Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

p lace positions he has occu pied so far in t he series, David derailed his chain nearing the e nd of th e final extreme test, losing over half a minute as he t ried, and luckily su cce e d e d , to fre e it . Then s lipp ing o ff on t he pen ult im ate test, David had it all to do o n the final test o f the day and finished less than one seco nd ahead of H usqvarn a r ider Mika Ahola to to p the po diu m at the end o f what was an event ful day fo r t he Manxman. Claim ing t hird after crashing more than once was day one w inner Aro. eN WORLD ENDURO GP 5T. R EMY 5 UR D UROLLE, FRANCE R ESULT MAY 8 -9 , 2 004 ( RO UND 4) S: Behind Merriman , Pol ish UFO Corse Yamaha rider Ba rt osz Oblucki claimed his highest finish of the season placi ng in th e runner-up spot ahead of TM -mounted Swede Rickard Larsson. With the soft co nd iti o ns expected to favor the twostroke r iders, Larsson finished 24 seconds adrift of Oblucki but claimed his se co nd podium of the ye a r. Finis hing in fourth and fifth positions w e re French riders Fab ien Planet and Ma rc G e r m ain . Proving that th e long day - over e ight hours - and challenging conditions we ren't to everyone's liking, seven riders failed to reach the finish o f day o ne in the E I class alone . Day two saw this year's closest finish in t he E I class, as Silvan bounced back from his day-one d isappo intments to claim victory over Merri man by le ss than one second . With the pair comforta bly ahead of the rest of their class, it was Obluck i who claimed the final podium position, making it two podium visits fo r both of th e U FO Corse Yamaha r iders during the weekend. As expected, Salmi ne n came o ut swi ng ing in the Enduro 2 class in France, determined to make up for his disappointing weekend in Italy, whe re he placed second on day two after D NF ing day one. Topping the class on both days to place himself once aga in at the to p of the E2 World Championship, Salminen w as argua bly the fas te st overall rider d uring t he weekend and had certainly pu t his Ita lian G P glitch behind him . Much more re laxed than he was in Ita ly, the Fin n finished I 'f, minutes ahead of his nearest clas s rival o n day one, Ita lian Giova nn i Sala . Cl aim ing his best result of the season so far, t he e ncouragement Sala was given by the French s pectators was inc redible as he pla ced just two seconds ahead Paul Whibley, who also claimed his best-ever WEC resu lt . Unfortunate ly for Paul Edmondson, the rid er leading the E I clas s going into the French event, things didn't go q uite to plan on day one in France as a heavy fall e arly in t he day and a derailed cha in wh ile ins ide the day 's final special test resulted in his only manag ing to place fo urth. With Salm inen again topping t he E2 class by over a minute on day two, Edmondson pla ced second, just ahead of Spaniard Arnau Vilanova. W ith just two seconds se parating the two two-stroke Hondas of Ed mondson and Vilanova, t he weekend's results meant t hat Salminen re turned to the top of the class w ith Edmondson a close second a nd Italian KTM rider Alessand ro Botturi third. As e xpected, the battle to top the Endure 3 class in France was a hardfought one with just o ver 17 seconds separating t he to p four riders at t he end of the day. Coming out on top of w hat was a nother all-KTM podi um, however, was Finn Samuli Are. Having proved many times before that he is the man to beat when conditions get slippery, Aro place d just under five seconds ahead of Iva n Cerva ntes and a furt her nine ahead o f D avid Knigh t. Having p laced a lo w ly e ighth on day two in the mud in Italy, Cervantes' runner-up finish came as a su r prise to many. On day two D3-Raci ng KTM ride r Knight claimed his first w in of the season havin g at one point lo o ke d like he was out of th e eve nt. Riding well and dete rm ined to improve