Aubert third on WEC debut

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert finished the opening round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship with two impressive third place positions in the competitive Enduro 2 class. Making his WEC debut at the Swedish event, the former motocross rider showed that not only is he a fast learner, but that he has the speed to challenge the series' more established riders for podium positions. Placing less than one-minute behind class winner Samuli Aro on day one, Aubert managed to win one of the day's special tests while remaining smooth, aggressive and consistent. On day two the Frenchman again rode well finishing just 37 seconds behind Aro, who again claimed the class win. In finishing in third position on both days Johnny is currently in third position in the E2 world championship standings, just 10 points behind Aro and four points behind runner-up Mika Ahola. Disappointingly the season opener wasn't a good one for Australian Stefan Merriman. After injury wrecked his 2005 season the former world champion hoped to get his 2006 campaign off to a strong start but struggled to master the challenging conditions in Sweden. Placing fifth on day one Merriman faired even worse on day two and despite not making any serious mistakes on either of the event's motocross, enduro or extreme tests he placed in sixth. Johnny Aubert "It's been a great weekend for me. Finishing third on day one was incredible for me, a great surprise. I hoped to learn during the race and before the race I hoped to finish inside the top 10. I am not sure why I was so fast because I didn't make so much training in these conditions. I enjoyed day one but it is so difficult adjusting to the conditions. "Although I finished third again on day two I didn't feel as good as I did on day one. I rode consistently all day, which I think really helped me. I didn't make any big mistakes and managing to finish on the podium again is great - a perfect start to my first world championship enduro season." Stefan Merriman "The best part of this weekend for me has been the finish of the race because I have had two very disappointing days. I really struggled on both days to be honest, I couldn't ride like I wanted to on day one and just paddled my way around the tests as best I could. It feels to me like you have to ride almost out of control, with little control of the front wheel. I like to ride knowing exactly what the front wheel of my bike is doing. If I don't have a good, positive feeling from the front wheel I don't have the confidence to push hard. That's exactly what has happened this weekend, I haven't had the confidence to push hard. "I didn't have any crashes on the tests but I had several in the checks. I did try making some changes to my bike for the second day but they didn't make any real difference. No, it's not been the best of weekends for me." David Knight claimed top honours on both days in the Enduro 3 class finishing ahead of Finn Marko Tarkkala with Sweden's Bjorne Carlsson claiming third on both days. Race classification Enduro 2 Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Lap Record: 60' 51.650 (Samuli Aro, 2006) Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  64' 53.340  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +26.720  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +59.600  4   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +2' 9.090  5   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +2' 37.550  6   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +3' 5.130  7   P. Silvan KTM  FIN  +3' 8.870  8   P. Wicksell KTM  SWE  +3' 54.350  9   R. Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN  +3' 59.640  10   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +4' 8.510  11   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +4' 15.130  12   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +4' 25.500  13   T. Klutz Sherco  BEL  +4' 28.500  14   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +4' 46.540  15   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +5' 35.980  16   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +5' 58.040  17   CJ. Bjerkert KTM  SWE  +6' 16.600  18   P. Nurminen HusaBerg  FIN  +6' 31.740  19   T. Burman HusaBerg  SWE  +7' 0.020  20   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +7' 4.090  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  60' 51.650  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +44.700  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +1' 9.740  4   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +3' 2.580  5   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +3' 12.570  6   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +3' 14.860  7   P. Silvan KTM  FIN  +3' 41.160  8   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +3' 44.220  9   T. Klutz Sherco  BEL  +4' 16.860  10   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +4' 44.310  11   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +4' 53.120  12   F. Andersson KTM  SWE  +4' 54.450  13   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +4' 56.260  14   R. Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN  +5' 0.860  15   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +5' 5.890  16   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +5' 30.070  17   P. Nurminen HusaBerg  FIN  +5' 57.470  18   CJ. Bjerkert KTM  SWE  +6' 7.660  19   P. Wicksell KTM  SWE  +6' 11.240  20   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +6' 18.390  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  60' 51.650 Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Samuli Aro KTM  FIN 50  2   Mika Ahola Honda  FIN 44  3   Johnny Aubert Yamaha  FRA 40  4   Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg  FIN 34  5   Fabien Planet KTM  FRA 33  6   Stefan Merriman Yamaha  AUS 31  7   Petteri Silvan KTM  FIN 28  8   Cristobal Guerrero GasGas  ESP 24  9   Xavier Galindo KTM  ESP 20  10   Thierry Klutz Sherco  BEL 20  11   Riku Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN 19  12   Euan McConnell TM  GBR 15  13   Patrik Wicksell KTM  SWE 15  14   Fabrizio Dini Yamaha  ITA 14  15   Andrea Beconi Beta  ITA 13  16   Alessandro Botturi Aprilia  ITA 11  17   Fritz Andersson KTM  SWE 9  18   Carl Johan Bjerkert KTM  SWE 7  19   Pentti Nurminen HusaBerg  FIN 7  20   Giuseppe Canova Husqvarna  ITA 6  Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 50  2  Honda 44  3  Yamaha 40  4  HusaBerg 34  5  GasGas 24  6  Sherco 20  7  TM 15  8  Beta 13  9  Aprilia 11  10  Husqvarna 6  Enduro 1 : Sixth for Micheluz Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Date: 19 March 2006 Crowd: 4500 Temp: 5ºC Weather: Sunny With UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Arnau Vilanova unable to compete in Sweden due to having injured his ribs while training for the event Italian Maurizio Micheluz competed as the team's only E1 rider. Having never raced in winter conditions before Maurizio placed in sixth on both days showing that despite feeling far from at home in the cold, slippery conditions he was able to produce consistent results and finish both days comfortably inside the top 10. Finn Petri Pohjamo and Spaniard Ivan Cervantes claimed a day win each in Sweden with Cervantes claiming the lead in the E1 championship standings ahead of Pohjamo and Sweden's Peter Bergvall. Having finishing in sixth on both days Maurizio currently lies in sixth position in the E1 standings with seven rounds remaining.    Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Lap Record: 62' 47.770 (Ivan Cervantes, 2006) Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  66' 46.540  2   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  +14.870  3   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +18.540  4   P. Bergvall Suzuki  SWE  +23.870  5   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +1' 12.150  6   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +1' 38.910  7   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +1' 51.230  8   R. Carlsson Yamaha  SWE  +2' 0.710  9   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +2' 12.900  10   F. Georgsson KTM  SWE  +2' 15.440  11   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +3' 35.200  12   P. Olsson Yamaha  SWE  +5' 19.130  13   L. Holm KTM  FIN  +5' 2,704.000  14   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +6' 51.960  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  62' 47.770  2   P. Bergvall Suzuki  SWE  +26.490  3   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +27.690  4   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  +44.910  5   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +48.440  6   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +1' 17.840  7   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +1' 29.690  8   R. Carlsson Yamaha  SWE  +1' 47.640  9   F. Georgsson KTM  SWE  +2' 27.580  10   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +2' 57.330  11   P. Olsson Yamaha  SWE  +3' 43.390  12   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +3' 48.620  13   M. Andreasson Suzuki  SWE  +4' 10.180  14   L. Holm KTM  FIN  +4' 47.360  15   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +6 ' 11.310  16   M. Wiberg Honda  SWE  +8' 53.100  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  62' 47.770  Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Ivan Cervantes KTM  ESP 47  2   Petri Pohjamo TM  FIN 43  3   Peter Bergvall Suzuki  SWE 40  4   Simone Albergoni Honda  ITA 36  5   Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna  POL 36  6   Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha  ITA 30  7   Alessandro Belometti KTM  ITA 28  8   Robert Carlsson Yamaha  SWE 26  9   Frederik Georgsson KTM  SWE 23  10   Helder Rodrigues Yamaha  POR 23  11   Mike Hartmann KTM  GER 19  12   Pär Olsson Yamaha  SWE 19  13   Leit Holm KTM  FIN 15  14   Freddy Blanc KTM  FRA 13  15   Matts Andreasson Suzuki  SWE 8  16   Mikael Wiberg Honda  SWE 5  17   Arnau Vilanova Yamaha  ESP 0  18   Giuseppe Gallino Yamaha  ITA 0  19   Philip Powderly TM  IRL 0  20   Emilio Comotti Honda  ITA 0  Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 47  2  TM 43  3  Suzuki 40  4  Husqvarna 36  4  Honda 36  5  Yamaha 30