EWC 2011: Husqvarna does well in the Italian GP
“This is enduro,” said Juha Salminen on Saturday after winning the first day of the Italian GP. Salminen referred to the relatively short connections and length of the three Specials. In total, the riders spent about an hour a day on the Specials. The heat and rocky terrain on the flanks of Etna even made the connections too much for some.
E1 World Cup: Finnish Championship?
Finns are known for not being averse to a sauna. In sweltering Sicily, the sullen Northerners had a bit of an advantage. And that was clearly noticeable in the lightest World Cup class. From the first Special, Juha Salminen didn't give his competition a chance. Salminen would dominate the rest of the first day. Behind him, Eero Remes and Matti Seistola were engaged in a duel for second place. The former motocross rider turned out to be the fastest. Behind the Finns, Lorenzo Santolino, Fabien Planet and Cédric Melotte battled for fourth place. Melotte seemed to have good cards until he crashed hard in a descent. The Namur man was even unconscious for a moment and so wisely gave up. Santolino proved to be stronger than Planet and took fourth place.
On Sunday, a similar scenario to Saturday's seemed to unfold. However, a crash on the Crosstest caused Salminen to lose valuable seconds. As a result, the seven-time Enduro world champion has to put his younger compatriots ahead of him. Thomas Oldrati maintains the Italian honor with a fourth place. Cédric Melotte did not start again.
E2 World Cup: France dominates
Johnny Aubert started strong on Saturday. In the penultimate lap, however, the Nordiste suffered from cramps and really had to push himself to the limit. Meanwhile, Antoine Meo had arrived after a slow start. Behind the French leading duo, Ivan Cervantes, Cristobal Guerrero and Pierre-Alexandre Renet fought for third place. In the end it was Cervantes who took the last podium place. Home rider Simone Albergoni could not interfere with the battle at the front and had to be satisfied with sixth place. In this he just preceded Hans Vogels. The Husaberg rider wanted a little too much on Saturday morning and therefore made small mistakes. But as the day went on, Vogels got into his rhythm better and better. Aubert was eventually able to hold off Meo and make up some of his deficit. Jeff Goblet is ninth.
On Sunday it appears that Aubert has not yet fully recovered from his muscle cramps. The KTM factory rider has to lose speed and cannot get further than a 4e place in the daily rankings. At the front, Antoine Meo is reaching cruising speed. The Husqvarna rider dominates from the first test. Behind Meo, Ivan Cervantes and Cristobal Guerrero duel for second place. Cervantes ultimately turns out to be the fastest of the two Spaniards. Hans Vogels confirms this again with a nice seventh place. Goblet can also get back into the top 1O on Sunday.
World Cup E3: Nambotin vs Ahola
With David Knight seemingly out for the rest of the season, everyone expected the remaining GPs to be a health walk for Mika Ahola. But that was beyond Christophe Nambotin. The French ambulance driver has been a podium customer in the E300 for years on his Gas Gas EC 3 two-stroke machine. Nambotin made no mistakes and was able to keep Ahola from winning. Behind them, Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) won the battle for third place against Sébastien Guillaume and Marko Tarkkala.
On Sunday, Ahola put things right by taking the day's victory ahead of Nambotin. The young Swede Ljunggren confirms this by finishing third again.
In the Junior World Championship, Antti Hellsten (KTM) continued his dominant streak on Saturday. On Sunday, Hellsten nevertheless had to give up on the French Jéremy Joly and Benoit Fortunato.
The next round of the Enduro World Championship will take place in Fethiye, Turkey, during the weekend of June 10 and 11.
