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Stafan Merriman third overall on the first day in Spain:
By Lexy Thorogood:
Merriman didn\'t have a good day on the first day of the World Championship round in Salamanca, Spain. In dry, dusty conditions Merriman struggled to match the pace of his rivals - Aro and Salminen in the fast, open, grassy motocross tests. There were no enduro tests or extreme tests in the course laid out by Spanish organisers. The first day consisted of three loops of three motocross tests. The tests were on very hard grassy paddocks, with many loose stones floating on top. Merriman lost most of his times to his rivals on the first lap and managed to maintain similar times to Aro and Salminen on the second and third lap.
About the first day in Salamanca, Merriman said,
\"I probably chose the wrong moose for the day. the ground on the tests was extremely hard and I had a lot of trouble trying to get grip. I had a bad crash during the trail and damaged the handlebars on the second loop. Overall it was not a good day for me, I was disappointed with my results.\"
Day 1 World Enduro Championships - Salamanca, Spain
Overall Classification
Place Rider Bike Total Time
1st Samuli Aro (FIN) KTM 250 54:29.96
2nd Juha Salminen (FIN) KTM 520 54:33.27
3rd Stefan Merriman (AUS) HONDA CRE 250 55:04.86
4th Roman Michalik (CZE) VOR 450 55:15.61
5th Alex Zanni (ITA) HONDA 450 55:25.28
6th David Knight (GBR) YAMAHA 500 55:27.10
7th Peter Bergvall (SWE) YAMAHA 250 4S 55:28.74
8th Jani Laaksonen (FIN) GAS GAS 250 55:36.92
9th Bjorne Carlsson (SWE) HUSABERG 500 55:39.58
10th Anders Eriksson (SWE) HUSQVARNA 450 55:42.23
Now the overall point standings are as follows....
1. Juha SALMINEN 65 points, 2. Samuli ARO 63pts. 3. Stefan MERRIMAN 47 pts.
In the 250cc 2 stroke class...
1. Samuli ARO 70pts. 2. Stefan MERRIMAN 65pts. 2. Jani LAAKSONEN 45pts.
