|
Marc Germain shines in front of home crowd |
Marc Germain shines in front of home crowd
Simone Albergoni
UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni brought his '07 World
Enduro Championship campaign to an impressive close by finishing as
runner-up in the Enduro 1 class on both days of the eighth and final
event of the season held in Noirtable, France. With the event taking
place just two weeks after Simone claimed his first win of the
season at the GP of Slovakia, the Italian battled Yamaha France
rider Marc Germain on day to place a close second. The next day he
went onto claim the second step of the podium again after fighting
with newly crowned '07 E1 world champion Juha Salminen right up
until the final test of the day. With Yamaha France rider Marc
Germain claiming his first class win of the '07 WEC season on day
one before finishing third on day two Yamaha claimed the lion's
share of the podium positions in the E1 class to bring the season to
a close in a very positive way.
Claiming five class special test wins Marc Germain claimed his first
Enduro 1
class win of '07 at the best place possible - in front of his home
crowd. Cheered
on every step of the way by the biggest crowd of the season Germain
found himself
locked in a close fight with Simone Albergoni, which saw the two riders
separated
by less than three seconds at the end of the day. Despite not managing
to claim
any special test wins Albergoni's speed and consistency meant that he
was able to
keep comfortably ahead of third placed Juha Salminen, who despite
missing both
days of the GP of Slovakia lifted the '07 Enduro 1 world championship
title.
Cristobal Guerrero crashed heavily on the very last test of the day
having given
his all in the hope of claiming a podium position, he finished fifth,
while
Maurizio Micheluz placed seventh aboard his WR250.
Day two saw E1 world champion Juha Salminen top the class results after
the Finn
battled against UFO Corse Yamaha's Simone Albergoni. With less than
eight seconds
separating the two riders at the end of the day their day-long battle
for class
supremacy drew them away from Yamaha France rider Marc Germain, who
despite not
being able to quite match the pace of Salminen and Albergoni was able to
claim a
well deserved third place position. With Albergoni runner-up and Germain
third,
Cristobal Guerrero improved on his day one result despite being hampered
by an
injured thumb to finish fourth. Maurizio Micheluz also improved his
result placing
fifth and ensuring that Yamaha mounted riders filled four of the top
five E1 class
positions.
Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Second,
Day 2 Second:
"The first day was going really well until the last special test and Marc
Germain
managed to finish ahead of me, which of course pushed me to second. I
was a little
disappointed about that but I rode well all day so I am quite happy."
"On day two I made a mistake on the first enduro test, which cost me some
time. At
the end of the day I was just six seconds behind Juha Salminen, so I
think without
the mistake I could have won."
"All in all it has been a good season for me. I have been fast during the
second
half of the year, but it took me a little time to adjust to the new bike
at the
start of the season. With the championship starting in the snow in
Sweden it was
difficult for me, but now I am very happy with everything and next year
I know
that I will start with a bike that I am used to and that I know can
win."
Cristobal Guerrero
Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Fifth,
Day 2 Fourth:
"Day one wasn't so good for me, but it also wasn't too bad. I was
fighting for
third, fourth and fifth position all day. I crashed in the last enduro
test
because I was pushing hard to finish in third, but I lost some time and
finished
fifth. When I crashed I injured the ligaments in my right thumb."
"I found day two very difficult because of my thumb. The course and
especially the
special tests were really rough and I wasn't able to push as hard as I
do
normally. Salminen, Albergoni and Germain were all really fast, I wasn't
able to
match their pace. I also crashed in the extreme test and lost 20 seconds
so I'm
pleased with second. It was a tough race."
"I have finished fourth in the world championship this year, which I'm
pleased
with. I have had some really good battles and although my result could
have been
better at some races if I had been just one or two seconds faster, but
overall
I'm pleased with my performances."
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Eighth,
Day 2 Fifth:
"The first day wasn't so good for me. I just wasn't quick enough on the
special
test. I could have finished sixth but I stalled my bike on one of the
extreme
tests."
"Day two was much better. I had a good fight with my team-mate Cristobal
Guerrero
for the fourth position. My last enduro tests wasn't great, which meant
that
Cristobal finished ahead of me but fifth is still good. My goal at the
start of
the season was to finish inside the top five, so I am a little
disappointed not to
have done that. But the E1 class is very competitive. I have had some
good results
though so I am not too disappointed."