Italy GP results Villafranca of Sicily:
E1 Saturday: 1. Juha Salminen, 2. Matti Seistola, 3. Eero Remes, 4. Lorenzo Santolino, 5. Fabien Planet, 6. Rodrig Thain, 7. Tomas Oldrati, 8. Julien Gauthier, 9. Nicolas Deparrois, 10. Christophe Robert
E1 Sunday: 1. Matti Seistola, 2. Eero Remes, 3. Juha Salminen, 4. Tomas Oldrati, 5. Lorenzo Santolino, 6. Fabien Planet, 7. Nicolas Deparrois, 8. Julien Gauthier, 9. Paulo Felicia, 10. Christophe Robert
Standings World Cup E1: 1. Juha Salminen, 142 pts; 2. Eero Remes, 124 pts; 3. Matti Seistola, 109 pts; 4. Tomas Oldrati, 97 pts; 5. Rodrig Thain, 89 pts; 6. Fabien Planet, 85 pts; 7. Lorenzo Santolino, 83 pts; 8. Julien Gauthier, 82 pts; 9. Nicolas Deparrois, 77 pts; 10. Adrien Metge, 42 pts. 14. Cedric Melotte, 28 pts; 15. Amel Lawyer, 28 pts.
E2 Saturday: 1. Johnny Aubert, 2. Antoine Meo, 3. Ivan Cervantes, 4. Pierre-Alexandre Renet, 5. Cristobal Guerrero, 6. Simone Albergoni, 7. Hans Vogels, 9. Antoine Basset, 10. Jean-François Goblet, 11. Goncalo Reis, 12. Aigar Leok, 13. Oscar Balletti, 14. Massimo Mangini, 15. Armand Monleon
E2 Sunday: 1. Antoine Meo, 2. Ivan Cervantes, 3. Cristobal Guerrero, 4. Johnny Aubert, 5. Pierre-Alexandre Renet, 6. Simone Albergoni, 7. Hans Vogels, 8. Antoine Basset, 9. Jean-François Goblet, 10. Sébastien Bozzo, 11. Goncalo Reis, 12. Massimo Mangini
Standings World Cup E2: 1. Antoine Meo, 137 pts; 2. Ivan Cervantes, 118 pts; 3. Pierre-Alexandre Renet, 114 pts; 4. Cristobal Guerrero, 94 pts; 5. Simone Albergoni, 94 pts; 6. Johnny Aubert, 93 pts; 7. Antoine Basset, 79 pts; 8. Jean-François Goblet, 70 pts; 9. Hans Vogels, 67 pts; 10. Goncalo Reis, 63 pts;
E3 Saturday: 1. Christophe Nambotin, 2. Mika Ahola, 3. Joakim Ljunggren, 4. Marko Tarkkala, 5. Sébastien Guillaume, 6. Oriol Mena, 7. Alex Salvini, 8. Taddy Blazusiak, 9. Jordi Figueras, 10. Maurizio Micheluz ,
E3 Sunday: 1. Mika Ahola, 2. Christophe Nambotin, 3. Joakim Ljunggren, 4. Marko Tarkkala, 5. Alex Salvini, 6. Fabio Mossini, 7. Taddy Blazusiak, 8. Oriol Mena, 9. Sébastien Guillaume, 10. Jordi Figueras .
Standings World Cup E3: 1. Mika Ahola, 144 pts; 2. Christophe Nambotin, 131 pts; 3. Joakim Ljunggren, 105 pts; 4. Marko Tarkkala, 96 pts; 5. Oriol Mena, 91 pts; 6. Sébastien Guillaume, 84 pts; 7. Jordi Figueras, 67 pts; 8. Alessandro Botturi, 57 pts; 9. David Knight, 47 pts; 10. Alex Salvini, 44 pts;
Photo Credits: ABC Communication
Also to read
Jans-Beken out due to shoulder injury
Next weekend the third race of the FIM WMX World Championship will be held in Lugo. This will happen without Britt Jans-Beken. The Limburg native fell during training last weekend...Competing for the MX AIR TIME 2024 prize pool? Subscribe …
A new edition of MX AIR TIME will be held on Sunday, May 19. Place to be is the Dutch municipality of Beckum. Register now via Motoinside and who knows...Gallery: MXGP Portugal 2024 XXL from NiekFotografie
The riders and mechanics had a hard time in Agueda. This also applies to the photographers because the weather conditions were harsh! Yet our #NiekFotografie made this XXL gallery...Jorge Prado in Simon Laengenfelder over Agueda
The Grand Prix of Portugal will be remembered for a long time and may be one for the history books. The heavy rain that descended on Agueda made this 2024 edition a rush…
Your reactions