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Stefan Merriman fastest overall in Portugal, but not in first place and how he came to be penalised 1 minute:
By Lexy Thorogood:
Despite the dry conditions on both race days, all riders struggled with the deep, muddy bogholes in the two enduro tests. The organisers were determined to keep them in and the jury meeting on Friday night decided to run the race through the mudholes, despite protests by many and the extreme test was to be included as another special test.
On the first day, Stefan Merriman rode brilliantly winning 8 out of the 13 specials outright and placing in the top five in the remaining tests. The bike was running well and Stefan felt good with his performance throughout the day. Disappointingly, the third loop of the first enduro tests had to be cancelled due to the bad condition of the mudholes preventing some latter riders from getting through.The only bad test was the last lap of the first enduro test, where Stefan fell in one test but still managed to place in the top five overall!!!
Merriman was the fastest overall on Day One and finished with a 17 second lead on Aro, who placed second overall and also in the 250 2 stroke class. After re-walking all the special tests on Saturday evening we came back to find out that the Portuguese jury man wanted to exclude Stefan for outside assistance. In the last extreme test, I was watching Stefan ride through and threw a rock in the test before he came to the log section to point the line for him to pass. This is common practice amongst teams, to use sticks or stones to \'point a line\' in a test. The Portuguese official complained to the jury man and it was construed that this constituted outside assistance. At first the jury claimed it was a breach of the \'Extreme Test Rules\' and then when I argued to see the rules the jury backed down and said it was a breach of the FIM Sporting Code relating to outside assistance. The 2003 FIM Enduro rules under the Sporting Code reveal there is no specific rules relating to the \'Extreme Test\'.
Secondly the rule that I supposedly breached by throwing the rock in the test was 062.39 Outside Assistance. This rule states \" The term Outside Assistance refers to the act involved when any person, other than the rider or an official performing his duties, comes into contact with the motorcycle. At no point did I come into contact with the motorcycle or the rider.
I am very angry that Stefan should be penalised for my action which did not affect his performance (it was one of the few tests he didn\'t win outright!!). I believe this decision has compromised the jury\'s credability to police the rules of the World Enduro Champs.
On Sunday morning I was called to a meeting of the jury to explain what I did. I told them that I put the rock and did not remove it after Stefan passed (the official removed it). The head of the jury told me that this was a breach of the FIM sporting code. So then I asked the question, \"What constitues outside assistance?\" I put them to the question, \"If I was standing within the special test tape, pointing the line through a mudhole, would the rider be penalised for outside assistance?\" After much back and forth and avoidance of the question the end answer was \"Yes\". So I then asked them about the time on the third loop when the Portuguese jury man was looking at the mudholes, and there was at least 10 people within the first enduro test pointing lines. I asked why these riders weren\'t penalised, and he said, \"because no official saw them\".
Anyway so the jury finally decided to give Stefan a one minute penalty for the first day which put him back to 5th place overall and 2nd in the class. Very disappointing for both Stefan and I, when Stefan rode his best in his worst conditions (muddy ruts) and managed to win over Aro and Salminen, only to have the win taken away from him at the jury\'s discretion.
About the first day, Merriman said \" I felt really good on the Honda today and found it to be good in all conditions. Today\'s test is what the Finnish are best at (deep ruts) and I was pleased to win the overall. I am really disappointed about the penalty as I wasn\'t aware pointing lines in tests can be outside assistance. However, I just want to put it all behind me now and concentrate on making up the points in the next few races.\"
The organisation modified the enduro tests for the second day as the mudholes were completely destroyed. Both Stefan and I didn\'t get much sleep and woke up with colds. Stefan wasn\'t his usual self and it showed in his riding. He made some mistakes in second enduro test, crashing twice on the second and third loop and he also crashed on the first loop of the extreme test. In the final special, the extreme I told him that he was now five seconds behind \'the rutmaster\' David Knight. Stefan waited for David to finish the test. David did a 1:00.39, so Stefan knew he had to get a 0:55 to beat David in the overall. He went all out and finished the last extreme in a time of 0:55.32 which earned him second place in the overall rankings.
Day 2, Merriman said, \" I didn\'t feel as good today, and made too many mistakes. I crashed in three tests (twice on Enduro test 2 and once on the Extreme test). I hope I can get over this flu before next weekend.
Now the overall point standings are as follows...
1. Juha SALMINEN 45 points,
2. Samuli ARO 38pts.
3. Stefan MERRIMAN 31 pts.
In the 250cc 2 stroke class...
1. Stefan MERRIMAN 45pts.
1. Samuli ARO 45pts.
2. Helder RODRIGUES 29pts.
2. Jani LAAKSONEN 29pts.
