cerva ntes (K TM) ; 6. Mark o Tarkka la (Hbg) ; 7. Mi k i A rpa ( Hon) ; 8. Joa n Jo u Salminen (KTM) ; 3. Stefan Merr im an (Han); 4. Mika Ah ola (Vor ); 5. Held er Rod rigu es (KTM ); 6 . Roberto Bazzurri (Hus). (KTM). S/FINAL: 1. David Knight (Yam); 2. Juha BS.IEFL-V",. • . . : IN THEIR .STORES The fifth Barcelona lntemationallndoor Enduro marked the final international race for several current rider/ma nufactu rer pairing s. with UFO Co rse Yamaha riders David Knight. Peter Bergvall and Paul Edmondson, and VOR fact ory rider Mika Ahola having all signed elsewhere for '04 . For Ahola. '04 will see the three-time ISDE overall winner mounted on an as-yet-undecided capacity C H Racing Husqvama. while Edmondson will race a 250cc two -stro ke Honda. Bergvall a 2S0cc four-stroke CH Racing Husqvarna. and Knight an Over 500c c four-stroke D3·Racing KTM. i This year's Indoor event featured a heavily revamped course - one that was notably different from that used in '01 and '02. The biggest change was that the riders didn't race up into the s ~a ti n g area this year - instead an extra ho~e shoe .shaped loop was incorporated on the stadium floor, Featuring a much harder. and hugely unforgiving. rock section. the track also saw the riders cross a 1DO-foot log section. Wi th several ti ndred 6· to 9·fo ot long logs laid loose on the floor. u the section proved one of the trickiest of the course. Severa l riders thoug ht that this year' s course was possibly a littl e too dangerous, as It saw an unusually high number of injured. bat tered or bruised riders come the end of the night' s event. - I actually prefe rred watch ing the races, rather than being in them." three-time ISDE winner M ika Ahola said. " because I thought the track was a little dangerous this year. For me the race was too hard. M il • Build WEEKLY FOOT TRAFFIC in yo ur store. • C rea te ENTHUSIASM for- new product s. latest events and tre nds in the spo rt of moto rcycli ng . • Local COVERAGE of events in your area, in addi tion to National & Worldwide news about motorcycles - as it happens! Despite being beaten into second place in the Two-St roke final by Stefan Merriman. former Wo rld Enduro Champion P a u l Ed mond s o n set a preceden t during the afte rnoon's prequahfying session by being the first rider to clear a 23-foot tabletop close to the end of the lap - a move that was wo rth at least three seconds per lap. Whi le the jump itself wasn't particularly difficult. the fact that it was litt ered with logs meant that coming up short simply wasn't an optio n. While several other riders then attempted and cleared the jump. in the race. several didn't, including hom e rider Jordi Duran, who broke his collarbo ne. Claiming the scariest cras h of the night award. French desert rider Cyril Despres was thrown over the handlebars of his KTM after com: ing up a bikelength short of the landing ramp. Incredibly Despres walked away from the crash uninjured - his bike didn't , The battle to post the quickest lap time during timed qualifying w ent to two-s troke Honda-mounted reigning 2S0cc World Champion S tefan Merri man. Producing a lap time of 1;16 .98. a lap that was less that one second quicker than the quickest Four-Stroke time set by Manxman David Knight . the riders who topped the Twe-Stroke and Four-St roke classes came from six different coun tries. Unsurprisingly. those from a trials backgro und performed bett er than those from a motocros s backgrou nd. The most notable WEC rider not to make it thro ugh to one of the event s ..finals" was KTM Racing rider S amuli Aro. Afte r post ing a respectable qualifying time. Aro then felt ill at the end of his fist qualifying race of the evening. Having also felt ill durin9 the final day of the ISDE. Aro wisely decided to take no further part in the proceedings. Aro also decided to skip a planned Michelin tire test on the Monday after the race. opti ng instead to fly back to Finland for blood test s on the advice of his doct or. who suggested that he might be suffering from salmonella poi. soning. UFO Co rse riders David Knight and Paul Edmondson both ran Union Jack stickers with one of the comers blacked out in memory of Brit ish Club team rider Matt Bo w d e n who passed away during this year's ISDE. The organizers placed a banner in front of the riders competi ng in this year's event during the opening ceremony saying, " No Somos Delincuentes." which translates to "we are not outlaws." The banner was intended to express the thoughts of the off-road fraternity in Spain, where offroad riders in certain areas are viewed, much as they are in many other European cou ntries, as unlawful and a regarded as a problem. Reigning 250cc Wo rld Enduro Champion S te fa n Me r ri m an announced that he will be leaving the HM Honda squad afte r only a year to race for the UFO Corse Yamaha team for the next two seasons . Alth ough Merriman is not 1DO-percent sure what class he will race in next year. the Aussie hinted that he wo uld probably be mounted on a 250cc four-stroke in World Championship events and on a 450cc four-stroke in the Italian Enduro Championship. Merriman was mounted on a Yamaha when he too k part in his first -ever European enduro event · the ISDE in Italy in '97. GET STARTED TODAYI Call our Dealer·Sales Manager at (714) 751-7433 24 Hour FAX Order line (714) 751-6685 E-Mail: dealers@cyclenews.com During a brief break in the night' s procee dings. the organizers held a "H u ma n Race ." which saw over 30 enthusiastic Spanish enduro fans line up behind the start gate before running one full lap of the trac k. W ith numerous acc idents and incident s making for an ente rtaining five minute show. the eventual winner was the same spectato r who won last year . W ith this year's Barcelona Indoor Enduro taking place just eight days afte r the 78th ISDE in Brazil. many of the event's top competi tors had only been home for a few days before having to board flights to Spain, meaning that several riders were clearly n ot as fresh as pos sible considering their long travels to South America . Vo r-mounted M ika Ahola was wor st hit. having suffered with a 102-degree fever on the Wed nesday before the event. Despite claiming a podium finish in the Four-St roke final. Ahola. along with many other riders. found It difficult to breathe during all of his races. 18 D " C EM BER 3 . 2003 · cue I e n eVIl's

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