Having produced two impressive results at the opening round of the '06 WEC series, his first ever world championship enduro competition, UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert again showed just how talented a rider he is by claiming his first ever WEC win on day two in Portugal. In doing so Aubert made it the perfect weekend for the UFO Corse Yamaha squad as Stefan Merriman claimed top honours in the E2 class on day one. On day one Merriman made up for his disappointments at the opening round of the series in Sweden and placed 19 seconds ahead of Finn Mika Ahola and a further 13 seconds ahead of Finn Samuli Aro. Finishing in fourth position, due in part to having struggled on the event's difficult extreme special test, Johnny Aubert placed in fourth. On day two Aubert made none of the mistakes that had slowed his progress on day one and wanting to simply stand on the podium the former motocross racer claimed his first WEC victory. Winning seven of the day's eight special tests Aubert placed 23 seconds ahead of Mika Ahola with Merriman in third. In the E2 world championship standings Aubert is placed third, five points behind class leader Aro, with Merriman fourth. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha Enduro 2 class - Day 1 fourth, Day 2 first: "It's absolutely fantastic to have had such a great weekend and to have won my first ever world championship enduro race. I still can't believe it. When I saw the motocross and enduro tests I was confident that I could do well, but when I saw the extreme test I thought that I would really struggle. On day one I did find it difficult on the extreme test, and that affected my result. I also had a one big crash on the enduro test. "On day two I wanted to improve my extreme tests and fight for a position on the podium, and I did that. I felt really good on day two - on all the special tests. Winning my first world championship race in my first season of enduro is fantastic. I want to thank the UFO Corse Yamaha team for all there help and support and I hope I can continue with my good results. " Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha Enduro 2 class - Day 1: first, Day third: "Winning on day one was great because things certainly didn't go to plan at the first round of the series in Sweden. I had a really good day, and enjoyed the event although it was really difficult. I got stuck on the extreme test, like most riders did, but that was my only real problem. "Day two was also good but Johnny was just faster than me. The tests got a lot rougher and I struggled a little with the long ruts in the corners. I pushed as hard as I could but it just wasn't enough. I know that with refinements to the bike's set-up I will be able to go faster so I'm looking forward to the next race in Spain. " 'Manxman' 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: 2 - Guimaraes, Portugal Circuit: Guimares Race: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS 37' 16.200 2 M. Ahola Honda FIN +37' 21.550 3 S. Aro KTM FIN +37' 34.670 4 J. Aubert Yamaha FRA +37' 47.050 5 P. Edmondson Honda GBR +38' 10.500 6 F. Planet KTM FRA +38' 32.600 7 X. Galindo KTM ESP +38' 33.410 8 C. Guerrero GasGas ESP +38' 36.440 9 E. Albepart Honda FRA +39' 13.660 10 A. Beconi Beta ITA +39' 16.980 11 A. Botturi Aprilia ITA +39' 44.240 12 A. Belotti KTM ITA +39' 46.550 13 F. Dini Yamaha ITA +39' 51.230 14 A. Toresson Suzuki SWE +39' 56.700 15 J. Curvalle Kawasaki FRA +40' 9.680 16 N. Paganon Husqvarna FRA +40' 38.680 17 E. Memmi Sherco FRA +40' 41.140 18 J. Pedrero Sherco ESP +40' 51.120 19 V. Salonen HusaBerg FIN +41' 19.670 20 G. Canova Husqvarna ITA +41' 26.190 Race 2: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 J. Aubert Yamaha FRA 36' 37.550 2 M. Ahola Honda FIN +37' 0.790 3 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS +37' 31.980 4 S. Aro KTM FIN +37' 48.920 5 C. Guerrero GasGas ESP +38' 22.910 6 P. Edmondson Honda GBR +38' 37.720 7 F. Planet KTM FRA +38' 40.320 8 F. Dini Yamaha ITA +38' 56.140 9 A. Beconi Beta ITA +39' 2.520 10 X. Galindo KTM ESP +39' 4.900 11 E. McConnell TM GBR +39' 7.430 12 A. Belotti KTM ITA +39' 8.620 13 E. Albepart Honda FRA +39' 47.060 14 A. Botturi Aprilia ITA +39' 54.450 15 N. Paganon Husqvarna FRA +39' 55.110 16 V. Salonen HusaBerg FIN +40' 1.390 17 E. Memmi Sherco FRA +41' 10.880 18 J. Pedrero Sherco ESP +41' 26.730 19 F. Mancinelli Beta ITA +41' 38.640 20 G. Canova Husqvarna ITA +41' 47.760 Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 88 2 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 88 3 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 83 4 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 76 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 62 6 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 49 7 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 46 8 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 41 9 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 36 10 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 35 11 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 31 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 28 13 Petteri Silvan KTM FIN 28 14 Euan McConnell TM GBR 26 