Micheluz top Yamaha in E1

Round seven of the 2006 World Enduro Championship, the GP of Slovakia held in Krompachy 380km from the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, saw Spaniard Ivan Cervantes move closer to his second Enduro 1 world championship title after the KTM rider topped the E1 class on both days in Slovakia having performed faultlessly during the weekend. Finishing 42 seconds ahead at the end of the opening day's competition Ivan upped his pace on day two and extended his wining advantage to just over one minute. In claiming two class wins Cervantes is all but assured of winning the 2006 E1 world championship crown on day one at the series' final event in France. Placing as runner-up on day one was Cervantes' KTM team-mate Italian Alessandro Belometti. With Belometti looked in a day long battle with countryman Simone Albergoni just two seconds separated the pair, in favour of Belometti, at the end of day one. On day two it was Albergoni who placed in second position to Cervantes as Belometti had to fight his way back to third from fifth having crashed on the day's second enduro test.

With UFO Corse Yamaha rider Arnau Vilanova unable to compete in Slovakia due to suffering a form of hepatitis, Italian Maurizio Micheluz was again the team's only competitor in the Enduro 1 class. Again performing consistently against more experienced WEC competitors aboard his WR250F Micheluz finished the opening day in sixth position having struggled to get on the pace early in the day. On day two, having started well, Maurizio made a small mistake during the second extreme test and after getting rope wrapped around his rear wheel lost five minutes. Placing in an eventual ninth position Maurizio finished as high as second on one special test, indicating that had it not been for his misfortune he might well have placed close to, or even on, the E1 class podium

Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) - Day 1: Sixth, Day 2: Ninth "Day one went pretty good for me. I finished in sixth position but didn't ride so well on the first three special tests, I don't know why. At the end of the day I was just three seconds behind the fifth place rider, which I was happy with after my poor start to the day. Day two started much better than day one and I was confident that I could finish fifth or better. On the second extreme test I lost five minutes when I got some rope wrapped in my rear wheel. I was extremely disappointed because after my problem I was fast enough to finish fourth and I finished in second on some special tests. This is racing and apart from that I am really happy with the way I was riding."

Temp: 20 Crowd: 12750 Weather: Sunny     2006 Enduro 1 Slovakia 03/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 41'57.650 2 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 0'42.160 3 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 0'44.520 4 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'50.940 5 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 1'12.270 6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'16.050 7 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'20.000 8 Tomi Peltola Suzuki FIN 2'59.730 9 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 3'4.970 10 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 3'8.810 11 Peter Podhorsky Yamaha SVK 7'29.510 12 Peter Katai KTM HUN 8'39.550 13 Rostislav Ondracka Husqvarna CZE 19'28.550

Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 49'5.740 2 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 1'2.030 3 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 1'22.220 4 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 1'42.230 5 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 1'50.960 6 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 2'12.360 7 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'12.830 8 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 2'21.220 9 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 6'33.670 10 Peter Katai KTM HUN 11'9.010 11 Peter Podhorsky Yamaha SVK 15'25.940

Rider Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 338 2. Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 296 3. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 254 4. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 244 5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 222 6. Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 166 7. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 139 8. Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 121 9. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 102 10. Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 74 11. Anthony Roberts Yamaha AUS 58 12. Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 52 13. Shane Cuthbertson KTM CAN 49 14. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 43 15. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 41 40. Arnau Vilanova Yamaha ESP 10

Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 338 2. Honda 296 3. Husqvarna 254 4. Yamaha 228 5. TM 166 6. Suzuki 90 7. Kawasaki 41 8. GasGas 23 9. Christini 19

RACE REPORT 03/09/2006 Yamaha dominates in Slovakia   Johnny and Stefan on podium   

UFO Corse Yamaha team mates Stefan Merriman and Johnny Aubert claimed a Yamaha one-two in the Enduro 2 class on day one of the GP of Slovakia as the Australian and Frenchman placed in first and second positions respectively separated by an eventual 33 seconds. With Finns Samuli Aro and Mika Ahola making it a four-way fight it was reigning class champion Aro who eventually joined Merriman and Aubert on the podium in third but the day was all about the two UFO Corse Yamaha team riders Merriman and Aubert. With Merriman having the upper hand from the start the former world champion produced his best form of the season and during the second half of the day opened up what would become an unbeatable lead.

Johnny Aubert   

On day two the same two riders placed at the head of the Enduro 2 class, but unlike on day one it was Aubert who topped the E2 class results. Winning six of the day's special tests in the E2 class and enjoying the rougher conditions Aubert placed 18 seconds ahead of his team-mate Stefan Merriman to prove himself once again in his first season of World Enduro Championship competition. With the Yamaha mounted duo finishing in first and second Finn Aro again placed in third.

Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha)- Day 1: Second, Day 2: First "It's been a great weekend for me. I am so pleased with my result, especially as the next round of the world championship is my home race in France. Day one went well but Stefan was just too fast so it wasn't possible to fight with him for the win. Day two was perfect for me. From the first enduro test I felt really good and was as fast as Stefan. I knew that I could win the day then so I pushed as hard as I could. The race was a little more technical, the tests were rougher and rutted. I seem to go better on the second day. I am really happy with my result."

Stefan Merriman   

Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha)- Day 1: First, Day 2: Second "I've had a really good weekend. The event itself was really enjoyable, the special tests were typically Slovakian and thankfully it didn't rain. It's been a more traditional world enduro event. Day one went really well. I felt good right from the start of the day and didn't make any mistakes, which enabled me to win. On day two I wasn't quite quick enough to beat my team-mate Johnny Aubert but I was still happy with the way I rode. On Sunday I rode pretty much the same as I did on day one but Johnny went faster. Of course I would have liked to have won on both days but finishing in first and second is much better than my results at the last GP in the USA."

Temp: 20 Crowd: 12750 Weather: Sunny     2006 Enduro 2 Slovakia 03/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 41'19.050 2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 0'33.090 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'37.780 4 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'38.770 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'14.430 6 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 1'27.120 7 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 1'54.310 8 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 2'12.790 9 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'28.100 10 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 2'28.300 11 Stefan Svitko KTM SVK 2'55.290 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 3'4.560 13 Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna FRA 3'5.440 14 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 3'6.730 15 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 3'10.520 17 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'36.400

Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 48'34.360 2 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 0'18.130 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'37.430 4 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'43.620 5 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 1'39.850 6 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'40.650 7 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 1'48.370 8 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'1.730 9 Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna FRA 2'18.870 10 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 2'22.990 11 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 2'24.220 12 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 2'26.290 13 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 2'37.440 14 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 3'13.830 15 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 3'16.570

Rider Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 315 2. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 283 3. Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 278 4. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 277 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 202 6. Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 195 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 185 8. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 134 9. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 124 10. Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 123 11. Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 117 12. Euan McConnell TM GBR 84 13. Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 75 14. Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 74 15. Kurt Caselli KTM USA 66

Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 316 2. KTM 315 3. Honda 283 4. GasGas 195 5. Husqvarna 135 6. HusaBerg 134 7. Aprilia 117 8. Beta 89 9. TM 84 10. Suzuki 52 11. Sherco 50 12. Kawasaki 16