Italy Wins Day Two At ISDE

| September 14, 2004

Day two of the International Six Days Enduro in Kielce, Poland saw Italy top the Trophy team competition after the day one winners, Finland, ran into trouble when their Enduro 2 class rider Juha Salminen suffered mechanical problems and dropped 55 minutes of penalties. Despite their problems the Finns still lead the Trophy team competition with Italy second and France third.

In the Junior Trophy team competition Finland claimed the win finishing ahead of Spain and Italy, but still trail the Spaniards after two days of competition. Finland sits in third.

Just as on day one the extremely dry conditions, again, caused problems for all riders as the choking dust reduced visibility on each of the day’s three special tests. Out on the trail the soft, dusty terrain ensured that there was no time to relax. As the hanging dust meant that all riders had to stay alert and keep a watchful eye out for hidden ruts and rocks.

In the Enduro 1 class Italian rider Simone Albergoni (Left) claimed his first day win of the event. As he finished 18 seconds ahead of day one winner Bartosz Oblucki, with Britain’s Paul Edmondson again claiming third. Finishing as the classes’ best performing two-stroke rider, Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues claimed fourth.

The biggest news from day two came from the Enduro 2 class were Australian Stefan Merriman (Pictured above, Number 84) again claimed an impressive class win. And Finn Juha Salminen came close to exiting the competition after he ran into mechanical problems. With Salminen finishing at the rear of the E2 class results, his countryman Valtteri Salonen moved up from third on day one to take the runner-up spot, with Spaniard Arnau Vilanova claiming third. With the lose, dusty conditions suiting the Finnish riders, club team competitor and reigning 125cc World Enduro Champion, Petri Pohjamo claimed fourth in the E2 class, with Italian Alessandro fifth and US rider Kurt Caselli sixth.

Finn Samuli Aro again topped the Enduro 3 class with British rider David Knight finishing as runner-up with Mika Ahola (Right) third. Ending the day nine seconds ahead of knight, Samuli set the pace early on in the day, with Knight then topping the final three special tests.

By Jonty Edmunds