Juha Salminen continued his unabated charge towards the E1 World Championship title winning Sunday’s race at the Portuguese Grand Prix to continue his unblemished record for the season so far. The Finn, who returned from competition in the GNCC Series in the USA to rejoin the Grand Prix circuit started the season with a flurry in Östersund, Sweden in March and with Sunday’s victory in M. Canavezes in Northern Portugal has now won all six races so far held. It doesn’t get any better than that.
“Juha was very strong today, “a contented team boss Fabio Farioli said. He also praised the efforts of Italian Alessandro Belometti, the second rider in the KTM Enduro Factory Team. He was sixth on Sunday but rode with a broken toe from a crash the previous day.
“It was very tough for him,” Farioli said. He was in a lot of pain from the injury to his foot.”
The Italian and the other members of the KTM Enduro Factory Team now have the opportunity to recuperate from two tough consecutive weekends of competition on the Iberian peninsular, where they are on their bikes for up to seven hours each day after having walked the course in the days leading up to it.
The next round of the Enduro World Championship is in Bormeo Italy in the last weekend in May.
Results, Day Two:
1. Juha Salminen, Finland, KTM, Tests – 54:41.68
2. Cristobal Guerrero, Spain, Yamaha, 55:21.77
3. Bartosz Oblucki, Poland, Husqvarna, 55:23.40
4. Simone Albergoni, Italy, Honda, 55:30.62
5. Marc Germain, France, Yamaha, 55:31.32
6. Alessandro Belometti, Italy, KTM, 56:22.20
Podium Place For Samuli Aro At Portuguese E2 Grand Prix
KTM Enduro Factory Team Rider Samuli Aro rose to the challenge on Sunday and secured himself a podium place in the second E2 race for the weekend competition in Marco de Canavese.
Aro fought a tough battle with his Finnish countryman Mika Ahola for second place which only slipped from his grasp in the final stages. Aro has now been on the podium for four of the six races after a solid start in Sweden’s Östersund in March.
His French teammate, Fabien Planet improved two places on his Saturday’s result to come in fifth. On Saturday Planet had a crash and had to ride for almost two hours with a broken throttle cable.
“Today was a very tough race,” said team boss Fabio Farioli. “The sun was out and the track had packed down hard since yesterday. It was very bumpy, there was a lot of dust and there were still some patches of mud from Friday’s rain.”
The Enduro World Championship competition resumes on May 27 in Italy’s Bormeo.
Results, Day Two:
1. Jonny Aubert, France, Yamaha, Tests: 54:19.39
2. Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda, 54.56.93
3. Samuli Aro, Finland, KTM, 55:06.16
4.Stefan Merriman, Australia, Aprilia, 55:45.82
5. Fabien Planet, France, KTM, 56:22.74
Iberian Peninsular Golden Ground For Spain’s Ivan Cervantes In E3
Spain’s Ivan Cervantes wrapped up another stunning weekend with a victory on Sunday in the E3 class at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Marco de Canaveses.
The Spaniard’s double victory, added to those of the previous weekend in Puerto Lumbreras, Spain last weekend, makes him the current E3 hero of the KTM Enduro Factory Team. Cervantes now has four victories and two third places from the six events so far held, laying the firm foundation for his stated goal of winning the title in the E3 class in 2007.
Right behind Cervantes was his teammate Marko Tarkkala of Finland, the second factory rider in the team. Tarkkala, third on Saturday, has also been on the podium for all of the six races this season.
Riders battled hard conditions with the track packed down and bumpy after Saturday’s event here in northern Portugal.
Results, Race Two:
1. Ivan Cervantes, Spain, KTM, Tests 54:35.23
2. Marko Tarkkala, Finland, KTM, 55:13.90
3. Sebastian Guillaume, France, Husqvarna, 55:36.64
4. Bjorne Carlsson, Sweden, Husaberg, 56:30.83
5. Alessandro Botturi, Italy, Honda, 56:38.70
Images by Edmunds J.
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