Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

My ! OWN RACE Paul Edmondson Enduro 2 (3-2) Deciding to put together his own team at the beginning of the '04 season and compete in the Enduro 2 class meant that Paul Edmondson had a lot to prove this seas on. As well as going up against juha Salminen, Edmondson also had to contend with several fast, young riders all keen to stamp t heir mark o n the WEC Series. C laiming an event win in Italy, Edmondson proved the most co nsisten t challenger to Salminen's dominance o f the class and ended the year as joined best privateer rider with countryman David Knight, w ho claimed second in the E3 class. "It was always going to be an uphill struggle to win the Endu ro 2 World Championsh ip and beat juha, but finishing second is a res ult that I'm rea lly pleased with, " Edmo ndson said. "To still be as competi tive at my age is great. I reel that I have really achieved something this season." Pete Pohjamo Enduro 2 (DNF-7) Coming into the season as the reigning 125cc Two-Stroke World Champion and having spent just two weeks on a bike following knee surgery during the off season, Finn Pe te Pohjamo was always going to have a difficult time or things in the Enduro 2 class this season . Failing to gel with his 250cc Gas Gas, Pohjamo's best result was claiming the runner-up spot in the E2 class at the ISDE. " I have struggled with the bike this year:' he said. "I have some good results, but the whole year has been really bad . I'm not sure what I will do next year yet, but 1hope that with hard work it can be much better than this year, It has to be ." Mika Ahola Enduro I (8-3) Finding out firsthan d just how disappointing it is no t to claim the end of season result he'd worked hard to achieve, Yamaha ace Bartosz O blucki saw his ho pes o f the E I class runner-up spot ended with several sizeable crashes on day one. D NFing more races than he finished in '0 3, despite his disappointment Bartosz has proved himsel f as one of the WEe's be st young riders this season. "The first day o f the race was really terrible. It was so wet and cold , and the organizers rnade some parts of the course much too difficult. When we have to push our own bikes up some of the hills and have to ride too fast on the publ ic roads, it's crazy. The extreme test was also crazy. Day two here in Germany was a really good race though. It was difficult, but because o f the changes the organizers made, we didn't struggle like we did on day one. I'm happy because I have had a really good season. At the beginning of the year I wasn't sure where I would finish, so back in March I wou ld have been really happy wit h thir d in the Enduro I World Championsh ip. But having battled to finish in th e run ner-up posi tio n all season, I am a little disappoi nted to finish th ird and so close to se cond. 1had a really bad day on day o ne , an d that has cost me the second place in the cham pion ship." David Knight The champions ce leb rate on the pod ium. Enduro 3 (2-2) just like most riders competing in Gennany, three-time overall ISDEwinner Mika Ahola wasn' t a ran or the difficukevent, despite normally enjoying challengingraces. Having struggled to compete on leve l terms with the KTM-mounted trio of No, Knight and Ce rvantes during '04, Ahola has some serious work ahead of him before the start of '05 . '" think that it is a good idea to have a hard race like this in the World Championship but not at the end of the Championship," Ahola said. "Alittie bit of bad luck cansee a season of hard work thrown out of the wincIow for no real fault of the rider. The extreme test was way out of line. Extreme races must be something completely separate; they don't belong in the WEe. When so many top riders are getting stuckand have to retum to the bottom of the hill to try again, then it is about luck. Day two was much better and they only made a few changes to the course. In enduro, you have to ride many different types of conditions ; sometimes they are really difficult like they were this weekend. I'm not happy with the way my season has gone - I wasn't expecting to finishfourth . I didn't even win once this season. After France, where I was only halfa second away from the victory, I rnade a bet with my mechanic that , wouldn 't cut my halr until I won . I haven't been able to win, so next year I will look likea hippy. The only thing that Iam happy about is the fact that Iwas the best rider in the team." Bartosz Oblucki David Knight ended a great season with 0 th ird p lace finish in the End uro 3 closs. Enduro 3 (3-1) Knowing that he had to beat Finn Samuli Aro on both days and still hope that the KTM Racing rider ran into trou ble, David Knight was the rider that lost out the worst when the international jury decided to scrap most time penalties from day one. Instead of topping the E3 dass on day one, the Brit placed third , much to his disgust. ''I'm pretty pissedabout what happened on day one:' he said. "I was told that they had cancelled the extreme test on lap two before I'd finished the day but everyone had got through it and had times for it, which I didn't understand. I knew that I hadn't dropped any time, so I still thought that I'd win the day. I slowed right down going through the enduro and extreme tests on the last lap because I didn't want to not finish by dam agingthe bike. Then they go and scrap all the time penalties as well as the extreme test times. I could kind of unde rsta nd if they scrapped one or the other, but both