Guerrero on French podium as Albergoni struggles
 UFO
Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni finished the sixth
round of eight in the 2008 WEC series - a dry Grand Prix of
France staged in Uzerche - with two 5th place results as team-mate
Cristobal Guerrero claimed his first podium of the season
with 3rd on Day2.
Looking to finish on the podium as he did in Wales recently
title contender Albergoni struggled to master the dry French
special tests and as a result failed to perform at his best.
Although he was the highest UFO Corse Yamaha team rider on
day one Abergoni ended the event far from satisfied with his
performances. Despite an 'off-weekend' Albergoni still holds
third in the Enduro 1 world championship standings.
Making the most of his home support Yamaha France rider Marc
Germain finished on the podium on Day1 placing a strong 3rd
behind current E1 championship leader Mika Ahola and Spaniard
Ivan Cervantes. The first of four Yamaha mounted riders inside
the top six, Spaniard Guerrero claimed the UFO Corse Yamaha
team's best result with 4th, just 20 seconds behind Germain.
With Albergoni finishing 5th Italian Maurizio Micheluz overcame
pain from his tendonitis injury to finish 6th.
Just as he had on Day1 Cristobal Guerrero delivered the UFO
Corse Yamaha team's best result by claiming his first silverware
of 2008. With 3rd position and classifying just 11 seconds
behind runner-up Ahola, Guerrero rode well throughout the
day and battled with Germain. Little separated the two riders
as they arrived at the event's final motocross test and Guerrero
outpaced his more experienced brand-mate and finished three
seconds ahead of him, ending Day2 with the final step of the
podium.
Behind Germain Simone Albergoni again struggled to shine and
although making no major mistakes could do no better than
match his Day1 result of 5th. Handicapped by his arm injury
Maurizio Micheluz placed 7th having come close to matching
his day one result of 6th.
Albergoni is 38 points behind leader Ahola with the penultimate
round of the series taking place in Italy on September 27th/28th.
Guerrero is 5th and 13 points from Germain in 4th.
Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class
- Day 1: 5th, Day 2: 5th
"It's been a terrible weekend for me and the worse thing
is that I'm not sure why. Normally I ride well in these conditions
but this weekend nothing went right for me. Finishing fifth
on both days isn't good enough. I was just too slow. I made
some small mistakes but overall I just didn't have any speed
in the corners. I'm really disappointed."
Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class
- Day 1: 4th, Day 2: 3rd
"It's been a good weekend, and day two was really good.
I liked the dry terrain because it is much more like what
I am used to in Spain. I enjoyed the first day but I made
too many mistakes to get on the podium, but I was riding well
most of the time. Although I crashed on two of the three special
tests on the first lap, the rest of the day went well. I did
catch a slow E3 rider in the final extreme test, but I got
my first podium of the year so I am very happy."
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class
- Day 1: 6th, Day 2: 7th
"This GP has been really frustrating for me because
I know I can be fast in dry conditions but because of the
problem with my arm I found it really difficult. I simply
couldn't ride as I wanted to. Sixth on day one wasn't too
bad but I crashed twice on the extreme test on day two, which
dropped me to sixth position. It's not too bad considering
my arm, but I am disappointed that I wasn't more competitive."
Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 8500
Weather: Sunny
2008 Enduro 1 France 28/07/2008
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 50'28.470
2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'20.950
3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'28.110
4 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 0'47.700
5 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'43.920
6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'0.100
7 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'0.320
8 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'11.450
9 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 2'13.710
10 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 2'37.150
11 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'40.830
12 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 4'1.220
13 Danielle Tellini Suzuki ITA 4'5.080
14 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 6'42.020
15 Francois Ciognac KTM FRA 9'28.430
Race 2
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 59'48.640
2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'51.620
3 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'2.660
4 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'4.690
5 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'52.090
6 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'28.540
7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'36.890
8 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 3'18.970
9 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 3'28.370
10 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 3'45.550
11 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 3'55.260
12 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 4'24.550
13 Kevin Gauniaux KTM BEL 4'46.600
14 Damien Miquel Suzuki FRA 5'48.770
15 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 7'44.560
Rider Standings 26/07/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 284
2. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 275
3. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 237
4. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 198
5. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 185
6. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 158
7. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 130
8. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 128
9. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 119
10. Eero Remes KTM FIN 112
11. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 91
12. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 81
13. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 66
14. Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 58
15. Danielle Tellini Suzuki ITA 50
Manufacturer Standings 26/07/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Honda 275
2. KTM 271
3. Yamaha 252
4. Husqvarna 139
5. Suzuki 130
6. TM 91
7. Kawasaki 47
8. Sherco 12
RACE REPORT 28/07/2008
Aubert double runner-up at home GP
UFO Corse Yamaha's Johnny Aubert continues to lead the competitive
Enduro 2 world championship following his home round of the
series, the Grand Prix of France staged in Uzerche; the sixth
round of eight in the current campaign Having taken control
at the top of the E2 championship following the third round
of the series in Spain, Aubert finished in 2nd position on
both days in France and saw his closest rival Juha Salminen
move just one point closer in the all important E2 championship
standings.
