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25/09/02 - From Stefan Merriman:
Hello, following are press releases from the first two days racing at the Intenational Six Days of Enduro, which is being held in Jablonec nad Nisou in the Czech Republic (100km north of Prague).
The race so far has not run smoothly, due to the problems with the police and greenies. Because of the greenies most of the trail runs on public bitumen roads. The czech police have brought in an extra 500 men to 'control traffic'. The trail times were set so tight, that riders were left with no other option but to speed. More than 100 riders received speeding fines yesterday, none of them were Czech!
Australian/Kiwi, Stefan Merriman is leading the 125cc class and has managed to be on time to all time checks and avoided any traffic violations!!! Sorry this is a little late but the press facilities are limited.
ISDE - Czech Republic. Day 1:
In freezing cold conditions the International Six Days of Enduro began in Jablonec nad Nisou in the Czech Republic. World Champion, Stefan Merriman was the fastest in the special tests in the 125cc class, ahead of Husky teammate, Petteri Silvan and GP Motocrosser, Erik Eggens. The temperature ranged between 3-5 degrees and the trail was primarily set on the road due to protests against the race by conservationists- green people! Despite the trail being relatively easy, the time to get between checks was tight and almost all riders received time penalties.
The official results will not be known until after the jury meeting this evening. On test times alone Stefan was more than 45 seconds faster than his opponents in total for the day.
Day 2:
Stefan won the 125cc class again today, despite crashing in the third enduro test. It started spitting with rain and the bridge was wet and slippery. He crashed and lost about 15 seconds, but had a 18 second lead at that stage. He won the following tests and finished up about 11 seconds in front of Pohjamo, who was second. Fellow Aussie, Damien Smith did quite well today and finished 5th in the 125cc class.
Many of the time penalties were removed yesterday, as the trail times, which were mostly on the road were unrealistic. Stefan did not get any time penalty yesterday. In other news, Damien Smith was excluded yesterday as the lady at the route check forgot to write his number down as he went past on the trail and there is nothing we can do to prove otherwise.
