Johnny Aubert takes championship lead

The UFO Corse Yamaha team claimed their best results of the 2006 World Enduro Championship at round three of the series, the GP of Euskadi staged at Gernika, Spain, where team riders Stefan Merriman and Johnny Aubert claimed a day win each in the highly competitive Enduro 2 class. Having both performed well at the GP of Portugal, where they also claimed a day win each, it was Merriman who was first to top the E2 class podium in Gernika after a consistent and incident free performance on day one. On day two Aubert claimed the win and moved to the top of the 2006 Enduro 2 world championship standings. With conditions wet and slippery on day one Merriman claimed the E2 class win and 25 important world championship points largely due to making fewer mistakes than his rivals. Remaining upright on all tests Stefan finished 15 seconds ahead of team-mate Johnny Aubert to make it a Yamaha one-two. Finishing third was Finn Samuli Aro. On day two WEC debutant Aubert simply proved too fast for his Enduro 2 class rivals and placed 47 seconds ahead of Merriman who claimed the runner-up spot. Despite having reversed their finishing order from day one Aubert's and Merriman's performances again ensured that Yamaha claimed a decisive one-two result with Aubert also moving to the head of the E2 world championship standings. Placing third, as he did on day one, was Samuli Aro. Johnny Aubert Enduro 2 class - Day 1 Second, Day 2 First: "I know that I am fast in muddy and rutted conditions but when I heard that the race was going to be difficult I thought that I would struggle, especially in the time checks. Finishing second on day one and winning day two is much better than I ever thought I could do. I am so happy to have won again, especially now that it puts me in the lead of the Enduro 2 world championship. I made one big mistake on the extreme test on day one, which cost me some time, but apart from that it went well. I did also make one mistake on one of the difficult up hills on the enduro test but I was pushing hard at the time so mistakes happen when you are riding hard. Despite my errors I wasn't so far behind Stefan so I knew that if I could ride well on day two I could win. Day two went really well for me. I felt good all the day, although a little tired at the end, and put in some really good test times. I didn't make any big mistakes, in fact my only mistake was hitting neutral once on the motocross test on lap two. I am really, really happy with the way the race has gone for me. Leading the world championship is fantastic." Stefan Merriman Enduro 2 class - Day 1: First, Day 2: Second: "It's been a good weekend for me finishing in first and second in the Enduro 2 class, which I'm pleased with. Obviously I would have liked to have won on both days but Johnny Aubert was really fast on day two. Mika Ahola was actually a little faster than me on day one but he made a big mistake on the enduro test, which lost him a lot of time. I rode consistent on day one and that really helped me. I didn't have any problems and things went really well. On day two I found things really hard. Not being the biggest of riders it takes every bit of my energy to hold on to the bike when I'm pushing hard, especially on a long enduro test like we had. The race was a little too hard, I think. All the riders were really tired at the end of the first day and then at the end of the second day they were absolutely exhausted. We were lucky with the weather really because if it had rained hard on either day then it would have been extremely difficult." Race classification Enduro 2 Round: 3 - Gernika, Spain Circuit: Gernika Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  39' 58.620  2   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +40' 13.180  3   S. Aro KTM  FIN  +40' 36.810  4   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +41' 43.410  5   P. Edmondson Honda  GBR  +41 ' 43.410  6   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +41' 50.300  7   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +42' 15.530  8   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +42' 23.910  9   A. Belotti KTM  ITA  +42' 34.130  10   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +42' 53.710  11   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +42' 57.500  12   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +43' 19.960  13   C. Nambotin Husqvarna  FRA  +43' 25.640  14   E. Albepart Honda  FRA  +43' 39.360  15   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +43' 51.510  16   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +43' 58.500  17   J. Curvalle Kawasaki  FRA  +44' 30.900  18   E. Memmi Sherco  FRA  +45' 31.110  19   J. Simoncini Suzuki  ITA  +46' 23.360  20   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +46' 43.080  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  