Pleased that the slippery conditions of the GP of Wales were
behind him Aubert was confident of a strong result in France
but also knew that winning would be anything but easy, and
he was proved correct after a thrilling opening day's competition.
Johnny missed claiming victory by just over five seconds as
former two-time motocross world champion Michael Pichon managed
to top the podium.
Winning four of the day's tests Johnny and countryman Pichon
battled it out at the head of the E2 class while Salminen,
the only rider able to match the leading duo, held 3rd throughout
the day. Knowing that finishing ahead of title-rival Salminen
was more important that risking a crash while trying to beat
wild-card rider Pichon, Johnny claimed a solid runner-up result.
With the sun blazing down on all riders during the second
day, Pichon found things simply too tough and withdrew from
the competition after nine special tests, leaving Aubert and
Salminen to battle it out, with Salminen setting the fastest
pace. Aubert recognised that finishing second to the Finn,
having placed ahead of him on day one, he would lose just
one championship point and again rode safely to be runner-up.
As a result he maintains a healthy 16-point lead in the standings
with two rounds of the series remaining.
Aubert's UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate, Fabrizio Dini, was among
a number of riders to find the extreme test at the GP of France
hard-going, and as a result of mistakes on Day1 finished 12th
in the E2 class. On Day2 Dini improved his result to 10th
but due to more small mistakes was unable to place higher.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class -
Day 1: 2nd, Day 2: 2nd
"I knew that this race would be difficult because there
was just one week to recover from the GP of Wales, which was
really difficult! But the special tests in France didn't look
that tricky when I walked them so it was a surprise that they
got as rough as they did. It would have been nice to have
won at least one of the days but the most important thing
was that I only lost one-point to Salminen in the championship.
It was very, very close between Michael Pichon and I on the
first day so it was a little bit disappointing not to win.
But second, and then second again on day two to Salminen,
is a good weekend. Now I must work hard ready for the GP of
Italy. The last two years that race has been a disaster for
me, and I need to make sure it goes well this year."
Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class -
Day 1: 12th, Day 2: 10th
"Although I enjoyed the race more than the GP of Wales
it has been a very hard event. I didn't do as well as I wanted
to, especially on day one. My first lap wasn't the best but
then I lost a lot of time on the final extreme test, which
put me outside the top 10. Day two was a little better but
again I had some disappointing tests that stopped me finishing
higher than 10th"
Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 8500
Weather: Sunny
2008 Enduro 2 France 28/07/2008
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Mickael Pichon KTM FRA 50'2.440
2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 0'5.530
3 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 0'25.840
4 Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 1'51.820
5 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 2'2.480
6 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'19.880
7 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 2'21.580
8 Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 2'27.920
9 Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 2'28.630
10 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 2'39.400
11 Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 2'52.260
12 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'6.760
13 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 3'24.690
14 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 3'38.240
15 Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 3'57.610
Race 2
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 58'55.720
2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 0'54.970
3 Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 2'47.630
4 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 2'51.990
5 Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 3'15.470
6 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 3'46.590
7 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 4'8.130
8 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 4'36.190
9 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 5'2.550
10 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 5'18.680
11 Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 5'21.220
12 Aaron Bernandez Husqvarna ESP 5'38.710
13 David Fretigne Yamaha FRA 6'6.620
14 Amel Advokaat KTM NED 7'0.110
15 Olivier Pain Yamaha FRA 8'54.870
Rider Standings 26/07/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 272
2. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 256
3. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 185
4. Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 165
5. Rodrig Thain TM FRA 160
6. Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 153
7. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 142
8. Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 129
9. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 126
10. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 115
11. Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 110
12. Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 96
13. Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 87
14. Alessandro Zanni Honda ITA 78
15. Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 54
Manufacturer Standings 26/07/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. KTM 281
2. Yamaha 272
3. HusaBerg 191
4. Husqvarna 178
5. Honda 170
6. TM 160
7. BMW 148
8. Aprilia 115
9. GasGas 87
10. Beta 41
11. Suzuki 26
|
