Enduro: Aubert and Albergoni take podium trophies in Poland
RACE REPORT 16/06/2008
Albergoni makes Day2 Polish podium
Italian Simone Albergoni once again led the UFO Corse Yamaha
team's Enduro 1 class assault of the World Enduro Championship
where at the Grand Prix of Poland he finished in 4th and 3rd
places aboard his WR250F.
With a break of just over two months since the third round
of the series was held in Spain Albergoni was determined to
maintain his good run of results in this year's WEC series
and despite missing out on a podium result on Day1 claimed
a well deserved 3rd place on Day2 to maintain his 3rd position
in the Enduro 1 world championship standings.
No fewer than four Yamaha mounted riders finished inside
the top six on both days in Poland. Yamaha France rider Marc
Germain placed 3rd on Day1 but dropped to 6th on Day2.
With conditions extremely dry and dusty in Kwidzyn the fourth
round of the '08 WEC series proved to be an extremely demanding
one. A long, hard day lay ahead on Saturday, and a shorter
but equally as challenging prospect on Sunday.
Yamaha France rider Marc Germain emerged as the highest placed
Yamaha rider on Day1 claiming 3rd place alongside Mika Ahola
and winner Ivan Cervantes. For UFO Corse Yamaha riders Simone
Albergoni, Cristobal Guerrero and Maurizio Micheluz the opening
day brought mixed fortunes as Albergoni wasn't quite able
to find the speed he had produced at earlier rounds of the
championship, and as a result was unable to challenge for
a top three result.
Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero saw much of his hard work undone
when he crashed in the final enduro test. In contention for
a podium result up until the time of his spill, the former
Enduro Junior world champion then fell again on the final
extreme test, which well and truly ended his chances of a
top-three. Cristobal eventually placed 5th, sandwiched between
Albergoni and the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third E1 class rider
Maurizio Micheluz.
On Day2 Albergoni returned to the podium but for reasons
he wasn't able to explain could not challenge Ahola and Cervantes
for the win. Consistent throughout the day Albergoni only
finished lower than 4th in the class on two occasions, but
was frustrated with having not been more competitive. Nevertheless
the Italian remains a strong third in the Enduro 1 world championship
standings.
Just 10 seconds behind Albergoni on Day2 Guerrero avoided
the mistakes he made 24 hours earlier and placed a solid 4th.
Performing well on both the technical extreme test and long
motocross test the Spaniard showed that he is now fully over
his early season shoulder injury and that it won't be long
until he is challenging for the E1 class podium. One place
behind Cristobal, but over one-minute adrift, Maurizio Micheluz
finished Day2 in 5th with Yamaha France rider Marc Germain
6th.
Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class
- Day 1, 4th, Day 2, 3rd:
"Finishing on the podium on the second day was good
but I'm not really pleased with the way I rode this weekend.
The frustrating thing is that I'm not really sure why I wasn't
able to be as fast as I needed to be to fight for victory.
I had a few small crashes but that wasn't my main problem.
I guess I just wasn't fast enough. I hope that in Wales I'll
be able to ride like I did in Portugal."
Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class
- Day 1, 5th, Day 2, 4th:
"I'm pleased with my results from day two but not really
happy with the way things finished on day one. The first day
was going really well until the last lap, and then I had a
really bad final enduro and extreme test. I lost a lot of
time in the enduro test and then fell on the extreme. I still
finished fifth but I was a long way behind Albergoni. The
second day wasn't too bad as I was fourth and only 10 seconds
behind Albergoni. I had a good second day really but I was
a little bit slow on the first enduro test."
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class
- Day 1, 6th, Day 2, 5th:
"Day one didn't start so well because I didn't feel
good in the dusty, sandy conditions. I crashed twice, which
didn't help my result, but I just didn't feel good. The second
day was better because I finished fifth - I rode some better
special tests so I was happier about that. I caught up to
one or two riders on the special tests on day two, which slowed
me a little bit because of the dust, but probably didn't change
my result too much. It's not been the best of races, but also
not too bad."
Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 4250
Weather: Cloudy
2008 Enduro 1 Poland 16/06/2008
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 79'58.500
2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'15.410
3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'9.610
4 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'29.090
5 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 2'24.300
6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 3'17.620
7 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 3'53.080
8 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 4'42.190
9 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 5'1.370
10 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 5'38.060
11 Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 5'38.520
12 David Cadek KTM CZE 7'11.530
13 Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 8'34.790
14 Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 9'56.610
15 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 10'56.630
Race 2
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 65'39.040
2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'23.480
3 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'40.610
4 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'50.890
5 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 3'0.470
6 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 3'58.710
7 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 4'16.180
8 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 4'24.260
9 Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 4'34.400
10 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 5'54.380
11 Sandro Marcos Suzuki POR 6'11.420
12 David Cadek KTM CZE 6'43.780
13 Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 8'21.050
14 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 8'24.000
15 Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 9'42.690
Rider Standings 14/06/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 186
2. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 176
3. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 165
4. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 118
5. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 115
6. Eero Remes KTM FIN 112
7. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 103
8. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 86
9. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 75
10. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 68
11. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 63
12. Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 58
13. David Cadek KTM CZE 45
14. Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 42
15. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 40
Manufacturer Standings 14/06/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Honda 186
2. KTM 181
3. Yamaha 167
4. Husqvarna 87
5. Suzuki 86
6. TM 63
7. Kawasaki 47
RACE REPORT 16/06/2008
Aubert maintains E2 lead after Polish podium double
Arriving at the Grand Prix of Poland as leader of the Enduro
2 world championship Frenchman Johnny Aubert hoped to repeat
the double E2 class victory he scored at the third round of
the series in Spain. Looking forward to competing in the dry
conditions and well rested ahead of the fourth event of the
season, Aubert would go on to take 2nd on both days in Kwidzyn,
finishing behind Finn Juha Salminen. Unable, like many riders,
to really get to grips with the extremely dry, dusty conditions,
Aubert nevertheless remains at the top of the E2 championship
standings. Aubert's team mate Fabrizio Dini suffered two big
crashes on Day1 and placed 9th in both outings.
