Saturday, July 17, 2010

2010 HUSQVARNA TE 250 mounted Frenchman Antoine Meo still holds a commanding lead in the Enduro 1 Wo

Los Ninos 16 Juli jam 12:44
http://www.huskysport.co.uk/husqvarna-news-article.aspx?itemid=4944

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Double Podium for Guillaume in Slovakia
Enduro World Championship, Slovakia 19/20 June 2010


The good news as far as the CH Racing Husqvarna team are concerned following the fifth round of the ’10 Enduro World Championship, the GP of Slovakia held in Puchov, is that TE 250 mounted Frenchman Antoine Meo still holds a commanding lead in the Enduro 1 World Championship. The not so good news is that the fifth round of the EWC series proved to be a frustrating event for several of the team’s riders. With extremely wet and slippery conditions ensuring plenty of accidents and incidents, only one of the team’s riders – Enduro 3 class star Seb Guillaume – finished both days on the podium.

But despite the fact that Antoine Meo, Matti Seistola and Bartosz Oblucki all endured a tough two days in Slovakia, all four team riders performed well. Meo, despite claiming just one podium result with a third place finish on day two, still holds more than a 40-point lead at the head of the E1 championship with three rounds remaining and rode well on both days.

With mistakes coming from all riders due to the demanding conditions Meo crashed mid-way through the opening day, falling more than one-minute behind his rivals as a result. Fighting hard in order to regain lost positions by the end of the day, having topped no fewer than five special tests, he placed fourth. Just 12 seconds from the podium Antoine was disappointed at having crashed but pleased that he’d lost very few championship points as Spain’s Cristobal Guerrero secured the win.

On day two Meo was locked in a battle with Finland’s Eero Remes for the runner-up position when a broken rear mudguard and subsequent damaged wiring caused his bike to cough and splutter its way around the final extreme test. Thankfully managing to get to the finish, but having dropped some 30 seconds, Antoine finished the day third and relieved to see the end of the Slovakian event.

The fifth round of the EWC series saw another strong performance from Meo’s E1 team-mate Matti Seistola on his TE 250. Sixth on day one yet little more than one-minute behind day winner Guerrero, on day two Seistola was on fire and looking a strong bet for a podium position. The dominant rider on the extreme test in the E1 class, with just one test remaining Matti’s luck ran out. A problem with his rear mousse resulted in a time one-minute slower than on previous laps, dropping the former motocross racer into fourth position.

Antoine Meo – Enduro 1: ‘I made a really big mistake in the enduro test around the middle of the first day, which cost me one-minute, maybe a little more. As I fell I hit my clutch lever, which moved around, so I had to finish the test without the use of the clutch. That was really difficult and it meant that I had to push really hard during the last lap. I managed to win three of the final five tests but I could only manage fourth. It wasn’t good but considering the time I lost it wasn’t too bad. On day two Johnny Aubert was really fast, so I was fighting for second. Everything was going ok until the final extreme test. I broke my rear mudguard, which damaged some wires, and my bike started running really bad. I was lucky because I managed to get to the finish but I lost about 30 seconds so I ended up third. Considering all that happened this weekend fourth and third is pretty good. Obviously, it’s not what I wanted but it was some good points. I still have a very good lead in the championship, so I am pleased about that.’

Matti Seistola – Enduro 1: ‘I wanted to finish better than sixth on day one but it was a very difficult day. It was my first wet race on the 250f and although I made some mistakes things went quite ok all day. I wanted to do better on the second day and I did, although I had a problem on the final extreme test that cost me about 30 seconds. I had been winning the extreme test on the first and second laps, which I was really pleased with, and I was close to the podium. Fourth is good but I felt like I could have been on the podium again.’

In finishing on the podium on both days Seb Guillaume not only finished the GP of Slovakia with much better results than those he secured at the GP of Poland one week earlier but also as the team’s best performing rider. Although a little disappointed that he finished third on day one Seb put in a solid performance throughout the day in extremely slippery conditions. Although not winning a test consistent riding more than made up for the few small mistakes he made. On day two Seb moved one place higher up the results to claim a well-deserved runner-up result. Although unable to match the pace of class winner David Knight, Seb ended the day having not made any mistakes and pleased with his performance.

