Three in a row as Aubert wins in Italy
By TMX Archives on 22nd Apr 09
FOR the third consecutive World Enduro Championship event, KTM factory rider Johnny Aubert dominated the Enduro 2 class. While many struggled to master the challenging conditions at the GP of Italy, staged in Iglesias in the south of Sardinia, Aubert once again stamped his authority on the E2 category and maintained his unbeaten winning record in 2009. Finishing ahead of Husqvarna's Bartosz Oblucki on day one and Husaberg's Joakim Ljunggren on day two, there was never any doubt that Aubert was going to top the class, so dominant were his performances on all of the tests. Yet, despite his dominance, he wasn't overly pleased with his performances.
"I don't know why, but I was really tired on both days. I didn't feel like I was riding well. I scored good championship points but I am not happy with the way I rode. On the second day my fuel cap came off on the extreme test, and I crashed on the training track before the race had even started, but things went well in the end.”
Vastly improving his performances and making a return to the podium in Italy was former seven-time world champion, Juha Salminen, on his BMW. Having made numerous changes to the set-up of his bike, Juha looked much more like the rider of old. "I'm really pleased to be back on the podium, but we still have a lot of work to do,” explained the Finn.
At the head of the Enduro 1 class, defending class champion Mika Ahola joined Aubert in claiming a double class win as the Honda rider extended his lead in the E1 points standings. Some 45 seconds clear of his nearest rival on day one, Mika then topped day two by 25 seconds to show once again that he is going to take some stopping as far as this year's world title is concerned.
"I'm not sure why I was so fast, but I'm pleased that I was,” admitted Ahola, having expected KTM's Simone Albergoni to challenge him for victory. "I had two very good days and enjoyed the event.”
Second on day one went to Husqvarna's Antoine Meo with Albergoni a distant third. On day two, though, the pair reversed their finishing order with Albergoni finishing 12-seconds ahead of Meo who made two costly mistakes while trying to match the pace set by Ahola.
Giving the Husqvarna factory team much to be pleased about, Seb Guillaume picked up his first win of the season on day one when he finished six seconds clear of Ivan Cervantes in E3. "I wasn't worrying about my times in the tests, I was just riding my own race and enjoying the event. I didn't know that I was leading until just before the final special test,” said Guillaume.
FOR FULL REPORT, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009
WORLD ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 3 – Iglesias, ITALY
DAY ONE
ENDURO ONE: 1 Mika Ahola (Honda), 2 Antoine Meo (Husqvarna), 3 Simone Albergoni (KTM), 4 Marc Germain (Yamaha), 5 Thomas Oldrati (KTM), 6 Fabien Planet (KTM), 7 Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna), 8 Nicolas Paganon (Kawasaki), 9 Julien Gauthier (Honda), 10 Jari Mattila (Suzuki),... 14 Aston BIRD (Husqvarna),...
ENDURO TWO: 1 Johnny Aubert (KTM), 2 Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna), 3 Juha Salminen (BMW), 4 Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha), 5 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), 6 Alessandro Belometti (KTM), 7 Oscar Balletti (Honda), 8 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM), 9 Matti Seistola (Husqvarna), 10 Si WAKELY (Husqvarna),...
ENDURO THREE: 1 Sebastien Guillaume (Husqvarna), 2 Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas), 3 Ivan Cervantes (KTM), 4 Samuli Aro (KTM), 5 Fabio Mossini (Honda), 6 Marcus Kehr (KTM), 7 Marko Tarkkala (BMW), 8 Tom SAGAR (Husaberg), 9 Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg), 10 Jordi Figueras (Gas Gas), 11 Rudy Cotton (Beta),...
ENDURO JUNIOR: 1 Jeremy Joly (Honda), 2 Oriol Mena (Husaberg), 3 Mirko Gritti (Beta), 4 Victor Guerrero (Yamaha), 5 Edoardo D'Ambrosio (KTM), 6 Antoine Basset (Husqvarna), 7 Vanni Cominotto (KTM), 8 Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha), 9 Michael Pogna (KTM), 10 Jonathon Manzi (Husqvarna),... 16 Gavin HOUSON (Husqvarna),...
DAY TWO
ENDURO ONE: 1 Ahola (Hon), 2 Albergoni (KTM), 3 Meo (Husq), 4 Oldrati (KTM), 5 Germain (Yam), 6 Gauthier (Hon), 7 Eero Remes (KTM), 8 Planet (KTM), 9 Bourgeois (Husq), 10 Paganon (Kaw),...
ENDURO TWO: 1 Aubert (KTM), 2 Ljunggren (Husa), 3 Salminen (BMW), 4 Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg), 5 Oblucki (Husq), 6 Guerrero (Yam), 7 Belometti (KTM), 8 Oscar Botturi (Honda), 9 Simo Kirssi (BMW), 10 Rodrig Thain (TM),... 15 Simon WAKELY (Husqvarna),...
ENDURO THREE: 1 Cervantes (KTM), 2 Guillaume (Husq), 3 Aro (KTM), 4 Nambotin (Gas), 5 Mossini (Hon), 6 Kehr (KTM), 7 Carlsson (Husa), 8 Alessandro Botturi (KTM), 9 Tarkkala (BMW), 10 Cotton (Bet),...
ENDURO JUNIOR: 1 Mena (Husa), 2 Joly (Hon), 3 Gritti (Bet), 4 Fortunato (Yam), 5 Philip McLAUGHLIN (TM), 6 Guerrero (Yam), 7 Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna), 8 Adrien Metge (Husqvarna), 9 D'Ambrosio (KTM), 10 Pogna (KTM),...
NEXT ROUND: June 13/14 – Riihimaki, FINLAND.
With a third place under his belt on day one, Ivan Cervantes splashes to an Enduro Three win on day two.