It's all Greek to Meo as Johnny takes the title!
By TMX Archives on 3rd Sep 09
KTM factory rider Johnny Aubert put his name to the 2009 World Enduro 2 Championship crown at the GP of Greece where the Frenchman claimed his 13th consecutive E2 class day win. Forced to withdraw from the second day's competition due to injury, Finn Juha Salminen went on to give BMW their first ever WEC victory while David Knight made a solid return to the series aboard his 450cc Kawasaki. In the E1 class, Husqvarna's Antoine Meo dominated both days while Ivan Cervantes claimed a double win in the Enduro 3 class.
Johnny Aubert is the '09 Enduro 2 World Champion. Despite failing to finish the second day's competition at the GP of Greece – the result of a crash on the final special test of day one – Aubert notched up his second consecutive E2 crown by winning the opening day ahead of Juha Salminen and Cristobal Guerrero. "It's going to take a while for this to really sink in,” explained Aubert, who claimed 13 consecutive E2 class day wins en route to claiming the title, "Some people thought that I wouldn't win this year but with KTM we have dominated the championship.”
But Johnny didn't have things all his own way on the day. Britain's David Knight, who made his WEC debut on a Kawasaki, led early in the day. In fact Knight might well have led for a lot longer were it not for the fact that he broke a footpeg during the first timed enduro test.
Eventually placing fourth on day one behind Aubert, Salminen and Guerrero, David wasn't too displeased with his performance. "I wanted to finish on the podium but I enjoyed the day. I had a few problems, made a few mistakes, but all in all I'm pleased with things.”
Day two saw Aubert retire early on, which left a three-rider fight for the top spot. As the day progressed Salminen managed to edge ahead, while Knight continued to dominate the extreme test. At the end of the day, just 18 seconds separated the three riders with Salminen claiming BMW's first ever WEC victory.
WORLD ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 7 – Serres, Greece.
Day ONE
Enduro 1: 1 Antoine Meo (Husqvarna), 2 Mika Ahola (Honda), 3 Julien Gauthier (Honda), 4 Eero Remes (KTM), 5 Simone Albergoni (KTM), 6 Thomas Oldrati (KTM).
Enduro 2: 1 Johnny Aubert (KTM), 2 Juha Salminen (BMW), 3 Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha), 4.David Knight (Kawasaki), 5 Alessandro Belometti (KTM), 6 Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg).
Enduro 3: 1 Ivan Cervantes (KTM), 2 Sebastien Guillaume (Husqvarna), 3 Samuli Aro (KTM), 4 Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas), 5 Fabio Mossini (Honda), 6 Oriol Mena (Husaberg).
Enduro Junior: 1 Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha), 2 Victor Gerrero, 3 Lorenzo Santolino (KTM), 4 Mirko Gritti (Beta), 5 Calle Sjoo (Husaberg), 6 Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna)
Day TWO
Enduro 1: 1 Antoine Meo (Husqvarna), 2 Mika Ahola (Honda), 3 Julien Gauthier (Honda), 4 Eero Remes (KTM), 5 Simone Albergoni (KTM), 6 Thomas Oldrati (KTM).
Enduro 2: 1 Juha Salminen (BMW), 2 Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha), 3 David Knight (Kawasaki), 4 Oscar Balletti (Honda), 5 Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg), 6 Alessandro Belometti (KTM).
Enduro 3: 1 Ivan Cervantes (KTM), 2 Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas), 3 Sebastien Guillaume (Husqvarna), 4 Marko Tarkkala (BMW), 5 Marcus Kehr (KTM), 6 Oriol Mena (Husaberg).
Enduro Junior: 1 Lorenzo Santolino, 2 Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha), 3 Mirko Gritti (Beta), 4 Victor Guerrero (Yamaha), 5 Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna), 6 Edoardo D'Ambrosio (KTM).
NEXT ROUND: September 12/13 – St Flour, France.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
A jubilant Johnny Aubert celebrates his Enduro 2 title victory with the rest of the KTM team.