Double podium and first 2008 win for Albergoni
By TMX Archives on 30th Mar 08
UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni continued his impressive form in the 2008 World Enduro Championship claiming two podium finishes at the second round of the series, the Grand Prix of Portugal staged in Vale de Cambra. Earning a well-deserved victory on Day1 Simone battled hard on Day2 to place 2nd and finished less than six seconds behind winner Ivan Cervantes despite a costly mistake on the extreme test. Having recorded his best ever start to a world championship season at the recent GP of Sweden, Simone showed in Portugal that no matter how challenging the conditions he is certainly ready to take the E1 title fight to his class rivals.
Winning 6 of the opening day's 9 special tests, Simone took control of theEnduro 1 class early on with a winning performance on the opening enduro foray.With world champions Mika Ahola and Ivan Cervantes applying considerablepressure to the Italian throughout the opening day the Yamaha rider remainederror- free and managed to maintain his lead. Knowing that just one mistake onthe challenging Portuguese terrain would easily end his hopes of victory, Simonetopped two of the third and final lap's three special tests to claim awell-deserved victory. Albergoni placed ahead of round one winner Mika Aholawith former E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes third.
Proceedings took aturn for the worse on Day2 as heavy rain ensured the three Portuguese specialtests became heavily rutted and even harder to ride than on Day1. Despite theatrocious conditions Simone again performed extremely well aboard his WR250F.Winning the first special test as he had on day one, Simone wasn't quite able tomatch Cervantes for pace during the opening lap. On lap two a mistake in theextreme test saw him lose six seconds to the Spaniard and despite his bestefforts he wasn't quite able to repeat his Day1 achievement. Finishing thesecond day less than six seconds away from the top step of the podium Simoneimportantly again placed ahead of round one winner Mika Ahola.
Albergoniis currently second in the standings, just three points behind Ahola.
ForAlbergoni's UFO Corse Yamaha team mates Maurizio Micheluz and Cristobal Guerrerothe GP of Portugal was one of mixed fortunes. Not pleased with his performancesat the opening round of the series in Sweden, Micheluz claimed a solid 5th placefinish on Day1 but then disappointingly failed to finish Day2 with an ignitionproblem. For Guerrero, who following his early season shoulder injury is stillnot 100 per cent bike fit, the Portuguese event was extremely hard. The Spaniardwas 7th on Day1 and managed to improve his result by one position on Day2 butwas far from happy with his results.
The next stop of the 2008 WEC seriesis Cristobal's home race - the GP of Spain at Sitges, just south ofBarcelona.
Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 11st, Day 2 2nd:
"It's been another good race for me. My speed is good but importantly myconfidence also now. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the seasonbecause I know I can compete against the two world champions that are in theEnduro 1 class - Cervantes and Ahola. I had two small crashes on day one but Iwas still able to win by one second so I am really pleased with that. After asmall mistake in the extreme test I pushed as hard as I could but Ivan Cervanteswas really fast. I finished five seconds behind, which is good but a little bitdisappointing as I could have won again without thatmistake."
Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 17th, Day 2 5th:
"It's been a really tough race for me because I haven't been able to do asmuch training ahead of the world championship races as I needed to do because ofmy shoulder injury. I took as many points as possible here in Portugal but Istill don't feel completely comfortable in all of the special tests. The nextrace is my home race in Spain, so I hope that there I can get the kind ofresults I know I'm capable of."
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha)Enduro 1 class - Day 1 5th, Day 2 DNF:
"The first day was tough but I am pleased with my fifth place result. Afterthe first race of the world championship in the snow I was looking forward tocompeting in more normal conditions. I was close behind fourth position so I wasvery happy. Day two was very difficult and disappointingly I had a problem withmy bike on the first lap. The problem was the ignition and I wasn't able tofinish the day."
2008 Enduro 1 Portugal 30/03/2008
Race 1
1 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 50'11.120
2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'2.430
3 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 0'11.800
4 Eero Remes KTM FIN 0'45.340
5 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 0'56.790
6 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'4.120
7 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'14.430
8 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'13.820
9 Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 2'19.010
10 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'31.880
Race 2
1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 53'59.090
2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 0'5.510
3 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'29.420
4 Eero Remes KTM FIN 1'6.940
5 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'12.570
6 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 2'43.330
7 Paulo Felicia Kawasaki POR 4'8.490
8 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 4'20.080
9 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 4'35.060
10 Fernando Ferreira Yamaha POR 6'28.340
Rider Standings 29/03/2008
1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 92
2. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 89
3. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 82
4. Eero Remes KTM FIN 74
5. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 54
6. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 48
7. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 44
8. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 29
9. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 29
10. Niklas Gustafsson Honda SWE 28
11. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 24
12. Paulo Felicia Kawasaki POR 14
13. Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 12
14. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 12
15. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 11
Manufacturer Standings 29/03/2008
1. Honda 92
2. Yamaha 89
3. KTM 87
4. Husqvarna 41
5. Suzuki 24
6. Kawasaki 14
7. TM 12