Poland's Bartosz Oblucki and Frenchman Marc Germain shared top honours in the Enduro 1 class at the eighth and final round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship, the GP of France held in Boussac. With conditions far from ideal following heavy rain during the days leading up to the race, as well as during the event itself, the last round of the 2006 WEC series proved to be extremely challenging for all competitors. Performing at his best in the slippery conditions Oblucki placed 14 seconds ahead of Italian Simone Albergoni after a day long battle while Germain, making his first appearance in the 2006 WEC series having focused his efforts on national events in France this season, placed third and ahead of Spain's Ivan Cervantes. Needing just a handful of points from the first day's competition Cervantes claimed the E1 world championship title for the second consecutive season.
With conditions harder on day two of the GP of France than they have been on any other day of the eight-round WEC series this season Yamaha rider Marc Germain claimed a popular victory finishing just over five seconds ahead of day one winner Oblucki. Although competing simply for fun Germain showed that he is still a world class performer despite opting not to compete in the full world championship series in 2006. Winning three of the day's four special tests in the E1 class Germain headed what was a great second day in France for Yamaha. With Oblucki second Portuguese Yamaha rider Helder Rodrigues claimed his first WEC podium of 2006 in third while UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz finished in fourth. In finishing fourth Micheluz claimed fifth in the 2006 E1 world championship, finishing as the highest placed Yamaha rider.
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Sixth, Day 2: Fourth"I think that it is important to have good luck in a race with such bad conditions. On the first day I didn't have such good luck and I finished in sixth position. On the second day I just wanted to make sure that I didn't make any mistakes, and my result improved. I was being careful on all the special tests and finished in fourth and not so far behind third. I am happy with the way the race has gone and the championship. I finished in fifth position, which is my best championship result in the WEC, so I am happy. I am learning more every year so I'm looking forward to 2007."
Marc Germain (Yamaha France) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Third, Day 2: First"It was never my plan to get a really good result here at the world championship race in France. I have had a great season in France so I just wanted to race in front of the spectators that have supported me all season. I was really tired on day one because I didn't prepare for the race as well as I could. But I could see that I could still get a good result. I saw that I could improve my result with some good times on the enduro test. I was behind Oblucki going into the last tests, and I wasn't expecting to win, but he made a mistake and I won. I am really happy with this."
Temp: 12
Crowd: 20000
Weather: Rain
Race 1 - 1 Laps France 24/09/2006: 1 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 50'40.800
2 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 0'14.360
3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'10.190
4 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 1'17.440
5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'15.650
6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'27.460
7 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 2'30.900
8 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'45.010
9 Gregory Eyries Yamaha FRA 4'54.110
10 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 5'37.640
11 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 6'7.790
12 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 6'45.290
13 Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 7'39.320
14 Evrard Gutkin TM FRA 8'23.400
15 Nicolas Joye KTM CHE 9'52.530
Race 2 - 1 Laps: 1 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 33'57.610
2 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'5.710
3 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 1'13.610
4 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'31.570
5 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 2'2.360
6 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 3'24.230
7 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 4'22.270
8 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 4'42.430
9 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 5'29.580
10 Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 5'32.960
11 Greg Evans KTM GBR 11'49.770
12 Nicolas Joye KTM CHE 14'41.870
13 Benoit Calomine KTM FRA 14'53.940
Rider Standings 24/09/2006: 1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 372
2. Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 318
3. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 291
4. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 284
5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 255
6. Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 166
7. Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 155
8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 148
9. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 125
10. Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 82
11. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 71
12. Anthony Roberts Yamaha AUS 58
13. Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 52
14. Shane Cuthbertson KTM CAN 49
15. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 45
44. Arnau Vilanova Yamaha ESP 10
Manufacturer Standings 24/09/2006: 1. KTM 372
2. Honda 333
3. Husqvarna 301
4. Yamaha 273
5. TM 173
6. Suzuki 90
7. Kawasaki 64
8. GasGas 23
9. Christini 19
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