After some mixed results during the first half of the season the GP of Slovakia appeared to be a turning point for Guillaume’s Enduro 3 class team-mate Bartosz Oblucki. Opting for a very different bike set-up to what he’d used previously, Bartosz was instantly more competitive and placed behind Seb in fourth on day one. Performing well at the end of the first day, Bartosz started day two confident of a podium result and in winning the opening motocross test looked to be capable of doing exactly that. Frustratingly Oblucki was forced to retire from the event having completed 10 tests due to a problem with his rear mousse.

Seb Guillaume Enduro 3: ‘I’m pleased because the race was much better for me than in Slovakia. But I wasn’t pleased that I finished third on the first day because I made a lot of small crashes. The conditions were good for me but I wasn’t able to do as well as I should because of the mistakes. On day two I rode better and without the mistakes, which I’m pleased with. I have to say a big thanks to the team because they really pushed me during the race. It was a hard race but they kept motivating me to keep pushing. It was really slippery again at the start of day two, but then the traction improved and it was a nice race. I finished on the podium on both days so I am pleased with everything.’

Bartosz Oblucki Enduro 3: ‘Although it’s been a disappointing weekend with me not finishing the second day it’s been a positive weekend because I really felt comfortable on my bike – I was able to ride hard like I wanted. We made some changes to the bike after Poland, which were great. I was really able to attack like I wanted, even though the tests were really slippery. I didn’t finish on the podium but I was really happy with my riding on day one – I was third on three tests, which is a big improvement. The frustrating thing about day two was that I was riding really well, especially during the first lap. I won the first motocross test and felt really strong. I don’t know why but I had a problem with my rear mousse, and that put me out of the event. It’s disappointing but I’m pleased that my riding was much better.’


2010 Enduro World Championship Grand Prix of Slovakia – Day 1
Enduro 1 1. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 54.54:97; 2. Johnny Aubert (KTM) 55.02:57; 3. Eero Remes (KTM) 55.18:17; 4. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 55.30:54; 5. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 5.40:10; 6. Matti Seistola (CH Racing Husqvarna) 56.09:67; 7. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 56.47:28; 8. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 56.52:41; 9. Jari Mattila (Honda) 57.34:72; 10. Maurizio Micheluz (TM) 57.37:03; 11. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 59.00:34; 12. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 1.00:11.15; 13. Jakub Horak (KTM) 1.03:55.89

Enduro 3 1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 53.46:00; 2. David Knight (KTM) 54.28:55; 3. Seb Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 55.07:24; 4. Bartosz Oblucki (CH Racing Husqvarna) 55.49:58; 5. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 55.53:86; 6. Oriol Mena (Husaberg) 56.02:44; 7. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 56.40:57; 8. Aaron Bernardez (KTM) 56.52:04; 9. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 57.19:94; 10. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 58.39:36

2010 Enduro World Championship Grand Prix of Slovakia – Day 2
Enduro 1 1. Johnny Aubert (KTM) 55.54:15; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 56.30:52; 3. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 57.10:05; 4. Matti Seistola (CH Racing Husqvarna) 57.51:32; 5. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 57.58:96; 6. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 58.39:49; 7. Maurizio Micheluz (TM) 59.08:81; 8. Jari Mattila (Honda) 59.11:92; 9. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 1.00:11.70; 10. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 1.00:11.79;

Enduro 3 1. David Knight (KTM) 56.14:08; 2. Seb Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 567.14:08; 3. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 57.06:19; 4. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 57.55:70; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 58.07:22; 6. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 58.43:93; 7. Oriol Mena (Husaberg) 58.50:26; 8. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 58.54:45; 9. Aaron Bernardez (KTM) 59.34:09; 10. Mirko Gritti (Beta) 59.54:16;

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