Circuit Length: 4500
Temp: 25
Crowd: 5000
Weather: Sunny
2007 Enduro 1 France 16/09/2007
Race 1
Pos.
Rider
Manu.
Nat.
Total Time
1
Marc Germain
Yamaha
FRA
49'51.440
2
Simone Albergoni
Yamaha
ITA
0'2.620
3
Juha Salminen
KTM
FIN
0'18.710
4
Bartosz Oblucki
Husqvarna
POL
0'24.680
5
Cristobal Guerrero
Yamaha
ESP
0'34.940
6
Alessandro Belometti
KTM
ITA
1'6.070
7
Julien Gauthier
Honda
FRA
1'6.530
8
Maurizio Micheluz
Yamaha
ITA
1'15.320
9
Damien Miquel
Kawasaki
FRA
2'17.740
10
Mike Hartmann
KTM
GER
2'26.370
11
Pierre Duzellier
KTM
FRA
3'3.110
12
Danielle Tellini
KTM
ITA
3'4.240
13
Peter Bergvall
Suzuki
SWE
3'38.420
14
Nicolas Brousson
KTM
FRA
5'10.030
15
Juraj Dozsa
KTM
SVK
5'30.620
Race 2
Pos.
Rider
Manu.
Nat.
Total Time
1
Juha Salminen
KTM
FIN
51'46.070
2
Simone Albergoni
Yamaha
ITA
0'7.620
3
Marc Germain
Yamaha
FRA
0'18.600
4
Cristobal Guerrero
Yamaha
ESP
1'5.540
5
Maurizio Micheluz
Yamaha
ITA
1'10.670
6
Alessandro Belometti
KTM
ITA
1'28.110
7
Bartosz Oblucki
Husqvarna
POL
1'38.270
8
Mike Hartmann
KTM
GER
2'3.350
9
Julien Gauthier
Honda
FRA
2'14.990
10
Damien Miquel
Kawasaki
FRA
3'11.240
11
Danielle Tellini
KTM
ITA
3'25.300
12
Pierre Duzellier
KTM
FRA
4'10.420
13
Gonzalo Reis
KTM
ITA
6'25.070
14
Nicolas Brousson
KTM
FRA
7'59.710
15
Helio Santos
Yamaha
POR
8'36.640
Rider Standings
15/09/2007
Pos.
Rider
Manu.
Nat.
Points
1.Juha SalminenKTMFIN3452.Simone AlbergoniYamahaITA3173.Marc
GermainYamahaFRA3024.Cristobal GuerreroYamahaESP2855.Alessandro
BelomettiKTMITA2606.Bartosz ObluckiHusqvarnaPOL2437.Maurizio
MicheluzYamahaITA2148.Mike HartmannKTMGER1989.Juraj
DozsaKTMSVK10110.Danielle TelliniKTMITA9311.Luca
CherubiniTMITA8612.Anthony RobertsHondaAUS7913.Damien
MiquelKawasakiFRA6314.Frederik GeorgssonKTMSWE5615.Julien
GauthierHondaFRA52
Manufacturer Standings
15/09/2007
Pos.
Manufacturer
Points
1.KTM3792.Yamaha3453.Husqvarna2434.Honda1555.TM926.Suzuki907.Kawasaki71
RACE REPORT
16/09/2007
Double win
for Johnny Aubert on home soil
Johnny Aubert
Frenchman Johnny Aubert produced one of the most dominant
performances of the '07 World Enduro Championship series when he
claimed a double Enduro 2 class performance at his home round of the
series, the GP of France staged in Noirtable. Determined to end the
'07 WEC championship on a high note the UFO Corse Yamaha team rider
claimed a deserved double win in front of his home crowd, despite
constant pressure from countryman Fabien Planet on day one and
Finland's Mika Ahola on day two.
Winning five of the opening day's special tests things went from
good for Aubert, as he topped the opening motocross test, to bad as
he de-railed his chain in the enduro test, which saw him lose
valuable time and place 15th in class. Fighting his way back the
former motocross racer finished an eventual 15 seconds clear of
Planet with '06 E2 world champion Samuli Aro third.
On day two Aubert was equally as determined to win and every bit as
impressive and aggressive on each of the event's special tests as he
repeated his day one victory and claimed his third double class win
of the championship. Finishing a clear 20 seconds ahead of newly
crowned '07 Enduro 2 world champion Mika Ahola, Johnny ended his
second WEC season in the best possible way earning third in the
end-of-season championship standings behind Ahola and Aro.
