Vive La France
By TMX Archives on 6th Apr 12
The French pairing of KTM Enduro Factory riders Antoine Meo and Christophe Nambotin continued their domination of the 2012 Enduro World Championship at the GP of Argentina. With the series arriving in San Juan, to mark the final leg of its South American trip, Meo and Nambotin continued from where they left off one week earlier in Chile with a double victory in Enduro 1 and Enduro 3.
Gas Gas ace Ivan Cervantes ended his 18-month winless streak with victory in Enduro 2 on day one while Husqvarna's Juha Salminen secured the win in Enduro 2 on day two.
In what was regarded as one of the toughest rounds of the EWC in recent times, competitors battled through extreme heat and mile after mile of dusty, rock littered terrain. With the majority of riders feeling the effects of two incredibly demanding days riding in San Juan, most felt that the organisers of the Argentinean GP had delivered a course worthy of an EWC status.
KTM's David Knight secured two solid runner up-positions in Enduro 3. Unable to fully match the pace of class winner Nambotin, Knight recorded a comfortable second position at day one, almost 37 seconds clear of Sweden's Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg). However, facing a stiff challenge from the determined Swede on day two, Knight narrowly fended of the Husaberg rider to claim second place by only five tenths of a second.
"Overall I'm happy with the way I rode,” confirmed David. "On day one my pace was good but I just wasn't able to match that of Christophe's. I was close to him on the Enduro and Extreme Test but he was too fast on the cross test so I had to settle for second. On day two I just tried to ease my way into the day. I knew the heat would play a big factor in the outcome of the race so I was careful to conserve my energy. Joakim was pushing hard in the final tests but thankfully I was able to hold him off.”
After his double podium results in Chile, Gas Gas' Danny McCanney couldn't repeat the same performance in Argentina. Enjoying the loose gravel and technical special tests but finding the scorching South American sun hard to bear, the Manx youngster battled through to finish fourth and fifth in Enduro Junior. Also finding the 35-plus degree conditions extremely tough, Mid West Husaberg's Alex Rockwell finished 13th on day one but improved to tenth in EJ on day two.
Continuing to establish himself as the rider to beat in Enduro 1, KTM Enduro Factory rider Antoine Meo once again delivered a dominant performance. Winning all but the final enduro test on day one, the Frenchman claimed victory by almost 80 seconds.
Setting the pace in the opening enduro test on day two, Meo once again lead the way. Topping the first seven special tests of the morning the KTM rider opened up a commanding advantage. Meo secured a maximum points haul from his South American trip and returns to Europe as the clear leader in Enduro 1.
"Returning to Europe with four wins is the best start to the championship that I could have hoped for,” remarked Meo. "This was a very tough weekend of enduro so come away with another double victory has been an incredible result.”
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS, APRIL 6.
WORLD ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 2 – San Juan, ARGENTINA
ENDURO 1 CLASS
1 Antoine Meo (F - KTM) 20 + 20 = 40
2 Simone Albergoni (I - HM Honda) 15 + 17 = 32
3 Eero Remes (SF - KTM) 13 + 15 = 28
4 Marc Bourgeois (F - Yamaha) 17 + 9 = 26
5 Lorenzo Santolino (E - Husqvarna) 9 + 13 = 22
6 Rodrig Thain (F - HM Honda) 10 + 11 = 21
7 Thomas Oldrati (I - KTM) 11 + 10 = 21
8 Matti Seistola (SF - Husqvarna) 7 + 7 = 14
9 Jeremy Joly (F - Yamaha) 5 + 8 = 13
10 Fabien Planet (F - Sherco) 6 + 6 = 12
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Meo 80 points, 2 Albergoni 55, 3 Thain 53, 4 Bourgeois 51, 5 Remes 48, 6 Santolino 38, 7 Oldrati 36, 8 Seistola 35, 9 Joly 34, 10 Planet 28,...