Beginning Day1 by finishing 10th following a crash on the
opening extreme test, wasn't the start world championship
class leader Aubert had hoped for. Having made a small but
costly mistake on the first timed special test of the event,
that's exactly how the fourth round of the '08 WEC series
began for the Yamaha mounted Frenchman. Thankfully his form
would pick up markedly as Aubert bounced back to win the very
next special test before going on to claim a solid runner-up
result to seven-time world champion Juha Salminen.
On Day2 the 28 year old made a much better start but after
more than one-hour of special test action, again placed second
to Salminen. Avoiding big mistakes and riding well aboard
his WR450F, Aubert wasn't able to get into a rhythm across
the dry, dusty Polish terrain. Winning one of the day's three
timed motocross tests, Johnny finished comfortably ahead of
third placed E2 class rider Simo Kirssi and claimed two runner-up
results overall from what the Frenchman openly admitted wasn't
a particularly good weekend. With the '08 WEC series now passing
the halfway point Aubert still remains comfortably ahead in
the Enduro 2 class.
Italian Fabrizio Dini - like Aubert - also crashed on the
opening day's special, placing 23rd in the class at the end
of the opening extreme test on day one and then spent the
rest of the course working his way up the leader-board. Performing
consistently well on the motocross test Dini was unable to
reproduce his speed on the enduro and extreme test sections
but succeeded in fighting his way back to 9th in the class.
On Day2 Dini again posted impressively quick times on the
motocross test but was unable to improve on his day one result,
again finishing 9th.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class -
Day 1, 2nd, Day 2, 2nd:
"I don't know why but this weekend wasn't good for me.
My riding wasn't as good as it should have been and I just
didn't have a good feeling on the special test. I just didn't
feel comfortable. I still managed to get two second place
results despite this, which isn't too bad for the championship,
but Juha was too fast. I crashed once on the extreme test
on day one, and after that nothing I attempted helped me go
faster. Like I said this is not what I wanted but it still
wasn't so bad. I just hope that things will be better in the
UK."
Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class -
day 1 Ninth, Day 2 Ninth:
"Day one didn't go well for me. I made mistakes and
stopped my bike in both the first and second extreme tests
and I was last in the E2 class after the first extreme test.
Things improved after that but because I made such a bad start
to the day I was just trying to make back as many positions
as I could. I didn't have such a good opening lap on day two.
Things improved but, well, it wasn't so bad. It was a hard
race though, especially on day one because it was so long."
Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 4250
Weather: Cloudy
2008 Enduro 2 Poland 16/06/2008
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 79'25.500
2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 1'1.830
3 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 3'33.610
4 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 3'34.210
5 Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 3'45.860
6 Aaron Bernandez Husqvarna ESP 4'13.020
7 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 4'36.610
8 Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 4'40.600
9 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 5'9.150
10 Hans Vogel KTM NED 5'35.380
11 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 5'35.450
12 Alessandro Zanni Honda ITA 5'52.040
13 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 5'55.600
14 Rudy Cotton Beta FRA 7'59.740
15 Daniel Persson HusaBerg SWE 8'24.090
Race 2
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 65'52.950
2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 0'41.530
3 Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 2'42.930
4 Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 2'44.720
5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'58.180
6 Alessandro Zanni Honda ITA 3'28.620
7 Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 3'38.070
8 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 3'49.080
9 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'54.360
10 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 3'59.520
11 Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 4'48.180
12 Hans Vogel KTM NED 5'3.030
13 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 5'52.550
14 Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 6'27.530
15 Daniel Persson HusaBerg SWE 6'32.560
Rider Standings 14/06/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 183
2. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 164
3. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 135
4. Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 126
5. Rodrig Thain TM FRA 110
6. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 107
7. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 105
8. Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 91
9. Alessandro Zanni Honda ITA 78
10. Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 77
11. Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 76
12. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 62
13. Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 59
14. Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 58
15. Jean Francois Goblet BMW BEL 37
Manufacturer Standings 14/06/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. KTM 184
2. Yamaha 183
3. HusaBerg 147
4. Husqvarna 116
5. TM 110
6. Honda 106
7. BMW 95
8. Aprilia 62
9. GasGas 58
10. Suzuki 26
11. Beta 21
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