Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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· I OFF-ROAD l iiiii i Round 6 World Enduro Champ ionship Series Merriman, Salminen, Aro just can't get any better in Slovakia STORY AND PHOTOS BY JONTY EDMUNDS on ds in fro nt on day two, Merriman now holds a commanding 56point champi o nship lead, as th e W EC Se ries takes a break until t he beginning of O ctober. "I've had a really good feeling w ith the bike this weekend, and I've also bee n able to keep my co nce ntratio n up right until the e nd of all t he special te sts ," Mer riman said . "I w ent to watch a ro und of the MX GP se ries a co uple of w eekends ago in Italy, and I was able to learn mo re about how to get the best fro m a 250cc fou r-stro ke. I'm no w a little bit more aggressive w ith my riding, and it seems to be w orking." Just like Mer riman in t he EI class , Juha Salminen w as in a class of his ow n in t he Endu ro 2 category in Slovakia, to pping both days to claim t he maximum 50 points . Exte nding his champ ionship lead to 34 po ints, the KTM Racing rider placed second in the ove rall class ificat ion to Merriman on both day s, des pite two crashes on day o ne. "Day on e went pretty w e ll apa rt from two small cras he s , which lost me a little bit of time," Salminen said. "T he enduro test was really good for me tho ugh, and I was able to put in so me really fast t imes th ere . I wished t hey would have mad e it 100 pe rcent in the forest and not half in the forest and half in th e grass . "D ay two was like day on e exce pt w ithou t any crash es," Salminen co ntinue d. "I d idn't feel quite as go o d o n my bike as I d id on day o ne , but I was still riding o kay. I had o pe ned up a good lead after t he first lap, so I wa s able to just ride quite safely, and 1didn't have to pu sh too mu ch. " C laiming his third dou ble-class topping res ult of t he seaso n in Slovakia, KTM -' Racing ride r Samul i Aro finished 25 sec - My OWN RACE Petteri Silvan 6-5 (Enduro I) As the rider expected to push E I class leader Stefan Merriman harder than any other, Finn Petteri Silvan had a disappointing weekend in Slovakia. Now fourth in the EI championship standings, Petteri has his work cut out at the remaining two rounds of the series if he is even to claim an end -of-season podium finish. "I lost too much time on day one when the tests were nothing but grass," Silvan said. "I don't know why, but I found it impossible to pull back the time. I didn't crash - I just found it really hard to ride fast across the grassy hills. I struggled for grip with the front wheel. It is so tight in the class, you can't make any mistakes. Now I have to take a small holidayand look forward to the six days." Anders Eriksson e sixth ro und of the Wo rld Endu ro Championsh ip saw UFO Corse Yamaha rider Stefan Me r rima n and KTM Racing teammates Juha Salminen and SamuliAro move one ste p close r to claiming th eir respective Enduro I, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 World titles, as ea ch of the three riders produced doubl e-class-topping pe rformances at t he GP of Slovakia. At t he head of t he Enduro I class , Yamaha-mounted Merriman once again proved to be the dominant ride r as he not o nly to pped the class w ith ease but also topped th e overall Scratch class ification aboar d his WR250F. Finishing 53 sec onds clear of his nea res t E I rival on day o ne and over 80 sec- T 56 JULY 14, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 7-5 (Enduro 3) Despite alterations made to his CH Racing Husqvarna, includingusingan Ohlins rear shock, seven-time World Champion Anders Eriksson finished the Slovakian GP without a podium finish . Lookingset to place third on day one, a crash on the cross-country test meant he placed in seventh. "I know that a podium finish isn't out of my reach, I just have to make it happen at the final two races of the year by not makingany stupid mistakes," he said. "I want to be able to look back at the season and know that I was able to have some good results. I don't want to close the season knowing that I have only finished in fifth and sixth positions this year:' Paul Edmondson 2-4 (Enduro 2) With FinnJuha Salminenagain proving just too fast for the rest of the Enduro 2 class riders in Slovakia, Britishrider Paul Edmondson strengthened his position as the class' second-place rider. ''I'm over 20 points ahead of Botturi, who is third in the E2 Championship, which is good," Edmondson said. "Salminen is riding incrediblywell, so I just want to get as many podium finishesas I can at the final two races of the season and see what happens. If I make sure I do as well as I can at the last two races, then I know that I can finish second in the championship. That's my priority now." 40th Anniversary