Mexican stand-off
By TMX Archives on 23rd Jul 09
THE GP of Mexico the sixth round of the World Enduro Championship and the only non-European event proved to be a worthy addition to the series as a challenging and enjoyable course, long demanding special tests, and first class organisation resulted in all European riders pleased they'd mad the long trip to Valle de Bravo.Spaniard Oriol Mena became the first rider to be crowned World Champion in 2009 as he wrapped up the Enduro Junior title for Husaberg. Johnny Aubert continued his dominance of Enduro Two on his KTM while Antoine Meo guided his Husqvarna to his first ever WEC victory in Enduro One. In Enduro Three top honours were shared by Husqvarna's Seb Guillaume and KTM's Ivan Cervantes.
ANTOINE Meo finally achieved in Mexico what he had threatened to do at the last two rounds of the World Enduro Championship series and claimed his first ever WEC victory. Going one better than just topping one of the two days, the Husqvarna rider claimed a double E1 winning result after battling hard against current championship leader Mika Ahola.
While day one went well for Meo, for Ahola things went far from planned. Receiving a ten-second penalty at the beginning of the day when his bike failed to start during the allotted time, he then got stuck on the opening extreme test and had rear brake problems on the motocross test. Despite his problems he finished just 12-seconds behind Meo.
"I had so many problems on day one I was actually really pleased to have finished so close to Antoine,” explained Mika.
A new name joined Meo and Ahola on the E1 class podium on day one, Frenchman Julien Gauthier. Claiming his first ever WEC podium, the grass covered motocross test clearly suited the Honda rider and he finished ahead of KTM's Thomas Oldrati and Simone Albergoni.
Day two again saw Meo and Ahola battle at the front of E1, with Meo again claiming top spot and Mika's bike again failing to start in the morning. "Day two was really hard because I was so tired,” admitted Meo. "I was sick for three days before the event so I had nothing left. Mika pushed so hard during the last lap but I just managed to win. But I am so pleased to have finally claimed my first win, and to have given Husqvarna their first TE 250 WEC victory.”
Knowing that he had the speed to win Mika wasn't too worried about the ten-second penalty he got when his bike didn't start. But pushing too hard on the extreme test on lap two the Finn made a few costly mistakes that prevented him from winning. Gauthier was unable to match his day one result of third but still finished fourth. Simone Albergoni claimed the final podium position.
For Enduro 2 championship leader Johnny Aubert the GP of Mexico was another one of those perfect weekends in which the KTM-mounted Frenchman could do no wrong. Despite finding the event physically tough Johnny's speed around the long motocross test was unmatchable, and he won day one by over 30 seconds.
WORLD ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP Rd 6 – Valle de Bravo, Mexico
Day ONE
Enduro ONE: 1 Antoine Meo (Husqvarna), 2 Mika Ahola (Honda), 3 Julien Gauthier (Honda), 4 Thomas Oldrati (KTM), 5 Simone Albergoni (KTM), 6 Eero Remes (KTM).
Enduro TWO: 1 Johnny Aubert (KTM), 2 Juha Salminen (BMW), 3 Rodrig Thain, 4 Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna), 5 Alessandro Belometti (KTM), 6 Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha).
Enduro THREE: 1 Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna), 2 Ivan Cervantes (KTM), 3 Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas), 4 Samuli Aro (KTM), 5 Fabio Mossini (Honda), 6. Nathan Kanney (KTM).
Enduro Junior: 1 Oriol Mena (Husaberg), 2 Jeremy Joly (Honda), 3 Victor Guerrero (Yamaha), 4 Mirko Gritti (Beta), 5 Calle Sjoo (Husaberg), 6 Alonso Arino (Suzuki).
Day TWO
Enduro ONE: 1 Antoine Meo (Husqvarn), 2 Mika Ahola (Honda), 3 Simone Albergoni (KTM), 4 Julien Gauthier (Honda), 5 Thomas Oldrati (KTM), 6 Eero Remes (KTM).
Enduro TWO: 1 Johnny Aubert (KTM), 2 Juha Salminen (BMW), 3 Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha), 4 Rodrig Thain (TM), 5 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 6. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg).
Enduro THREE: 1 Ivan Cervantes (KTM), 2 Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas), 3 Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna), 4 Samuli Aro (KTM), 5 Fabio Mossini (Honda), 6 Nate Kanney (KTM).
Enduro Junior: 1 Oriol Mena (Husaberg), 2 Victor Guerrero (Yamaha), 3 Calle Sjoo (Husaberg), 4 Jose Garcia (KTM), 5 Kevin Benavides (KTM), 6 Alonso Arino (Suzuki).
Next Round: August 29/30 – Serres, Greece.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009
Husa' Mena Machine! Oriol Mena and Team Husaberg celebrates his crowning glory in Mexico, after the Spaniard snatched both Enduro Junior victories on days one and two.