Disappointingly for Aubert's UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate Fabrizio
Dini the '07 WEC season didn't end in quite as good a way as the
Italian claimed 11th on day one before improving to ninth on day
two.
Johnny Aubert
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 first, Day 2
First:
"The first day was great for me. I had only one real problem and that was
when my
chain came off in the first enduro test. After that I had a perfect day.
I pushed
hard to win, which is what I was able to do. It was great winning in
front of my
home crowd."
"Day two was also really, really good. I won the first extreme test,
which was the
day's opening test, and I think that told the other riders that I wanted
to win
again, like I did on day one. It was a really hard day, and Mika Ahola
was really
fast, but winning again was great. It was the perfect way to end the '07
world
championship. Samuli Aro was again fast on day two, which meant that I
was not
able to take second in the E2 championship. I am a little disappointed
not to have
finished higher than third, but it is one place better than last year. I
will work
hard during the winter now so I am ready for the '08 WEC championship."
Circuit Length: 4500
Temp: 25
Crowd: 5000
Weather: Sunny
2007 Enduro 2 France 16/09/2007
Race 1
Pos.
Rider
Manu.
Nat.
Total Time
1
Johnny Aubert
Yamaha
FRA
49'48.350
2
Fabien Planet
KTM
FRA
0'18.150
3
Samuli Aro
KTM
FIN
0'24.110
4
Mika Ahola
Honda
FIN
0'41.610
5
Emmanuel Albepart
Honda
FRA
0'50.480
6
Xavier Galindo
KTM
ESP
0'59.120
7
Nicolas Paganon
Aprilia
FRA
1'19.630
8
Stefan Merriman
Aprilia
AUS
1'37.170
9
Nicolas Deparrois
Husqvarna
FRA
1'46.190
10
Rodrig Thain
Suzuki
FRA
2'9.860
11
Fabrizio Dini
Yamaha
ITA
2'14.090
12
Felipe Zanol
Yamaha
ESP
2'37.690
13
Jari Juha Mattila
Beta
FIN
2'56.160
14
Mickael Metge
HusaBerg
FRA
3'16.770
15
Valtteri Salonen
HusaBerg
FIN
8'32.020
Race 2
Pos.
Rider
Manu.
Nat.
Total Time
1
Johnny Aubert
Yamaha
FRA
50'43.140
2
Mika Ahola
Honda
FIN
0'20.010
3
Fabien Planet
KTM
FRA
1'40.910
4
Stefan Merriman
Aprilia
AUS
1'54.010
5
Xavier Galindo
KTM
ESP
1'54.820
6
Samuli Aro
KTM
FIN
2'17.750
7
Emmanuel Albepart
Honda
FRA
2'25.470
8
Nicolas Paganon
Aprilia
FRA
2'53.230
9
Fabrizio Dini
Yamaha
ITA
2'55.450
10
Jari Juha Mattila
Beta
FIN
3'1.650
11
Nicolas Deparrois
Husqvarna
FRA
3'11.630
12
Thierry Klutz
Sherco
BEL
3'20.050
13
Rodrig Thain
Suzuki
FRA
3'32.280
14
Felipe Zanol
Yamaha
ESP
4'54.060
15
Joel Smets
BMW
BEL
5'34.240
Rider Standings
15/09/2007
Pos.
Rider
Manu.
Nat.
Points
1.Mika AholaHondaFIN3672.Samuli AroKTMFIN3273.Johnny
AubertYamahaFRA3244.Fabien PlanetKTMFRA2695.Stefan
MerrimanApriliaAUS2576.Xavier GalindoKTMESP1917.Fabrizio
DiniYamahaITA1828.Nicolas DeparroisHusqvarnaFRA1719.Valtteri
SalonenHusaBergFIN15310.Jari Juha MattilaBetaFIN14011.Nicolas
PaganonApriliaFRA13712.Rodrig ThainSuzukiFRA12013.Nathan
KanneyHusqvarnaUSA8414.Patrick CapsGasGasBEL7215.Emmanuel
AlbepartHondaFRA67
Manufacturer Standings
15/09/2007
Pos.
Manufacturer
Points
1.Honda3672.KTM3383.Yamaha3364.Aprilia2665.Husqvarna1916.HusaBerg1747.Beta1408.Suzuki1309.GasGas8110.Sherco6011.BMW3612.Kawasaki1513.TM914.Christini8
|
|
