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Contributor: Lexy Thorogood
For most people, enduro races in France conjure up images of lush, grassy, cross tests - every riders dream. The fourth round of the World Enduro Championships held in Gelles, France was a deviation from the usual. There was one cross test with sections of grass, but also difficult rocky trial sections. The other cross test and the enduro test were tracks cut in the forest, littered with cut grass, roots and stumps hidden by fallen leaves. All this amounted to a hard and difficult race. The field of 200 riders started from the paddock at 9am on a freezing cold and wet Saturday morning. During both days, they completed three loops of the slippery and muddy 219km course.
The fastest bike of the weekend was the Husqvarna TE400 with current World
Champion, Stefan Merriman behind the wheel.
Merriman started the first day
brilliantly, taking a 13 second lead from his rival Juha Salminen in the
first test. The conditions were hard, and became more difficult as the track
wore in. Merriman lead the race for the entire day, despite a couple of
small crashes. The second day was a much closer margin, but Merriman again
finished winner of the 400cc class and leader of the overall classification.
In the 500cc class, Anders Eriksson finished second on both days. On Saturday, Eriksson lost time in the second loop of cross test one, when he got stuck on a muddy uphill. He then had trouble matching the times of Ahola in the following tests.
\" The first cross test and enduro test were very dangerous with too many hidden objects like stumps and roots to push full gas\", said Husqvarna rider Petteri Silvan about the specials. In the 125cc class, Silvan finished second on the first day and third on the second day. However he said, \"The bike ran well all weekend and I had no problems\".
Husqvarna\'s newest rider Paul Edmondson has gained consistent results for the CH Racing team, finishing second again on both days. About his bike, Eddy said, \" The bike performed brilliantly over the weekend, I just made too many mistakes.\" Edmondson was closer to his rival, Bergvall on Sunday, until he crashed in the last lap of the enduro test. Also in the 250 4-stroke class, Bartoz Oblucki finished third on both days, allowing Husqvarna to finish 2 and 3 on the podium.
In the 250cc class, Husqvarna\'s Samuli Aro rode the whole weekend unrivalled by any of his classmates. He finished first on both days. About the race he said, \"It was nothing special. On the first lap on Saturday, I rode as fast as I could without taking any risks. As I was leading I stayed at that pace for the duration of the weekend to ensure a good result. It was quite a hard race but there was not so much competition in my class\".
The final points standings are.
Overall classification.
1.Salminen 159
2.Merriman 148 (Husqvarna)
3.Aro 125 (Husqvarna)
4.Eriksson 79 (Husqvarna)
125cc 2T
- Silvan 165 (Husqvarna), Larsson 144, Germain 105, Pohjamo 103
250cc 2T
Aro 185 (Husqvarna), Knight 128, Laaksonen 118, Wiik 116,
250cc 4T
Bergvall 191, Edmondson 165 (Husqvarna), Oblucki 113 (Husqvarna)
400cc
Merriman 185 (Husqvarna), Salminen 171, Tarkala 103, Arpa 86
500cc
Eriksson 175 (Husqvarna), Ahola 172, Carlsson 125
World Enduro Championships, FRANCE
Results Day 1
Overall
1. Stefan Merriman 57:44.015
2. Juha Salminen 58:14.954
3. Samuli Aro 58:28.925
400cc
1. Stefan Merriman (HUS) 57:44.015
2. Juha Salminen (KTM) 58:14.954
3. Mats Andreasson (YAM) 59:37.044
500cc
1. Mika Ahola (VOR) 58:51.894
2. Anders Eriksson (HUS) 59:30.371
3. Mario Rinaldi (YAM) 1h 00.842
125cc 2T
1. Rickard Larsson (TM) 59:26.859
2. Petri Pohjamo (GAS) 59:56.159
3. Petteri Silvan (HUS) 59:59.355
250cc 2T
1. Samuli Aro (HUS) 58:28.925
2. Sèbastian Guillaume (HUS) 59:18.035
3. Jani Laaksonen (GAS) 59:37.765
250cc
1. Peter Bergvall (YAM) 1h 50.015
2. Paul Edmondson (HUS) 1h 1:07.352
3. Bartoz Oblucki (HUS) 1h 2.18.526
Day 2 - Gelles, FRANCE
Overall
1. Stefan Merriman(HUS) 1h 02:46.639
2. Juha Salminen (HUS) 1h 02:55.463
3. Samuli Aro (HUS) 1h 03:11.242
250cc 4T
1. Peter Bergvall (YAM) 1h 05:10.113
2. Paul Edmondson (HUS) 1h 05:20.944
3. Bartoz Oblucki (HUS) 1h 05:20.944
400cc
1. Stefan Merriman (HUS) 1h 02:46.639
2. Juha Salminen (KTM) 1h 02:55.463
3. Roman Michalik (VOR) 1h 05:40.550
500cc
1. Mika Ahola (VOR) 1h 03:41.327
2. Anders Eriksson (HUS) 1h 04:28.334
3. Gio Sala (KTM) 1h 05:17.877
250cc 2T
1. Samuli Aro (HUS) 1h 03:11.242
2. Jani Laaksonen (GAS) 1h 04:20.881
3. Simon Wiik ( TM) 1h 04:36.580
125cc 2T
1.Marc Germain (YAM) 1h 04:14.802
2. Petri Pohjamo (GAS) 1h 04:26.379
3. Petteri Silvan (HUS) 1h 04:28.904