on the r unner-up and third Briefly... , Veteran Italianenduro rider and forme r Wo rld Cham pion Stefano Passeri finally gave Shereo's new fuel-injected 450cc enduro bike its WEC debut in France , finishing both days of what was an extremely hard race for both rider and machine. Des pite not producing any headline-grabbing results, Passeri placed 19th and 20th in the Enduro 2 class; the fact that the bike got to the end of what was without questio n the hardest WEC event of the year so far was seen as a victory by the Sherco development rider. And with Passeri's bike not being the only Sherco to reach the finish, the debut perlonnance of the blue machines was certainly an encouraging one , Da y I ENDU RO I: I. Stefan Merriman (Yam) 52:23.30; 2. Bartosz Oblucki (Yam) 53:33.54; 3. Rickard Larsson (TM) 53 :57.52 ; 4 . Fabien Plane t (KTM) 54:17.94; S. Marc Ger ma in (Yam) 51:17 .94 ; 6. Roberto Bazurr l (Hus ) 54:34.0 1: 7. Simone Albergooi tH on) 54:54.81; 8. Mario Rinaldi (Yam) 54 :57.59; 9 . Darn ien Miquel (KTMI 55 :1 1.94 ; 10. Hom ero Diu (KTM) 55:15.78: 11. Xevt Puigdemont (KTM) 55:18.55: 12. N essandro Belometti (KTM) 55:22 .57 ; 13. Peter BergvaJl (Hus) 55:46.46; 14. Helder Rodrigu es (KTH ) 56 : I 3.53 ; 15. [erne Boano (Hoo) 56:42.45 ; 16. HMC Bourgeois (KTM) 56:46.15; 17. Pierre Duzellier (KTH) 57 :00.93 ; 18. Simone Tonelli 57;08.75; 19. j ulien Gau thier (Hus ) 57:08.75; 20. Giul iano Falgari (Hus) 57;58.09. EN DU RO 2: I. Juha Salmine n (KTM) 53:38.88; 2. Giovanni Sala (KT M) 55:14.87; 3. Paul Whibley (Hon) 55:16.39; 4. Paul Edmondson (Ho n) 55:30.82: 5. Pe tri Poh jamo (GG) 55:38.08; 6. AJessamdro Bo tto n (KT M) 55:49.32; 7. David Fretigne (Yam) 55:58.95: 8. v atte te rt Salonen (Ho n) 56:05 .26: 9. Andreas T or e sso n (Hbg) 56:07.65: 10 . Mika Saarenkoski (Hus) 56:20.85: I I. Andrea Betotti (Hus ) 56:43.18; 12. Vita Kuklik (KT M) 56:49.23: 13. Andrea Becon i (Yam) 57:01.13 : 14. Jrancois Gobelet (GG) 57;10.60: 15. N icolas Paganon (GG) 57:12.77: 16. Gerard Farres (KT M) 57:20 .39: 17. Alessandro Zann i (Hon) 57;22.21: 18. Edward Jones (KT M) 57:26.47: 19. Stefa no Passe rt (She) 57:44.52: 20. Oliv ier Samofal (H bg) 58:11.74. EN DURO 3: I. $amuli Aro (KTM) 54:40 .37; 2. Ivan Cervan tes (KT M) 54:45 .06: 3. Dav id Knight (KT M) 54:53.39; 4. Mika Ahola (Hus) 54:58 .12: 5. Anders Eriksson (Hus) 55:37.69; 6. Bjorne Ca rlsson (Hbg) 56:16. 16; 7. Marko Tarkkala (Hbg) 56:57.90 ; 8. Sebastien Guillaume (GG) 57 :23.52: 9. Cbnstcpb Seifert (KTH ) 58 :39 .73; 10. Emmanuel A1bepan (GG) 58:43.99; I I. laurant Bouffloux (KT M) 59:22.99; 12. Cy ril De spr e s (KTM) 59:23.09; 13. N iklas Gustafsson (KTM) 59:30 .32; 14. 5wen Enderlein (KTH) 59 :37.38: 15. Jorn, Duran (KTH ) 59.42 :7 1; 16.l.Mry Gusta vsson (H bg) 1:04 :36.69; 17. Jo a n jou (Hbg) 1:00:06.4 7; 18. Jer o me Adam (KT M) 1:00 :00.60 ; 19 . Magnus Ambjorsson (Hu s) I : 17:12. 11. Day 2 EN D U RO I: I. Petter! Sitvan lKTM) 55:05.73; 2. Stefan Me rri ma n (Yam) 55:05.98; 3. Bart o sz Obl uck i (Yam ) 56:0 1.47; 4. Ro berto Bazzurri (Hus) 56:07.20; 5. Fabien Plane t (KT M) 56:08.38; 6. Alessandro Belometti (KT M) 56:13.47 ; 7. Marc Germain (Yam ) 56:15.12; 8. Peter BergvaJl (Hus) 56 :29. 18; 9. Simone Albergoni (Ha n) 56:37.53: 10. Rickard Larsson (TM) 57: 17.-42 I I. Mar io ; Rinaldi (Ya m) 57:38. 18; 12. Jan Matt ila (GG) 57;49.68; 13. Damien Mique l (KTM) 58:0 1.37; 14. Jame Boano (Ho n) 58:03.12; 15. Homero Din (KTM) 58:04 .52; 16. Xevi Pu igde mont (KT M) 58:27.72: 17. Held e r Rodr igues (KT M) 58:59.10: 18. Pierre Duzellier (KTM ) 59:01.17 ; 19. Aless io Paoli (TM) 59 :04.89; 20. ju lien Gau thier (Hus) 59:49.32. EN D U RO 2: I . Juha Salminen (KTM) 54:28. 19; 2. Pau l Edmondson (Ho n) 55:l7 .06; 3. Arnau Vilanova (Hon) 55:38.55; 4. Gio vanni Sala (KTM) 56:26.12; 5. