Riding in Polish sand is not improvised, and from one day to the other, the same contenders animated the second round of the two-day Grand Prix Maxxis of Poland, counting for the fourth race of 2008 Maxxis FIM World Enduro Championship. In spite of some raindrops, dust, once again, constrained riders and mechanical teams to a great vigilance. The winners of the second and final day were Ivan Cervantes, Juha Salminen (pictured), and Marko Tarkkala.
As on Saturday in E1, Cervantes (ESP-KTM) decided to take the orders of the race from the first special test to keep the first position all the day, resisting to the repeated attacks by Mika Ahola (FIN-HON) in the morning. By making the difference in particular in the Cross Test, his speciality, Cervantes offered himself an impressive double victory with an advance of 23 seconds, and comes back seriously in the race for World crown.
“In each special test, the gap with Mika was tight, three or four seconds,” Cervantes said. “I just fell once in the Cross Test, I lost five seconds, but for the rest, I rode at my maximum. I was leading from the morning, and it was really important for me to win here after having lost for nothing at home in Sitges. If I did not win the two days here, I would have taken a delay in the championship. From now, only 10 points separate us, and everything can happen.”
Simone Albergoni (ITA-YAM), third on Sunday, wanted to prove that he can still play the championship by keeping in contact with Ahola and Cervantes. Following Albergoini were teammates Cristobal Guerrero (ESP-YAM), Maurizio Micheluz (ITA-YAM), and Marc Germain (FRA-YAM) who was sixth after having fallen heavily.
In Enduro 2, under conditions close to his native Finland, Juha Salminen (FIN-KTM) was unbeatable. The KTM rider particularly prepared for this Grand Prix by working especially hard on his suspension settings. Salminen won by 41 seconds, containing Johnny Aubert (FRA-YAM) to second. The French rider, Aubert, tired and was not able to threaten his rival directly.
The surprise of the day was Simo Kirssi (FIN-BMW) who was third overall. With an impressive last lap, the Finn scored a historical podium for him and for the young and dynamic BMW team.
Physically fresher than the others after his DNF on Saturday, Antoine Meo (FRA-HVA) finished fourth in front of Alessandro Belometti (ITA-KTM). This second day of enduro marked the reaction of Christophe Nambotin (FRA-GAS) and Marko Tarkkala (FIN-KTM) in Enduro 3. With their experience in motocross, the two men were the fastest in the ruts on Sunday. Finally, Tarkkala secured the win using his exceptional physical resources, as he beat the French rider by less than eight seconds. “Everything has gone well for me today, no big mistake, so I’m really happy,” Tarkkala said. “I was just a little bit nervous because the times were tight all the day, but my riding did not weaken.”
In spite of a bad start and a painful injury to his finger, Samuli Aro (FIN-KTM) stole the third and final place on the podium to Sebastien Guillaume (FRA-HVA) fourth and Marcus Kehr (GER-KTM) fifth. Guillaume (below) topped the class Saturday on his two-stroke Husky.
2008 World Enduro Championship
Maxxis Grand Prix of Poland Day 1
Enduro 1 class
1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM); 2. Mika Ahola (Hon); 3. Marc Germain (Yam); 4. Simone Albergoni (Yam); 5. Cristobal Guerrero (Yam). Enduro 2 class
1. Juha Salminen (KTM) 1:19:25.50; 2. Jonny Aubert (Yamaha) 1:20:27.33; 3. Alessandro Belometti 1:22:59.11; 4. Rodrig Thain (TM) 1:22:59.71; 5. Simon Kirssi (BMW) 1:23:11.36; 6. Aaron Bernandez (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1:23:38.52; 7. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) 1:24:02.11; 8. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 1:24:10.10; 9. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha) 1:24:34.65; 10. Hans Vogel (KTM) 1:25:00.88; 11. Nicolas Paganon (Aprilia) 1:25:00.95; 12 Alessandro Zanni (Honda) 1:25:17.54; 13. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 1:25:21.10; 14. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 1:27:25.24; 15. Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 1:27:49.59; 16. Amel Advokaat (KTM) 1:28:27.38; 17. Filipe Zanol (Yamaha) 1:28:47.75; 18. Peter Kralik (KTM) 1:30:41.10; 19. Nicolas Joye (Husaberg) 1:32:15.26; 20. Sebastien Adielsson (Beta) 1:32:55.50
Enduro 3 class
1. Sebastien Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1:21:49.59; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 1:21:58.82; 3. Stefan Merriman (Aprilia) 1:22:05.01; 4. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 1:22:31.88; 5. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1:22:36.80; 6. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1:23:33.98; 7. Alessandro Botturi (Honda) 1:24:52.71; 8. Xavier Galindo (KTM) 1:25:31.15; 9. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 1:26:13.67; 10 Antoine Letellier (Aprilia) 1:26:44.57; 11. Stefan Svitko (KTM) 1:26:48.85; 12. Jordi Figueras (KTM) 1:27:00.43; 13. Anders Ericsson (BMW) 1:27:04.76; 14. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 1:27:27.25; 15. Euan McConnell (TM) 1:28:37.83; 16. Erwin Plekkenpol (Honda) 1:29:11.34; 17.Alessio Paoli (BETA) 1:29:34.46; 18. Andre Decker (Husqvarna) 1:33:44.48; 19. Gordon Clarke (TM) 1:34:38.38
Day 2
Enduro 1 class
1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM); 2. Mika Ahola (Hon); 3. Simone Albergoni (Yam); 4. Cristobal Guerrero (Yam); 5. Maurizio Micheluz (Yam).
Enduro 2 class
1. Juha Salminen (KTM) 1:05:52; 2. Jonny Aubert (Yamaha) 1:06:34.48; 3. Simo Kirssi (BMW) 1:08:35.88; 4. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1:08:37.67; 5. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 1:08:51.13; 6. Alessandro Zanni (Honda) 1:09:21.57; 7. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 1:09:31.02; 8. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 1:09:42.03; 9. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha) 1:09:47.31; 10. Rodrig Thain (TM) 1:09:52.47; 11. Nicolas Deparrois (Gas Gas) 1:10:41.13; 12. Hans Vogel (Yamaha) 1:10:55.98; 13. Nicolas Paganon (Aprilia) 1:11:45.50; 14. Filipe Zanol (Yamaha) 1:12:20.48; 15. Daniel Persson (Husaberg) 1:12:25.51; 16. Andrea Belotti (KTM) 1:13:51.96; 17. Amel Advokaat (KTM) 1:14:01.95; 18. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 1:14:21.26; 19. Peter Kraklik (KTM) 1:14:40.22; 20. Mario Patrao (Suzuki) 1:15:21.53
Enduro 3 class
1. Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 1:07:18.68; 2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1:07:26.30; 3. Samuli Aro (KTM) 1:08:20.66; 4. Sebastian Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1:08:24.27; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1:08:32.80; 6. Alessandro Botturi (Honda) 1:09:43.07; 7. Anders Eriksson (BMW) 1:10:58.83; 8. Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 1:11:01.35; 9. Jordi Figueras (KTM) 1:12:00.48; 10. Stefan Svitko (KTM) 1:12:20.41; 11. Erwin Plekkenpol (Honda) 1:12:41.57; 12. Vita Kuklik (KTM) 1:12:41.67; 13. Euan McConnell (TM) 1:12:57.76; 14. Gordon Clarke (TM) 1:21:27.28
