Cervantes wins Round Four of E1 World Championship
KTM Enduro Factory Team rider Ivan Cervantes put in a great
performance in Round Four of the E1 World Championship in
Vale de Cambra, Portugal for his first victory of the season.
Cervantes who won the E3 title in 2007 was third in Saturday's
race, fought on and off torrential rain and mud to triumph
in the second race at the venue on Sunday. "I really
had to push hard but I managed to do that, and it worked for
me," Ivan said. "The weather was changing all the
time and in the morning the rain was incredible. It was very
hard and muddy in the special tests and there was often only
one line."
Tom Sagar, the young Briton who came up from the junior ranks
last season to join the KTM Factory Team was a very creditable
fifth in what was a tough weekend's racing where the riders
covered a complex 60 km circuit three times.
With his victory on Sunday, Cervantes fulfilled the wishes
of team boss Fabio Farioli who said after Saturday that he
expected the Spanish rider to "push hard" on Sunday.
Riders now go to Spain for the two rounds in what will be
familiar territory for Cervantes. "It's a good atmosphere
and there will be a lot of fans at the races," he said.
Results Round Three
1. Ivan Cervantes, Spain, KTM
2. Simone Albergoni, Italy, Yamaha
3. Mika Ahola, Finland, Hondo
4. Eero Remes, Finland, KTM
5. Tom Sagar, Britain, KTM
30.03.2008
Salminen tops podium in Round Four of Enduro E2 World Championships
In a tough day of racing, KTM Enduro factory rider Juha Salminen
improved on Saturday's second place when he topped the podium
in Vale de Cambra in Portugal on Sunday in Round Four of the
E2 World Championships.
Salminen, the runaway winner in the E1 class last season
has been on the E2 podium in all four events so far this season.
He scored a first and a third in Sweden in the snow in February
and his good results in Portugal lay the foundation for his
second successful season after returning from USA at the end
of 2006.
"Today was hard racing and very tricky especially for
the first guys out on the course. It was wet and there was
a lot of mud." Salminen said he is looking forward to
the next two rounds in Spain, territory that is very familiar
to him because he trains a lot there in the winter months.
Salminen's factory rider teammate Alessandro Belometti of
Italy finished fourth, a repeat of his finish on Saturday.
He adds this new 36 world championship points to the 28 he
already has collected to stay well up with the elite group
in the class going into the Spain races.
Results Round 3
1. Juha Salminen, Finland, KTM
2. Jonny Aubert, France, Yamaha
3. Valtteri Salonen, Finland Husaberg
4. Alessandro Belometti, Italy, KTM
5. Nicolas Paganon, France, Aprilia
30.03.2008
Aro second in Round Four of E3 World Championships
 Samuli
Aro continued his run of success in the E3 big bike category
in the Enduro World Championship series on Sunday with a second
place to follow on from his victory in Portugal the previous
day.
Aro and KTM Enduro Factory Team teammate Marko Tarkkala, both
from Finland, have had a stranglehold on the four races so
far held this season in what is a hotly contested racing category.
Although all was not pain sailing for Tarkkala in the second
race in Vale de Cambra, Portugal, south of the city of Porto,
he still managed to finish fifth for valuable world championship
points. KTM supported rider Marcus Kehr of Germany had a good
day on his KTM and finished third on the podium.
Riders had a very tough day in the mud and what was often
torrential rain but team boss Fabio Farioli still drew a positive
line under the factory team's results for the weekend. The
60 km course, which riders had to circle three times, offered
very big challenges and levels of difficulty even for these
extreme and highly skilled professionals. The Enduro competition
now departs for the second two races on the Iberian Peninsular
in Spain. The area is familiar to the KTM riders, many of
whom train there during the off-season.
Results Round Three E 3
1. Christophe Nambotin, France, Gas-Gas
2. Samuli Aro, Finland, KTM
3. Markus Kehr, Germany, KTM
4. Stefan Merriman, New Zealand, Aprilia
5. Marko Tarkkala, Finland, KTM
30.03.2008
Rattray and Goncalves on podium at Emmen
In another signal about the strength of the KTM MX2 Factory
Team, Tyla Rattray and Rui Goncalves occupied first and second
place on the podium at the pre-season International Motocross
event at Emmen, The Netherlands on Sunday.
Rattray was in a form that drew praise from team boss Stefan
Everts who said he was "in a class on his own" while
Goncalves underlined that his training on good starts was
beginning to pay off. He took the holeshot in both races.
But in the heat of the battle Rattray did have a minor crash
in the first race. In pursuit of teammate Rui in the early
stages of the race he took a different line then slipped off
the foot peg and came unstuck on one of the tabletops. The
South African made up for the error by winning the second
race to finish overall second for the day. He now plans to
prepare for the start of the world championship season proper
with some light training, some testing and physical training.
Goncalves, who is in his first year as a factory rider with
the Red Bull KTM team started well in the first race but got
tangled in the pack of lapped riders and had to settle for
second place. He again took the holeshot in the second race
but was overtaken by Rattray. He then crashed after choosing
the wrong line and finished in third place. "Rui is doing
well and he has his confidence back," Everts said later.
"We still have a few things to work on but we are going
in the right direction."
Results International Motocross Emmen
1. Erik Eggins, 47 points
2. Tyla Rattray, KTM 43
3. Rui Goncalves, KTM 42
4. Xavier Boog, 34
5. Rinus v.d. Ven, 27
30.03.2008
Max Nagl second at International Motocross Emmen
Max Nagl, new this season to the Red Bull KTM MX1 Factory
Team put in a sold performance at the International Motocross
Event in Emmen, The Netherlands on Sunday to finish in second
place.
Nagl won the first moto and was second in the second race.
"He took the holeshot and had a lead of some seven seconds,
but ran up against the lapped riders and lost his rhythm,"
said KTM team boss Stefan Everts. Multi-world champion Everts
said the German rider was learning a lot in his first year
and like team newcomer in the Red Bull KTM MX2 team, Rui Goncalves,
he now needed to keep up the pressure and gather mental strength.
MX1 Results
1. Marc de Reuver, Honda
2. Max Nagl, KTM
3. Aigar Leok, Estonia, Yamaha
4. Bas Verhoeven, Kawasaki
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