Despite being down to just two riders for the penultimate round of the 2008 World Enduro Championship due to the injury sustained by Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero at this year's ISDE in Greece, the UFO Corse Yamaha team put in a strong showing at their home round of the WEC series in Piediluco, Italy with Maurizio Micheluz claiming the team's best E1 class results with 3rd on Day1 and 4th on Day2.
With Albergoni riding just 15 days after cracking a shoulder blade at the ISDE, Maurizio Micheluz led the UFO Corse team on Day1 claiming his first podium result of the year. With many riders struggling to get to grips with the hard, dry Italian terrain, Maurizio gelled with each of the event's special tests to finish the opening day just 48 seconds behind eventual winner Mika Ahola and ahead of former double E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes. Winning one of the day's extreme tests, finishing 3rd on two of the enduro tests, as well as 2nd on the opening motocross test, Maurizio put in his strongest performance of the season. On Day2 Maurizio dropped one position to 4th in the E1 class despite continued good riding. With one round of the '08 WEC series remaining, Maurizio sits 5th in the E1 championship standings.
For Simone Albergoni the GP of Italy was a tough one. Having been unable to ride since the ISDE where he crashed on the final day and cracked one of his shoulder blades Simone was unable to perform at his best and despite his efforts could place no higher than 4th on Day1 and 7th on Day2. Starting well on the first day and winning the first timed extreme test Simone saw his pace decrease as the day wore on. On Day2 several crashes, including one big accident on the final enduro test, stopped Albergoni placing higher than 7th. Despite being extremely disappointed Simone remains third in the E1 championship standings and sits 20 points ahead of Yamaha France rider Marc Germain.
Despite being best known as a mud specialist Germain claimed a creditable runner-up result on Day1 finishing just 24 seconds behind winner Mika Ahola. On Day2 Marc matched his day one result to finish as runner-up.
Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 5th, Day 2 7th:
"It's not been a good weekend for me, mainly because I broke my shoulder blade when I crashed in the final motocross race at the ISDE. With just 15 days between the two races I've struggled. Half way through every special test I had no power, I just couldn't push. I wasn't able to train before the race so I was getting very tired. I had several crashes on day two, one of which was very big. I was lucky not to hurt myself. Although my results weren't what I wanted for my home GP it's not been too bad as far as the championship is concerned because I only lost 10 points to the rider behind me."
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 3rd, Day 2 4th:
"I'm really happy to have got my first podium of this season at my home race. It's also the second podium of my career so it's great to be back once again. I tried to push as much as I could on day one because I was really enjoying the conditions. I was second until the last lap on day one so I am very happy with the way it finished. Some of the other riders were a little faster on day two, but I still managed to finish fourth so it has been a very good weekend for me. It's been a very difficult race. We had more than one-hour of special tests as well as a tight time check on each lap. It's been a typically Italian race and I've really enjoyed it."
Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 8500
Weather: Dry
2008 Enduro 1 Italy 29/09/2008
Race 11. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 69'21.900
2. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'24.710
3. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 0'48.9104. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 1'11.880
5. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'14.4506. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 1'49.380
7. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'48.760
8. Damien Miquel Suzuki FRA 3'23.830
9. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 3'50.530
10. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 3'52.740
11. Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 4'17.270
12. Eero Remes KTM FIN 5'7.860
13. Giuliano Falgari Honda ITA 5'46.500
14. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 7'39.950
Race 21. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 84'40.140
2. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'44.850
3. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 0'51.730
4. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'52.1605. Eero Remes KTM FIN 2'54.160
6. Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 2'55.350
7. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 3'7.2608. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 3'35.800
9. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 4'12.010
10. Damien Miquel Yamaha FRA 4'50.510
11. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 9'1.480
12. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 12'3.410
RIDER STANDINGS 27/09/2008
1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 325
2. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 322
3. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 2674. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 242
5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 196
6. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1857. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 145
8. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 140
9. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 140
10. Eero Remes KTM FIN 137
11. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 109
12. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 102
13. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 82
14. Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 58
15. Danielle Tellini Suzuki ITA 50
MANUFACTURER STANDINGS 27/09/2008
1. Honda 325
2. KTM 309
3. Yamaha 2964. Husqvarna 167
5. Suzuki 153
6. TM 102
7. Kawasaki 47
8. Sherco 12
