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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542394
OFF-ROAD
Round 2
,rtoy s-6,
2006
FIM
WoFld €nduro Championship
s€rics
-ne
secono
rouno or
(ne
Zovo
I
woaa Enduro Championship
I
rook
Dlace
in Guimaraes,
I
no.,nu.n
Portugar wnere ory
I ano dusty
cond-rt,ons
were tn
complete contrart
to those of
the icy
Swedish season
opener in l4arch.
And
with three
demandinS
special tests. and a
challenging course,
deciding the
class
winners, the second
round of the series
saw seveTal
new names, such as former
motocrosser
Johnny
Aubert, finishing at
the top of the results.
ln the
Enduro I class, Iess than flve sec-
onds separated
the
top two riders at the
end of day one
with Honda-mounted
Italian Simone
Albergoni claiming his
lirst
win of
the
'05
season.
Pushed every step
of the way by
reigning E
I World
Champion
lvan Cervantes aboard
his
KTM,
had it not been
for the fact that
Cervantes had several
items of
his race
clothing
stolen
prior
to the
start of the
first day, thin8s
might have been different
at the top of
the E I class-
Thrown a liftle by the theft
of items
such
as his custom-made
knee braces,
Cervantes took
a liftle
while
to
settle into
things on day one and, despite
winnin8
five of the day's
eight special tess, found
himself narrowly
squeezed
into the run-
ne.-up
spot.
After rwo disappointinS
rides at the
series opener
in Sweden, Cervantes'
teammate
ltalian Alessandro Belometti
rounded off the
podium
placing
37 sec-
onds
behind the Spaniard
on his KTM.
Finishing
fourth
was home rider Helder
ilIID
ICT
f
n
Behind Aubert, Ahola
again
placed
as
runner-up with
Merriman third,
ln finish-
ing as
runner-up on both
days, Ahola is
now
joined
leader of the
E2
World
Championship
with
Aro.
Oespite
winning by nearly
the exact
same
margin as he did on day
one, things
started
off uncharacteristically
for Knight
on day two, as
he crashed on the
flrst two
timed
tests, and then stalled
has bike on
the first timed
extreme
test.
After
gening into his rhythm
havinS
slowed
his
pace
sliShtly, Knight
went on to
win seven
of the eight timed
special tests
in the E3 category to
once again stamP
his
mark on the
class-
Tarkkala
placed
as
runner-up, with
Bjorne Carlsson third.
Cll
Rodrigues, with
Pole Banosz Oblucki the
best-placed
l25cc two-stroke
rider in
llfth
on his Husq rna.
Having failed to
place
on the Enduro 2
class
podium
on either
day in Sweden
for-
mer World Champion
Stefan
Merriman
was back
to his winning ways on day
one
in Portugal and
placed
his Yamaha 19 se<-
onds ahead of
Finn l'4ika Ahola.
Winning
three of the day's special
tests, Merriman
rode consistently
and without any maior
mistakes
Showing that his
good
resulB in Sweden
were certainy
no fluke, Honda-mounted
Ahola
produced
a st.ong
performance
on
day one and
pushed
Merriman
every step
of the
way. Despite failing to top any spe-
cial
tess, Ahola
placed
no lower than
fourth in class on any
of the day's tess and
placed
on the second step of the E2 class
podium
as a result.
Thirteen seconds
behind Ahola
was
KTM rider Samuli Aro. Fast on all
of the
event's
special
tests, and able to win the
enduro test on
the last lap,
Aro, ham-
pered
by an ankle injury
incurred while
practicing,
made
too many small mistakes
to finish any
higher up
in
the results.
Returning to WEC competition
for the
first time since
round seven of last
year's
series, Honda's
Paul Edmondson
showed
that he has lost none of
his imernational
speed and
placed
fifth and best 250cc
two-stroke
in the E2 class on
day one.
MakinS
up time on his rivals on the
extreme test,
Edmondson
rode without
mistakes to finish
just
over
one-minute
behind
class
winner Merriman.
As expected
in the Enduro 3 class,
KTM teammates
Davad Knight and
Marko
Tarkkala claimed the top two
positions
with
"Knighter"
finishinS comfortably
one-minute and 18 seconds
clear of the
Finn. Also finishing as
the opening day's
fastest overall
rider, Knight won each spe-
cial test
an the E3 class.
With Tarkkala
finishing in second,
Husaberg-mounted Swede
Bjorne
Carlsson
claimed
rhird narrowly finishinB
ahead of French
Gas Gas rider
Seb
Guillaume.
On day two,
Cervantes
returned to the
top of the
Enduro I class results to extend
his lead in the
'06
championship
standings,
Placing 30 seconds
ahead of day-one winner Simone
Albergoni, Cervantes
found him-
self beaten
on
just
two of the
day's special tests. Finishing
in
third, as
he did on day one was
Italian Alessandro Belomefti.
With Merriman having topped
the E2 class
on day one, it was
his
French Yamaha teammate
Johnny
Auben's
who
stood en
rhe top step
of the
podium
on
day two.
ln doing so, the
enduro
newcomer