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 56:H .10; 6. David Fre tigne (Yam) 56:.049.44; 7. Pau l Wh ibley (Ho n) 56:56.87; 8 . Petri Pohjamo (GG) 57:0 1.08; 9. Mika Saarenkoski (Hus) 57:5 1.45; 10 . Thierry Klutz (GG) 58:01.74; I I. Jranc ois Gobelet (GG) 58;12.93; 12. Andreas To resson (Hbg) 58:17.48; 13. Marku s Keh r (KT H ) 58 :23.15 ; 14. Vita Kukhk (KTH ) 58:3282; 15. Andrea Becon i (Yam ) 58:33.94: 16. Edward Jones (KTM) 58:42.41; 17. Nico las Paganon (GG) 58:'49.25; 18. N icolas Deparrois (Hus) 59 :15.23; 19. Danie l Persson (Hbg) 59:23.81; 20. Stefan o Passe ri (She) 59: 36.89; ENDURO l : I. David Knight (KTM ) 54:52.41; 2. Mika Ahola (Hus) 54:53.03; 3. Samuli Aro (KT M) 55:0 1.93; 4 . Bjorne Carlsson (Hbg) 56:16.22; 5 . Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 56:16.89: 6. Sebastien Guillaume (GG) 56:19.80; 7. Jan i Laaksonen (GG) 56:57.70; 8. Em man ue l A1bepart (GG) 57:22.57: 9. Chri stoph Seifert (KTM) 59:25.70; 10. Cyril Despres (KT M) 59:32.79; II . Jord i Duran (KTM) 59;33.26; 12. 5wen Eno;Ierie;n (KTH) 59:43.)): 13. Laurent Boufrooux (Hbg) 1:00:02.15: 14.l.MryGustav=n(Hbg) 1:04:34.00 ; 15. jeos Oestreich (KTM) 1:09:47.52: 16. Hmo Tmkala (Hbg). www.cycleneW5.com I especiallyas some of Europe's more experienced enduro bike manufacturers have had much less impressive debuts. "I am really happy because we finished both days without any pro blems," Passeri said. "The resu lt does n't reflect the potentialof the bike though because the chain came off on day two inside one of the special tests , and I had to stop the bike to free it. It depends how the deve lopment of the bike goes , but I th ink that 1might compete in Greece and Germany, but not in Sweden." The number of spectators who tumed out to watch the French event was simply incred ible for a WEC event , with a "guestimated" I0,000 enduro fans watching the race over the weekend - more than are likely to attend each of the other seven rounds of the series combined. With the event havingmuch more of an atmosphere that any of the previous WEC events held this year, the increased number of spectators raised yet more questions about the FIM's hopes to make the WEC series more popular with the public. With several competitors awoken on the eve of the competition, as spectators decided to park up and camp in the riders' 'B' paddock, and with the Spanish fed eration team having two bikes stolen, the sheer number of cars and bikes also clogged the one-way system into and out of the paddock. While all concemed want to see endu ro sport become more popular. increasing security is one issue that has so far been overlooked. As well as being a demand ing event on the riders due to the difficult and highly rutted special tests and over eight hour days, the even t was also hard on machines. With the French terrain being a mixture of sand and grit, it dealt we llwith the rain but proved unforgivi ng on chains, sprockets and brake pads. With the rock section in the extreme test and the dee p ruts in the three other tests derailing more than a few chains, several riders fou nd themselves having to replace chains and gearbox sprockets during the event. With the course featuring several tricky climbs, no matter how much any rider tried to look after his rear tire, come halfway tho ugh bot h days, most riders rear tires were all but worn out, making the slippery special test just that little bit more djfljcult. At the halfwaypoint of the eight-round WEC series, KTM is the manufacturer that holds a clear upper hand as it leads both the Enduro 2 class with Juha Salminen and the Enduro 3 class with SamuliArc . Stefan Merriman leads the Enduro I class for Yamaha. In the offIcial manufacturer standings, Y amaha hold a 22point advantage over KTM in the EI class, and KTMholds a 16-point advantage over Honda in the E2 class, with the Austrian marque leadingthe E3 class by a massive 54 points. In the overall manufacturer standings KTMhold a 57-point advantage over Husqvama. CYCLE NEWS • MAY 26, 2004 71

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