is stupid . I thought that if they were goingto have tight checks in Germany, they wouldn't scr.ap the penalties, but it has been just the same as every other race th is year. It's a joke. I rode like a bloody idiot all day for nothing. I was n't in the right frame of mind on day two. I started slowly on the first lap and then started to get into it. I wasn't fast enough on the motocross test but really enjoyed the cross cou ntry test. I was just riding as smooth as Icould and ending the year with a win is great." Vilanova and Britain's Pa ul Edmondson. With just 16 seconds separating the pair, Edmondson was one of the riders to lose out following the jury's decision, having lost much less t ime than Vilanova. Despite placing be hind the Spaniard, Edmondson's result was enough to secure the runnerup spot in the E2 World C ham p io nship , with Vilan o va e nding the year third. Wanti ng to end h is final WEC season with a w in befo re heading to compete in the States in '0 5, Salmine n again topped the E2 class on day two, but by just 12 seconds ahead of Edmondson. Despite w inning by a much-reduced margin, Salminen still did enough to claim the '04 Overall World Enduro Championship , the fifth overall WEC title of his career. Having finished ahead of Edmondson on day one, Vilanova placed third on day two. Finish ing just off the podium in fo urth place on both days in G e rm a ny, five -time World Endu ro Cham p io n G io van ni Sa la a n nounced that t he even t woul d be his last as a full- t ime c o mpe t ito r. Having claimed five World Endu ro Championship tit les during h is 14.year career, Sa la received a standing ovation from the many thousands of spectators that attended the end of season prize-giving ceremony. By topping the Enduro 3 class on day one, Finn Samuli Aro a lso cla imed the E3 World Championship t itle after finishing one minute and 20 seconds clear of countryman Mika Ahola. Having actually lost time on day one, Aro was o ne rider to bene fit from the [ury 's d e c isio n . W it h t he W orld tit le his, Aro fa ile d to finish d ay two after tweak ing h is knee. " I feel that I have been t he best rider in the E3 class this year, and I'm really p le as e d to have won the t itle," Aro sa id. eN www.cyc lenews.com Briefly... The weather on t he first day in Ge rmany was worse than at any ro und o f the W EC series this year. Cold and extremely wet, many riders commente d after the race that they were getting so cold that they were finding it difficult to hold o nto t heir machines. Several riders were also disappointed that t he organ ize rs wo uldn't list e n to them w he n they asked for more time in the time checks. W ith th e wet con ditio ns making th ings difficult, the tight time schedule meant that they had to ride m uch faster than was safe on the public highways. The GP of Germany attracted in excess of 50,000 s p ectators - many or who congregated on the most difficult sections of the track. With the event normally the final round of the German Enduro Championship, the organizers laid out a weeklong program of activities, including a past champions race and numerous "enduro parties." With all riders finishing the second days' competition at the former MZ Motorcycles facto ry, more than 8000 people attended th e end o f season prize-giving ce remony. The Gennan event marked [uha Salmine n' s last WEe r ace be fore he heads to the Un ited States to compete in the GNCC series. Determined to end the first chapter of his European enduro-racing career in style . the Finn claimed his sixth consecutive WEC-c1ass title and his fifth overall title . To thank Salminen for his years of service to the WEC , the German event organizers sat Salminen down in front of the 8000 spectators at the prize-giving ceremony and brought two strippers o n stage. Needles to say, the eve r- professional Salmine n didn't know where to loo k while t he two girls removed all t heir clothing and da nced in front of him! The event also marked the end of Italian Giova n n i Sala's professional en duro career. Having won five World titles, as well as 16 Italian End uro Championships, Sala's popularity with spectators has made him one of the most well recognized riders throughout Europe. Planning on competing in several ro unds of the WEC next season "just for fun ," Sala will continue to work w ith KTM in developing new machinery a nd promoting the Austrian Brand . GP OF GERMANY ZSCHOPAU, GERMANY RESUL TS: OCTOBER 15 -16, (ROU ND 8 OF 8) 2004 Day O ne ENDURO I: I. Stefan Merriman (Y am); 2. Simone A1bergoni (Hon); 1. Rickard Larsson (TN); -t. Petteri Sifvan (lITH) ; 5. Helder Rodrigues (lITH). EN DU RO 2 : I. Juha Salminen (KTM); 2. Arnau Vilanova (Hon ); J . Paul Edmondson (Hon ); 4. Giovanni Sala (KTM); S. Andrea Beconl (Yam). ENDURO 3: I. Samuli Aro (KTM); 2. Mlka Ahola (Hus) ; 3. David Knigllt (KTM); 4. Anders Eriksson (H us); S. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) . Day Two ENDURO I : I. Stefan Merriman (Yam); 2. Simone Albergoni (Hon); 3. Bart on O bluck i (Yam); 4. Rickar d Larsson (TM); S. Pe n eri Silvan (KTM). ENDURO 2: I . j uha Salm ine n (KTM); 2. Paul Ed mo nd son (Hon) ; 3. Amau Vilanova (Han); 4. G iovan ni Sala (KTM); S. Andrea Bec on i (Yam). END URO ] : I . D avid Knight (KTM); 2. Mika Ahola (H us); J . Marko Tarkkala (Hus); 4 . Sebastien Gui llaume (GG) ; S. Anders Eriksson (Hus). CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 3 , 2004 29

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