2006 FIM World Enduro Championship Rnd 8
By TMX Archives on 24th Sep 06
Grand Prix of France (Boussac) KTM Enduro Factory Team riders Ivan Cervantes, Alessandro Belometti, Samuli Aro, Fabien Planet, David Knight and Marko Tarkkala have now brought their respective '06 World Enduro Championship campaigns to a close having reached the end of the second day of the final round of the series in Boussac, France. After a great season the team have repeated their successes of '05 and finished as winners of the Enduro 1, Enduro 2 and Enduro 3 world championships. With conditions wet on day two of the GP of France, as they were on day one, Enduro 3 world champion David Knight produced KTM's best result topping the Enduro 3 class for the 16th time this season. Ivan Cervantes placed in fifth in the E1 category while Samuli Aro placed in third in the E2 class.
Claiming the '06 Enduro 1 world championship title on day one at the GP of France Ivan Cervantes knew that whatever his result on day two it didn't really matter. With conditions far from ideal Ivan simply wanted to get to the end of the final round of the championship, something that only 13 E1 class riders managed to do. With just two laps and four special tests deciding the finishing order in each of the classes Ivan performed best on the motocross tests while opting to take things steadily on the heavily rutted and extremely unpredictable enduro and extreme tests. Finishing in fourth position Ivan missed the third podium spot by just 30 seconds. Frustratingly for KTM's second Enduro 1 class rider Alessandro Belometti the GP of France didn't bring the results the former motocross rider hoped it would. Needing two good results to claim the third place position in the E1 championship Belometti struggled in the slippery French conditions on day two and placed seventh leaving him fourth in the final E1 championship standings..
With his job of winning the '06 Enduro 2 world championship completed on day one Finn Samuli Aro was able to finally relax on day two in France, But with conditions worse on day two than they were on day one Aro, like Cervantes, had no need to push too hard and placed in third position having ridden with extreme caution all day. After his fine runner-up finish on day one crowd favourite Fabien Planet was one of many riders that found conditions difficult on day two and dropped to sixth in the E2 class results. Performing consistently all day a slow enduro test on lap two saw Fabien slip down the finishing order and miss out on another potential podium result.
Knowing that by winning the Enduro 3 class on day two at the GP of France he would have completed a perfect season of 16 E3 category victories during '06 David Knight placed close to 30 seconds ahead of his nearest rival to bring his incredible season to a memorable close. Joining Knight on the podium in third position, and in doing so ensuring that he finished in third in the E3 championship standings, was Finn Marko Tarkkala.
Ivan Cervantes: "I am really happy to have won the Enduro 1 world championship because I have worked hard this season. Winning has been harder than it was last year because the other riders in the E1 class have been faster and stronger this season. I have had some great races but my rivals have been consistent all year. It hasn't been easy to open up a good advantage.
"I was really nervous on day one and after my crash on the extreme test I could see my title going away from me. I have worked too hard this season to let that happen so I made sure that I didn't make any more mistakes and I did enough to win the title. This year has definitely been a harder season for me so to be world champion again is a great feeling.”
Alessandro Belometti: "I am disappointed that I have finished in fourth position in the Enduro 1 world championship but I have had some great results this season so I guess I can't be too upset. This weekend hasn't been good for me. On day one things didn't go my way and on day two, well, I really struggled in the conditions.”
Samuli Aro: "I was extremely nervous before the start of the race in France and it took me three or four special tests to really get going properly. I wasn't riding badly, but I wasn't riding well either. Eventually I started to relax and I found my rhythm – I guess I remembered that I had a world championship to win. Winning the E2 world championship with victory on day one was great.
"On day two I think many of the riders wanted to stay in bed. Day one was difficult and everyone knew that day two would be the same. Once I got started it wasn't so bad but it was hard to really push hard because I had already won the championship. It's been a good season for me but also a hard one. I'm glad it is over now, and I'm glad that I was able to retain my E2 world championship.”
