    |
 |
|
|
|
Check out the WEBSITE: of Stefan Merriman, the Kiwi born Enduro ace (across the ditch they claim him as an Aussie) for photos (including this event) his profile, events calendar, etc.
.
The Portuguese round was hyped as one of the most difficult rounds of the season. Held in the ancient Portuguese city of Guimaraes on a sunny Spring weekend, it was certainly more difficult than the first round in Spain. Fortunately there was no rain, in addition to the one extreme, one enduro and two cross tests there were a number of difficult rocky hillclimbs and river crossings on the trail.
The starting order for this race was determined by the classification of the first round in Spain. the Enduro II class was first followed by Enduro III and then the Enduro I. The first cross test was near the paddock and only completed at the start and the finish of the day. Short, with many sharp corners, this test did not make much difference as all the riders were only separated by one or two seconds.
The second test was the long enduro test set in the forest, amongst the gum trees. This test was very open and started on a horse trotting ring. On the first loop on the first day, Merriman was fastest on this test by at least 5 secs. Then on the second loop, he lost the front end of the bike on the first corner on a long progressive curve of the fine gravel trotting track. He lost 10 seconds but won the day easily by 40 seconds from closest rider Simone Albergoni (Honda).
The second cross test was very long (over 7 mins) and very fast with open corners. Merriman set the fastest time on this test on the first loop on the first day, even beating the riders in to 500cc class. This was Merriman\'s strongest test where he won the most time.
The extreme test was a very difficult steep rocky trials section. On all laps on both days Merriman rode safely in this test as it was only possible to win one or two seconds but a mistake caould cost a lot of time. Samuli Aro stalled the bike on a uphill and lost more than 20 seconds, and so Stefan thought it was best to ride conservatively.
Over the weekend, Merriman rode well with a couple of crashes in the enduro test on both days. Despite losing time to his rivals he had such a strong lead he was able to win anyway.
At the press conference on Saturday, Merriman said, \" Today the weather was great and the lap was good. Compliments to the Portuguese organisers for making such a great race with really nice special tests. I had a crash in the enduro test in the second lap but fortunately I had a good lead and was able to win.\"
On Sunday, Merriman said,\"Another great day. I am happy to win. Today was hard as it was long and the tests got more cut up and bumpy as the day went on. I had a couple of crashes today and I am having a few problems understanding the front end of the bike. I need to do more testing to get the best setup so theat I have a better feeling and can avoid crashing.
World Enduro Championships - Guimaraes, PORTUGAL
RESULTS:
More Results are - Here: No mention of Whibs ???
Class Enduro 1
1 Stefan Merriman AUS Yamaha 47:04.27
2 Simone Albergoni ITA Honda +0:39.86
3 Marc Germain FRA Yamaha +0:43.23
4 Bartos Oblucki POL Yamaha +0:45.56
5 Richard Larsson SWE TM +0:48.35
6 Petteri Silvan FIN KTM +0:54.43
7 Helder Rodrigues POR KTM +1:22.56
8 Fabien Planet FRA KTM +1:50.19
9 Peter Bergvall SWE Husqvarna +2:04.49
10 Raphael André FRA Honda +2:09.19
13 Xavier Puigdemont SPA KTM +2:24.58
14 Alessandro Belometti ITA KTM +2:24.63
15 Homero Diaz MEX KTM +2:27.57
Class Enduro 2
1 Juha Salminen FIN KTM 46:30.21
2 Alessandro Botturi ITA KTM +1:13.84
3 Arnau Vilanova SPA Honda +1:23.81
4 Mika Saarenkoski FIN Husqvarna +1:36.51
5 Paul Edmondson GBR Honda +1:43.56
6 Miki Arpa SPA Husqvarna +1:58.63
7 Thierry Klutz BEL Gas Gas +1:58.80
8 Gerard Farres SPA KTM +2:09.01
9 Andrea Beconi ITA Yamaha +2:11.70
10 Andreas Toresson SWE Husaberg +2:13.22
11 Giovanni Sala ITA KTM +2:22.29
16 Olivier Pain FRA KTM +3:14.20
18 Edward Jones GBR KTM +3:19.63
19 Marcus Kehr GER KTM +3:24.38
20 Vita Kuklik CZE KTM +3:29.12
Class Enduro 3
1 Ivan Cervantes SPA KTM 46:86.56
2 David Knight GBR KTM +0:10.69
3 Mika Ahola FIN Husqvarna +0:16.12
4 Samuli Aro FIN KTM +0:17.62
5 Marko Tarkkala FIN Husaberg +0:31.94
6 Anders Eriksson SWE Husqvarna +0:58.02
7 Bjorne Carlsson SWE Husaberg +1:23.37
8 Niklas Gustafsson SWE KTM +1:50.28
9 Jani Laaksonen FIN Gas Gas +1:56.54
10 Jordi Duran SPA KTM +2:00.38
11 Werner Müller AUT KTM +2:04.20
14 Christoph Seifert GER KTM +2:55.81
15 Swen Enderlein GER KTM +2:57.70
18 Janis Vinters LAT KTM +6:04.16
20 Jens Oestrich GER KTM +8:26.25