ENDURO 2 CLASS
1 Ivan Cervantes (E - Gas Gas) 20 + 15 = 35
2 Cristobal Guerrero (E - KTM) 17 + 17 = 34
3 Pierre Alexandre Renet (F - Husaberg) 13 + 13 = 26
4 Alex Salvini (I - Husqvarna) 11 + 11 = 22
5 Juha Salminen (SF - Husqvarna) 0 + 20 = 20
6 Fabio Mossini (I - KTM) 10 + 10 = 20
7 Antoine Basset (F - Yamaha) 9 + 8 = 17
8 Johnny Aubert (F - KTM) 15 + 0 = 15
9 Franco Caimi (ARG - KTM) 7 + 7 = 14
10 Julien Gauthier (F - Kawasaki) 8 + 6 = 14
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Cervantes 69 points, 2 Guerrero 60, 3 Renet 56, 4 Salminen 51, 5 Salvini 45, 6 Balletti 34, 7 Gauthier 32, 8 Basset 32, 9 Aubert 31, 10 Mossini 30,...
ENDURO 3 CLASS
1 Christophe Nambotin (F - KTM) 20 + 20 = 40
2 David KNIGHT (GB - KTM) 17 + 17 = 34
3 Joakim Ljunggren (S - Husaberg) 15 + 15 = 30
4 Aigar Leok (EW - TM) 13 + 13 = 26
5 Marko Tarkkala (SF - Beta) 9 + 11 = 20
6 Oriol Mena (E - Husaberg) 10 + 10 = 20
7 Marcus Kehr (D - KTM) 11 + 9 = 20
8 Benoit Fortunato (F - Gas Gas) 8 + 8 = 16
9 Christophe Robert (CH - Husaberg) 7 + 7 = 14
10 Manuel Monni (I - KTM) 5 + 6 = 11
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Nambotin 80 points, 2 KNIGHT 64, 3 Leok 58, 4 Ljunggren 54, 5 Mena 46, 6 Tarkkala 39, 7 Fortunato 35, 8 Kehr 33, 9 Monni 27, 10 Robert 27,...
ENDURO JUNIOR CLASS
1 Jonathan Manzi (I - KTM) 20 + 20 = 40
2 Mathias Bellino (F - Husaberg) 17 + 17 = 34
3 Kevin Benavides (ARG - KTM) 15 + 15 = 30
4 Daniel McCANNEY (GB - Gas Gas) 13 + 11 = 24
5 Edoardo D'Ambrosio (I - KTM) 10 + 13 = 23
6 Victor Guerrero (E - KTM) 11 + 10 = 21
7 Kalle Svensson (S - HM Honda) 8 + 9 = 17
8 Rudi Moroni (I - KTM) 7 + 8 = 15
9 Johan Edlund (S - Husaberg) 5 + 5 = 10
10 Alex ROCKWELL (GB - Husaberg) 3 + 6 = 9
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Bellino 74 points, 2 Manzi 56, 3 McCANNEY 56, 4 Benavides 54, 5 Guerrero 47, 6 D'Ambrosio 47, 7 Queyreyre 34, 8 Svensson 32, 9 Moroni 26, 10 Edlund 22,... 12 ROCKWELL 18,...
ENDURO YOUTH CLASS
1 Giacomo Redondi (I - KTM) 20 + 20 = 40
2 Benjamin Herrera (CHL - TM) 17 + 17 = 34
3 Stefano Caimi (ARG - Yamaha) 15 + 15 = 30
4 Nicolas Kutulas (ARG - KTM) 13 + 13 = 26
5 Luciano Benavides (ARG - TM) 0 + 11 = 11
6 Nicolas Bascunan (CHL - TM) 11 + 0 = 11
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 (of 8) rounds: 1 Redondi 77 points, 2 Herrera 71, 3 Caimi 53, 4 Kutulas 49, 5 Bascunan 35, 6 Benavides 30, 7 Rojas 18, 8 Herrer 17, 9 Isaza 15, 10 Tirado 7,...
NEXT ROUND: May 6/7 – Munitibar Arbacegi, SPAIN.
