Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128346
1 _ I OFF-ROAD Round 7 Wor ld Enduro Championship The Australian becomes the first of the 2005 World Enduro Champions ~~~i( k ~ P.' FO C o r se Yama ha ri der Stefan Merrima n claimed the first Maxxis World Enduro Championship tit le of the '04 season when he topped the Enduro I class on both days at the GP of Greece, held in Serres. By claiming his I Ith E I day wi n of the championship, the Australian added the 125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke World title to his three other World crowns at the end of the second day 's competition. In the Enduro 2 class, Finn Juha Salminen again proved to be too fast for his competitors and claimed a comfortable victory o n both days to edge closer toward his sixth World title . Making it two class w ins out of th ree for the KTM Racing team in Greece, Sam uli ATO claimed victory in the Enduro 3 class to e xtend his lead at the top of the E3 championship . Despite there only being 60 riders competing in Greece , U 48 OCTOBER 20, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS . • :>!."t ~ 1*'r'1 . if.~" th e seventh round of th e WEC Series proved to be one of the best this year, as an e njoyable yet c ha lle nging course w ith three very different special tests received praise from a ll competing ride rs. For Merriman , the Greek event was a challenging one, not only because he knew that he could claim the E I World title before the final ro und of the championship, but also because he had been suffering w ith severe stomach pain during the days lea ding up to the event. " I'm real ly happy to have won the Wo rld C hampionship he re in Greece because it has be e n a rea lly tou gh weekend for me, " Merriman said after the race. "I had some problems w ith my stomach du ring the days leading up to the race, and I was in a lot of pain and on day one, riding, feeling only a bo ut 50 percent as good as I normally do ." 40th Anniversary Despite his problems Merriman was still able to wrap up the title in style as he comfortably topped bo th days, competition in the Enduro I class. W inning day one by 40 seconds and day two by just under o ne m inute, Merriman also placed a close second to Finn Juha Salminen in the overall Scratch classification on day o ne and 16 seconds beh ind on day two . Placing be hind Me rriman o n day one was his UFO Corse Yamaha teammate, Bart osz Oblucki. Needing to finish ahead of Italian Simo ne A1bergoni to mainta in his run ner-u p spot in the E I class championship, Barto sz dropped to fou rt h on day two, resulting in just seve n points se parati ng him and Albergoni with o nly one ro und of the series remaining. Placing third behind Bart on day one was A1bergoni, des pite being some 20 seco nds be hind. On day two, Merriman was joined by A1bergoni and Farioli KTM rider Alex Belometti on the podi um, w ith forme r motocross rider Belom etti claiming his first-ever WEC top-three finish. With Finn Petteri Silvan placing fourth on day on e and fifth on day two, the KTM Racing rider is also in with a chance of placing as ru nne r-up to Merriman in the championship, as he sits just 12 points behind A1bergoni going into the German final round. As ex pected , Juha Salminen was the rider to beat in the Endu ro 2 class as the five-time consecutive World Champion took further steps to securing title number six. Ending day one almost I 1/2 minutes ahea d of his nearest rival, Paul Edmo ndso n, Salminen complained of feeling "slee py" during much o f the day despite his breathtaking speed. "On day one , I felt really sleepy early on . I don't know why but I just did n't seem to be able to get going," the KTM Racing rider said. "I was pretty mad with myse lf because I did n't know why I wasn 't able to get fired up. T han kfully, I felt be tter o n the last lap and I didn't have any crashes or problems. "Day two was t he oppo site wa y to day o ne fo r me ," Salmine n co ntinued. "I had a reallyst rong first lap, and I knew that I did n't have to push quite as hard for the second and third laps." To pping the overall Scra tch classification o n both days as well, Juha now sits 44 po ints clear at the top of the E2 World Ch ampionship and 15 points clear at the top of the overall classification, despi te having DNFed day one of the championship in Italy. The battle to finish as runner-up to Salminen saw Honda Racing Fast Eddy rider Edmondson claim the second-place spot on day one, as his nearest championship rival, Italian Alessandro Botturi, failed to finish the day after starting with a foot injury sustained at the ISDE in Poland. Continuing the good form he showed at the Six Days when he finished second in the Enduro 2 class in Poland , Finnish Gas Gas rider Petri Pohjamo placed third to equal his best WEC result of the season. Unfortunately fo r Pohjamo, he injured