EWC: Two world titles for Finland
mende, the capital of the French department Lozère was the venue for the final of the E.W.C.. Perhaps promoter ABC could not have found a better setting for the final round of the Enduro World Championship, because Mende has been the host city for France's most famous enduro classic since 1986, the Trefle Lozerien. And that makes it pretty much the mecca of French Enduro.
Antoine Meo had already secured the E2 world title in Andorra at the beginning of September. Only Christophe Nambotin still had a chance of getting a 2e French world title.
E1: World title for Salminen
Juha Salminen wasted no time and took the day's victory in the lightest class of the Enduro World Championship on Saturday. The Finn immediately won his eighth individual world title. Salminen's compatriot Eero Remes came second. The battle for third place was surprisingly won by Fabien Planet. The Sherco driver was already crowned French E1 champion last week. Rodrig Thain, the only non-Finn who occasionally managed to reach the podium this season, missed out on fourth place.
On Sunday, Thain took sporting revenge. The HM Honda rider managed to stay ahead of Salminen. Remes turned 3e for brand mate Santolino.
E2: French dominate
Pierre-Alexandre Renet showed once again on Saturday that he can hold his own in the
queen class. The Normandy managed to stay ahead of brand new world champion Antoine Meo. Cristobal Guerrero confirmed his good form this season with another podium finish. Hans Vogels was the first lowlander in seventh place. “Jeff” Goblet turned 9e.
On Sunday, a new prestige match between Meo and Renet seemed to be in the making. However, the Husaberg rider crashed during the ride and injured his leg. Renet decided to play it safe and gave up. The road to a new day's victory was therefore open for Meo. Guerrero and Cervantes finished behind him. A surprisingly strong Hans Vogels finished 4the. Immediately his best performance ever in the EWC.
E3: new title for Ahola
Ahola started on Saturday morning with a goal: to finish ahead of Christophe Nambotin. That turned out not to be really difficult because the French Gas Gas rider suffered an injury. David Knight, who wanted to make his comeback in Mende, gave up in the second round. Ahola won the day's classification ahead of former MX3 rider Alex Salvini and Marko Tarkkala. Upon arrival, Ahola is assured of his world title in E3. It is the fifth consecutive world title for the Finnish HM Honda rider! At 36e Ahola is also the oldest Enduro World Champion ever.
No surprises on Sunday. It is again Ahola who wins the day's classification ahead of Salvini and Tarkkala. Christophe Nambotin will no longer be at the start.
Results GP France Mende:
E1 Saturday: 1. Juha Salminen in 1h21:35.92; 2. Eero Remes, at 17.96 sec; 3. Fabien Planet at 21.25 sec; 4. Matti Seistola; 5. Rodrig Thain o; 6. Nicolas Deparrois; 7. Marc Bourgeois; 8. Lorenzo Santolino.41; 9. Julien Gauthier ; 10. Jeremy Tarroux; 11. Christopher Robert; 12. Arnaud Devisy ; 13. Nicolas Sabatier;
E1 Sunday: 1. Rodrig Thain, in 1h20:34.35; 2. Juha Salminen at 16sec12; 3. Eero Remes, at 46.56; 4. Lorenzo Santolino; 5. Fabien Planet ; 6. Matti Seistola, ; 7. Nicolas Deparrois; 8. Marc Bourgeois; 9. Jeremy Tarroux; 10. Arnaud Devisy; 11. Christopher Robert; 12.Gordon Clarke; 13. Nicolas Sabatier;
E2 Saturday: 1. Pierre-Alexandre Renet in 1h20:20.96; 2. Antoine Meo, at 8sec79; 3 Cristobal Guerrero at 30sec06; 4. Ivan Cervantes, 5. Antoine Basset, 6. Aigar Leok, 7. Hans Vogels, 8. Simone Albergoni, 9. Jean-François Goblet, 10. Armand Monleon, 11. Jordan Curvalle, 12. Jonathan Rosse, 13. Martin Vignal, 14. Yannick Labat
E2 Sunday: 1. Antoine Meo, in 1min19:39.51; 2. Cristobal Guerrero, at 8sec12; 3. Ivan Cervantes, at 20sec58; 4. Hans Vogels, at 2min19.95; 5. Aigar Leok, 6. Antoine Basset, 7. Simone Albergoni, 8. Jean-François Goblet, 9. Reis Goncalo, 10. Jordan Curvalle, 11. Jonathan Rosse, 12. Armand Monleon, 13. Marting Vignal, 14. Yannick Labat
E3 Saturday: 1. Mika Ahola, at 1h21:06.90; 2. Alex Salvini, at 19sec29; 3. Marko Tarkkala, at 38sec22; 4. Joakim Ljunggren, 5. Christophe Nambotin, 6. Sébastien Guillaume, 7. Oriol Mena, 8. Marcus Kehr, 9. Jordi Figueras, 10. Alessandro Botturi, 11. Rudy Cotton, 12. Maurizio Facchin, 13. Jonas Karlsson
E3 Sunday: 1. Mika Ahola in 1h19:53.50; 2. Alex Salvini at 53sec36; 3. Marko Tarkkala at 1min19.11 4. Joakim Ljunggren, 5. Oriol Mena, 6. Marcus Kehr, 7. Jordi Figueras, 8. Rudy Cotton, 9. Jonas Karlsson, 10. Andrea Belotti
Photos: ABC Communication
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