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Enduro 2 : Merriman dominates in Serres
Round: 8 - Grand Prix of Greece
Circuit: Serres
Date: 9 October 2005
Crowd: 4000
Temp: 25ºC
Weather: Sunshine
In the Enduro 2 class Australian UFO Corse Yamaha rider Stefan Merriman claimed a double class win aboard his WR450F but saw rival Samuli Aro (KTM) claim the E2 world title. Placing 48 seconds ahead of Aro on day one and 34 seconds ahead on day two Merriman dominated the class on both days. For Aro two runner-up finishes were enough for him to be crowned E2 world champion with one round of the series remaining.
With Merriman winning on both days, and with Samuli Aro placing in second on both days, Finn Valtteri Salonen (Honda) claimed the final podium position on day one with Italian Alessandro Botturi (KTM) finishing third on day two. Merriman's Italian team mate Andrea Beconi finished respectively tenth on day one and ninth on day two. With one Grand Prix left, Stefan is now runner up in the WEC standings, Beconi is eighth.
Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Day: first, Day 2: First "Day one went really well. I had one small crash on the enduro test, which cost me a little bit of time, but I didn't have any major problems. Day two was pretty much the same apart from stalling my bike on the last extreme test.It's been a really good race. It's nice not having the check times too tight. But it's also been good because both the motocross and the enduro tests were both very long and technical - it's great to have long special tests. It is disappointing knowing that Samuli has won the Enduro 2 world title but I take my hat off to him because he has been very consistent during the season. Getting injured in Italy like I did put an end to my title hopes but like always I have been pushing as hard as I could to win the race this weekend and everything worked out well."
Race classification Enduro 2
Round: 8 - Grand Prix of Greece
Circuit: Serres
Race: 3 Laps
