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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128407
perfect season. Winning the Spanish and
World Championships and now the
Barcelona Indoor is incredible. I was
much more relaxed than in previous years
and that is why I won, I think. I only fell
once in the third EI race, but I didn't lose
much time. I am so happy to have won."
With Cervantes riding a level above his
Enduro I-class competitors and topping
all EI races, countryman Arnau Vilanova
claimed the overall runner-up position,
finishing each of the four races behind
Cervantes.
With Cervantes
cleaning up in the EI
category, it looked as if
Finn Samuli Aro was
going to do the same in
the Enduro 2 class
early in the night, when
the KTM rider placed
close to two seconds ahead of his compatriot Mika Ahola to top the opening
E2-c1ass race.
Going on to top the second E2-c1ass
race ahead of Italian Alessandro Botturi,
Samuli then found himself placing just orr
the podium in race three and then placed
in fourth in the final E2 race of the night.
Despite failing to perform as well in the
third and fourth races as he had in the first
two, Aro did enough to claim the E2-c1ass
win, topping the class by just one point.
"My first two races went really well,
but then I started to ride a little bit too
careful in the last two races," Aro said.
"The course got really slippery as well,
which made things tough. After I won the
first two races, I realized how important
good starts were, which is when my starts
began to get worse. It was a fun night and
I'm happy that things went really well."
Making only his second European
appearance this season, newly crowned
GNCC Champion Juha Salminen had a
night of mixed fortunes, and never really
looked completely settled inside the Palau
Sant Jordi.
Finishing a surprisingly low sixth at the
end of the first E2-c1ass race aboard his
250cc two-stroke, Salminen then placed
ninth in race two, ending his hopes of a
podium finish.
After struggling to get out of the start
gate in the opening two races, Salminen
went all out at the start of race three,
claimed the holeshot, and followed it up
by claiming his first win of the event.
Repeating his winning performance in
race four, as he finally came to grips with
the slippery circuit, Salminen claimed an
eventual fifth place in the Enduro 2 class.
Much to the delight of the Spanish
crowd, Xavier Galindo was almost as
dominant in the Enduro 3 class as
Cervantes was in the E I class, as the
KTM rider claimed three out of four
race wins.
Starting well in all races, Galindo
topped the opening E3 race by a sizable
nine seconds, setting himself up well for
the night after finishing ahead of class
favorite Marko Tarkkala.
With Tarkkala getting the upper hand
in race two, finishing some 12 seconds up
on Galindo, the Spaniard returned to the
front of the class in races three and four
to top the class.
"It has been a fantastic night for me,"
Galindo said. "I felt good during practice,
and when I won the first race, I knew that
I could win the E3 class. I made some mistakes in the second race, but then I rode
well in the third and fourth races."
With the top
three finishers
from each of the
three classes competing against each
other in the Super
Final, as well as
Spaniard Cristobal
Guerrero, who
topped the lastchance qualifier,
Cervantes proved
once and for all
that he was the
night's best performer by topping
the race by close
to seven seconds.
Following
Italian Alessandro
Bonuri for the
first two laps,
Cervantes made
his move right at the start of lap three and
never looked like he was doing anything
but winning. Opening up a comfortable
lead, he claimed the checkered flag to
make it fIVe wins out of five races.
Italian Alessandro Botturi and
Galindo finished second and third,
eN
respectively.
PALAU SANT JORDl
BARCELONA, SPAIN
RESULTS: NOVEMBER
12, 200S
ENOURO I: I. ""'" Ce