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Photo - Stefan Merriman in (dusty) Poland:
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.
By Lexy Thorogood
Salminen restarted on Day 3 after finishing 55 minutes and 26 seconds behind Merriman on Day 2.
Whilst his chances of an E2 class win are almost impossible, he is continuing on Day 3 so that his results can be counted in the World Trophy Teams classification. Each country has the possibility to exclude one riders result each day. In Finland's case they did not count Salminen's result on Day 2, but he finished within one hour of his allocated finish time (55 mins late). However they will definitely count his result today as he won the E2 class from Merriman by 12 seconds.
The riders emabarked on a different loop with three different specials today. All three tests were grass tracks, although one was called an "enduro" test. Light rain started as the race commenced at 8am making it difficult for the E1 class riders going first.
Merriman won the first test by a whisker over Salminen, then Salminen won the next 4 tests by a few seconds each time. Merriman set the fastest time on the final test but didn't make up enough time to win the class on Day 3.
Day Three was marked with tragedy: A Dutch mechanic was killed in an
incident with a car in the morning, the driver and passenger were also
killed. The mechanic was travelling on a main road driving to a special test
and the car driver didn't see him and they collided.
Horrifically a German rider
died in the afternoon after hitting a tree on the course. A
British rider tried to revive him but was unable to get a response.
About Day 3, Merriman said, "A bit of rain today was good to keep the dust down, however not enough to wet the track much. I was a little annoyed that they changed the third test yesterday and didn't announce the changes made as I had walked it a few times and then when I got there today it was different. However everyone was in the same boat. Juha was very fast today and I couldn't quite catch him."