David Knight: "It's been a good event really but I found it hard to get motivated to be honest. With winning the E3 championship in Slovakia it meant that I didn't really have anything to go for this weekend apart from trying to win every day of the series. I enjoyed the course, it was a real challenge in places by the end of day two, but I just didn't feel right on the tests. I just couldn't get into it to start with. The last test of the first day was the best fun, it was like riding in a river the whole way around because their was so much rain.
"I found it pretty hard going on the second day. The big four strokes really take it out of you when you're riding in ruts from start to finish. I managed to open up a good lead after the first two tests and then I got stuck a few times on the enduro test because I was a little bit too relaxed. It was really slippery in places. I just didn't want to do anything stupid. It was one of those tests where you could lose a lot of time but not really gain that much even if you did have a good run through it.
The last test of the event was the slipperiest test I've ever ridden. My rear wheel passed me about three times and I just couldn't get my bike to go where I wanted it to and it spat me off in the end.
"I was worried that I might not win the second day. The tests really suited the two strokes and I could actually see Seb Guillaume behind me so I started pushing harder. I ended up crashing and I thought I'd blown my perfect season. Thankfully, I won. I could have easily stayed in bed on day two but I'm really happy to have won the E3 championship as well as winning every day – it's been a great season.”
Marko Tarkkala: "I had a few problems on day one and crashed on the enduro test. I was a little nervous before the race and I certainly didn't ride at my best. The conditions were pretty tough in places as well. Things were a lot better on day two, although after my result on day one I had to make sure I finished on the podium so that I would get third in the championship. Things went pretty well and I was happy with the way I was riding.”
2006 World Enduro Championship Rnd 8
Grand Prix of France – Boussac, France – Day 2
Enduro 1
1. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 33:57.61; 2. Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna) 34:03.32; 3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) 35:11.22; 4. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 35:29.18; 5. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 35:59.97; 6. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 37:21.84; 7. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 38:19.88; 8. Nicolas Deparrois (Husqvarna) 38:40.04; 9. Damien Miquel (Kawasaki) 39:27.19; 10. Joan Jou (Yamaha) 39:30.57; 11. Greg Evans (KTM) 45:47.38; 12. Nicolas Joye (KTM) 48:39.48; 13. Benoit Calomine (KTM) 48:51.55
Enduro 2
1. Mika Ahola (Honda) 32:20.25; 2. Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) 32:53.12; 3. Samuli Aro (KTM) 33:18.70; 4. Paul Edmondson (Honda) 33:24.71; 5. Nicolas Paganon (Husqvarna) 33:27.31; 6. Fabien Planet (KTM) 33:34.41; 7. Euan McConnell (TM) 34:11.14; 8. Emmanuel Albepart (Honda) 34:12.82; 9. Andrea Beconi (Beta) 34:18.34; 10. Andrea Belotti (KTM) 36:22.29; 11. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha) 37:32.36; 12. Alessandro Botturi (Aprilia) 40:15.58; 13. Jordan Curvalle (Kawasaki) 41:43.47
Enduro 3
1. David Knight (KTM) 32:30.94; 2. Seb Guillaume (Gas Gas) 32:57.62; 3. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 33:23.65; 4. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 34:33.78; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 34:55.06; 6. Anders Eriksson (Husqvarna) 35:07.31; 7. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 36:33.27; 8. Michael Vukcevic (Sherco) 38:25.36; 9. Sebastien Denis (Husqvarna) 39:17.37; 10. Michal Rudolf (KTM) 39:43.12; 11. Jean Nicon (KTM) 39:58.38; 12. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 40:31.79; 13. Laurent Bouffioux (Aprilia)
Enduro Junior
1. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 33:50.12; 2. Jacob Stapleton (TM) 34:16.79; 3. Yannick Bossi (Husqvarna) 35:03.87; 4. Oriol Mena (Gas Gas) 36:13.99; 5. Michal Szuster (Yamaha) 36:47.41; 6. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 40:35.83; 7. Patrick Wikman (KTM) 41:24.53; 8. Jeremy Joly (Sherco) 41:53.35; 9. Lucas Puerto (KTM) 43:31.91; 10. Ulrich Boisserie (Husqvarna) 43:37.57; 11. Ricard Wressel (Husaberg) 44:17.26; 12. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 57:06.05