51' 41.940  2   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +52' 29.600  3   S. Aro KTM  FIN  +52' 55.990  4   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +53' 11.890  5   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +53' 11.500  6   P. Edmondson Honda  GBR  +53' 50.290  7   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +54' 50.570  8   A. Belotti KTM  ITA  +54' 27.520  9   C. Nambotin Husqvarna  FRA  +55' 21.260  10   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +55' 2.510  11   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +55' 21.260  12   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +55' 23.440  13   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +55' 31.660  14   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +56' 44.240  15   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +56' 52.920  16   F. Mancinelli Beta  ITA  +59' 52.920  17   J. Simoncini Suzuki  ITA  +59' 45.060  Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Johnny Aubert Yamaha  FRA 130  2   Samuli Aro KTM  FIN 128  3   Stefan Merriman Yamaha  AUS 123  4   Mika Ahola Honda  FIN 122  5   Fabien Planet KTM  FRA 83  6   Cristobal Guerrero GasGas  ESP 81  7   Xavier Galindo KTM  ESP 73  8   Paul Edmondson Honda  GBR 62  9   Fabrizio Dini Yamaha  ITA 52  10   Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg  FIN 49  11   Andrea Beconi Beta  ITA 47  12   Euan McConnell TM  GBR 44  13   Andrea Belotti KTM  ITA 43  14   Alessandro Botturi Aprilia  ITA 41  15   Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna  FRA 31  16   Petteri Silvan KTM  FIN 28  17   Emmanuel Albepart Honda  FRA 27  18   Thierry Klutz Sherco  BEL 21  19   Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna  FRA 20  20   Riku Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN 19  Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 140  2  KTM 128  3  Honda 122  4  GasGas 85  5  Beta 52  6  HusaBerg 49  7  TM 43  8  Aprilia 41  9  Husqvarna 39  10  Sherco 31  11  Suzuki 13  12  Kawasaki 10  Enduro 1 : Micheluz faces gruelling conditions succesfully Round: 3 - Gernika, Spain Circuit: Gernika Date: 14 May 2006 Crowd: 6000 Temp: 24ºC Weather: Sunny Just as at the second round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship the UFO Corse Yamaha team were without the services of Spaniard Arnau Vilanova for the GP of Euskadi, staged in Gernika, Spain, due to the team's number one Enduro 1 class rider being unable to compete through injury. In his absence Italian Maurizio Micheluz, who claimed his best ever world championship result at the GP of Portugal one week earlier, again performed well aboard his WR250 to finish in sixth on both days of competition.  Hoping to improve on his fourth place finish on day two at the second round of the WEC series Micheluz rode consistently on day one in Spain despite the wet and extremely challenging conditions. Finishing close behind former 125cc World Enduro Champion Petri Pohjamo on day one, Maurizio was one of just 12 Enduro 1 class finishers on day two - an indication of just how tough the race was. Having placed in sixth on both days Maurizio is now placed in sixth in the Enduro 1 world championship standings just 12 points behind the fifth placed rider. Reigning Enduro 1 world champion Ivan Cervantes topped the E1 class on both days finishing ahead of team-mate Alessandro Belometti on day one and ahead of Italian Simone Albergoni on day two. Maurizio Micheluz Enduro 1 class - Day 1 sixth, Day 2 sixth: "It has been a good weekend for me really. It was an extremely hard race on both days, but a good one. I crashed several times on day one and lost a lot of time, which affected my result a little. I wasn't able to match the pace of the top three riders in the E1 class, so I know I have some work to do on my speed, but I was happy with my riding. I finished in sixth on both days, which I am happy with so it has been a good enough race for me."     Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 3 - Gernika, Spain Circuit: Gernika Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  40' 50.200  2   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +41 ' 8.170  3   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +41' 9.540  4   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +41' 35.040  5   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  +42' 44.750  6   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +43' 2.440  7   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +43' 36.600  8   N. Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA  +43' 41.860  9   P. Bergvall Suzuki  SWE  +44' 5.900  10   J. Gauthier Honda  FRA  +44' 16.400  11   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +44' 47.850  12   J. Jou Yamaha  ESP  +46' 42.170  13   E. Gutkin TM  FRA  +47' 57.040