15 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 21 16 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 20 17 Riku Rihelainen HusaBerg FIN 19 18 Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 18 19 Patrik Wicksell KTM SWE 15 20 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 11 Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Yamaha 90 2 Honda 88 2 KTM 88 3 GasGas 53 4 HusaBerg 41 5 Beta 36 6 Sherco 28 6 Aprilia 28 7 TM 25 8 Husqvarna 17 9 Suzuki 7 10 Kawasaki 6 Enduro 1 : Micheluz scores best career result at Guimaraes Round: 2 - Guimaraes, Portugal Circuit: Guimares Date: 7 May 2006 Crowd: 7000 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Dry UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Arnau Vilanova was still unable to compete in the second round of the '06 World Enduro Championship due to having injured his left foot while practicing at his home in Spain prior to the event. Portuguese rider Helder Rodrigues and UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz produced Yamaha's best results in the Enduro 1 class. With Rodrigues placing fourth on day one, Micheluz finished in fourth on day two to claim his best ever world championship result and in doing so lifted himself to sixth position in the Enduro 1 world championship standings. At the head of the class Italian Simone Albergoni claimed his first win of the '06 season by topping the podium on day one. Locked in a close battle with reigning E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes just four seconds separated the pair at the end of the day. Placing in third on day one was Italian Alessandro Belometti. On day two the top two finishing positions from day one were reversed with Cervantes claiming the win, 30 seconds ahead of Albergoni. Again placing third was Belometti. Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 eighth, Day 2 fourth: "The race was really difficult - not only the special tests but also the course because of the rocks and dust. But it has been a good weekend for me. I am really pleased to have finished fourth on day two because it is my best result in the WEC so far. Day one went pretty well for me and I was pleased with the way I was riding. But day two was much better. "I had a big crash on the enduro test, which made things hard for me but on day two I felt a lot better. The tests were really difficult but I enjoyed them. I didn't really have any problems so I am really happy. " Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 2 - Guimaraes, Portugal Circuit: Guimares Race: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Albergoni Honda ITA 38' 8.000 2 I. Cervantes KTM ESP +38' 12.900 3 A. Belometti KTM ITA +38' 50.090 4 H. Rodrigues Yamaha POR +39' 16.780 5 B. Oblucki Husqvarna POL +39' 53.930 6 M. Hartmann KTM GER +39' 46.830 7 P. Pohjamo TM FIN +40' 7.030 8 M. Micheluz Yamaha ITA +40' 14.910 9 N. Deparrois Husqvarna FRA +40' 55.980 10 P. Enes KTM FRA +41' 2,152.000 11 J. Jou Yamaha ESP +41' 35.030 12 F. Blanc KTM FRA +41' 38.290 13 F. Ferreira Yamaha POR +41' 5,255.000 14 M. Patrao Suzuki POR +42' 48.000 15 A. Mendes Yamaha FRA +43' 342.000 16 R. Hubers Yamaha NED +49' 2.330 17 S. Helio Yamaha ESP +1,13' 14.100 18 A. Fernandez Yamaha POR +1.14' 2,712.000 Race 2: 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 I. Cervantes KTM ESP 37' 38.210 2 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +38' 8.640 3 A. Belometti KTM ITA +38' 29.650 4 M. Micheluz Yamaha ITA +39' 0.610 5 P. Pohjamo TM FIN +39' 3.150 6 F. Blanc KTM FRA +39' 28.410 7 H. Rodrigues Yamaha POR +39' 35.800 8 B. Oblucki Husqvarna POL +39' 48.210 9 M. Hartmann KTM GER +40' 8.100 10 N. Deparrois Husqvarna FRA +40' 35.300 11 A. Raphael Kawasaki FRA +40' 35.930 12 J. Gauthier Honda FRA +40' 38.550 13 J. Jou Yamaha ESP +41' 20.350 14 M. Patrao Suzuki POR +41' 38.500 15 A. Mendes Yamaha FRA +42' 46.410 16 F. Ferreira Yamaha POR +42' 51.880 17 R. Hubers Yamaha NED +43' 39.260 18 A. Fernandez Yamaha POR +59' 27.900 Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 94 2 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 83 3 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 73 4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 68 5 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 65 6 Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 61 7 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 55 8 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 46 9 Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 40 10 Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 37 11 Robert Carlsson Yamaha SWE 26 12 Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 23 13 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 23 14 Pär Olsson Yamaha SWE 19 15 Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 18 16 Leit Holm KTM FIN 15 17 Mario Patrao Suzuki POR 14 18 Fernando Ferreira Yamaha POR 13 19 Alexandre Mendes Yamaha FRA 12 20 Pedro Enes KTM FRA 11 25 Andre Fernandez Yamaha POR 6 27 Santos Helio Yamaha ESP 4 Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 KTM 94 2 Honda 83 3 TM 73 4 Yamaha 66 5 Husqvarna 65 6 Suzuki 54 7 Kawasaki 10
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