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Yamaha - Press Release:
Round: 4 - Grand Prix of France - Thiers
UFO Corse Yamaha rider Stefan Merriman extended his lead in the Enduro 1 class of the \'\'04 World Enduro Championship held in St-Remy Sur Durolle, France after topping the E1 class on day one and finishing in an agonisingly close second to Petteri Silvan (KTM) on day two. With Merriman and Silvan claiming a day win each, UFO Corse Yamaha rider Bartosz Oblucki claimed two strong podium places after collecting his first runner-up spot of the season on day one and then placed third on day two.
Stefan Merriman was in a class of his own on the very cold and wet first day of the French Enduro GP in Saint-Remy dur Dorolle (near Thiers in the central province of Auvergne). The Australian won seven out of ten stages in front of a traditionally strong crowd. Just as at the third round of the WEC held in Italy, Merriman topped the overall \'Scratch\' classification on day one.
Merriman\'s young team mate Bartosz Oblucki had an equally strong day, coming home second in class and overall behind Merriman. Swedish star Richard Larsson (TM) completed the podium. Merriman had the disadvantage of having to clean up the water filled ruts as first starter on the second day. Petteri Silvan won the second day, but the difference between Silvan and Merriman was only 0.3 seconds. Oblucki finished third on the second day. Taking part in the French event, Yamaha Moto France rider Marc Germain felt the effects of what was his sixth consecutive weekend of competition and finished tired but happy, fifth and seventh in the E1 class.
The fifth round of the Enduro 1 world championship will take place in Skövde, Sweden, on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June.
Stefan Merriman (Ufo Corse Yamaha) - first and second.
\"Day one was really good. Starting at the front of the classes helped me to be the fastest overall rider but I felt that I was also riding well. The special tests were quite challenging but it was the mud holes that all the riders could lose a lot of time in if they got stuck. I had some good special test times in the morning so yeah, I was happy with the way day one went. With Petteri Silvan losing time he did me a huge favour in terms of the championship. Day two was really difficult. I got stuck in one rut and it took me about 10 seconds to push it out. I also made a mistake on the rocks on the extreme test, which lost me about seven seconds, as well as another 10 when I crashed later in the day, so I\'m a little disappointed. In term of the championship it\'s been a good weekend but anything can still happen. I\'m really confident that things will continue to go well, but I\'m going to keep training hard so that I will be ready for the next race in Sweden.\"
Bartosz Oblucki (Ufo Corse Yamaha) - second and third.
\"It\'s been a great weekend for me. I was really happy with my result from day one because I have been pushing really hard to finish second and now I have. The mistake from Petteri Silvan on day one lifted me to second in the championship, which is great. I felt that I was riding well so to finish as the runner-up was really important for me. On day two I had a disaster, recovered, had another disaster, and recovered again. It was a really hard day for me. I hit my head really hard on a tree in the extreme test and made another simple crash in one of the motocross tests. I also got stuck in a really deep rut on the second motocross test. I was passed by Simone Albergoni so to have recovered to third is a result that I am really happy with. To have a bad day of riding and still finish third is great. I hope that when the terrain is hard finishing second or third shouldn\'t be a problem.\"
Mario Rinaldi (Ufo Corse Yamaha) - eighth and eleventh.
\"On day one I really enjoyed the race because the terrain was new and there was traction in most places. I had a few too many problems in the special tests to have a good result but it was a real enduro race. On day two there was not so much traction because the grass was gone on all the special tests and the ruts were really deep in many of the corners. I got stuck in water crossing one time so my result is not so good. It has been a very, very difficult race.\"
Marc Germain (Yamaha Moto France) - fifth and seventh.
\"The race has been quite good for me. The track was really nice and was not so difficult compared to some of the races in the French championship, only one of the special tests has been too muddy really. It is the sixth consecutive weekend that I have raced and I am a really tired. I have not had the power that is needed to compete in a WEC event and because of this my results have suffered.\"
Race classification Enduro 1
Day One.
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS 52\' 23.360
2 B. Oblucki Yamaha POL +1\' 10.180
3 R. Larsson TM ITA +1\' 34.160
4 F. Planet KTM FRA +1\' 54.580
5 M. Germain Yamaha FRA +2\' 10.650
6 R. Bazzurri Husqvarna ITA +2\' 24.430
7 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +2\' 31.450
8 M. Rinaldi Yamaha ITA +2\' 34.230
9 D. Miquel Yamaha FRA +2\' 48.580
10 H. Diaz KTM MEX +2\' 52.420
11 X. Puigdemont KTM ESP +2\' 55.190
12 A. Belometti KTM ITA +2\' 59.210
13 P. Bergvall Husqvarna SWE +3\' 23.100
14 H. Rodrigues KTM POR +3\' 50.170
15 J. Boano Honda ITA +4\' 19.090
16 M. Bourgeois KTM FRA +4\' 22.790
17 P. Duzellier KTM FRA +4\' 37.570
18 S. Tonelli Yamaha ITA +4\' 45.390
19 J. Gauthier Husqvarna FRA +4\' 55.030
20 G. Falgari Husqvarna ITA +5\' 34.730
Day Two.
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 P. Silvan KTM FIN 55\' 5.730
2 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS +0.250
3 B. Oblucki Yamaha POL +55.740
4 R. Bazzurri Husqvarna ITA +1\' 1.470
5 F. Planet KTM FRA +1\' 2.650
6 A. Belometti KTM ITA +1\' 7.740
7 M. Germain Yamaha FRA +1\' 9.390
8 P. Bergvall Husqvarna SWE +1\' 23.450
9 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +1\' 31.800
10 R. Larsson TM ITA +2\' 11.690
Championship standings Enduro 1:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 185
2 Bartosz Oblucki Yamaha POL 149
3 Petteri Silvan KTM FIN 145
4 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 139
5 Roberto Bazzurri Husqvarna ITA 115
6 Richard Larsson TM ITA 113
7 Peter Bergvall Husqvarna SWE 99
8 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 95
9 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 94
10 Helder Rodrigues KTM POR 87
11 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 84
12 Mario Rinaldi Yamaha ITA 80
Manufacturers standings Enduro 1
1 Yamaha 185
2 KTM 163
3 Honda 140
4 Husqvarna 130
5 TM 122
6 GasGas 40
7 Suzuki 4
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 J. Salminen KTM FIN 53\' 38.880
2 G. Sala KTM ITA +1\' 35.990
3 P. Whibley Honda NZL +1\' 37.510
4 P. Edmondson Honda GBR +1\' 51.940
5 P. Pohjamo GasGas FIN +1\' 59.200
6 A. Botturi KTM ITA +2\' 10.440
7 D. Fretigne Yamaha FRA +2\' 20.070
8 V. Salonen Honda FIN +2\' 26.380
9 A. Toresson HusaBerg SWE +2\' 28.770
10 M. Saarenkoski Husqvarna FIN +2\' 41.970
Day two.
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 J. Salminen KTM FIN 54\' 28.190
2 P. Edmondson Honda GBR +1\' 8.870
3 A. Vilanova Honda ESP +1\' 10.360
4 G. Sala KTM ITA +1\' 57.930
5 A. Botturi KTM ITA +2\' 5.910
6 D. Fretigne Yamaha FRA +2\' 21.250
7 P. Whibley Honda NZL +2\' 28.680
8 P. Pohjamo GasGas FIN +2\' 32.890
9 M. Saarenkoski Husqvarna FIN +3\' 23.260
10 T. Klutz GasGas BEL +3\' 33.550
Championship standings Enduro 2
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 172
2 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 164
3 Alessandro Botturi KTM ITA 147
4 Arnau Vilanova Honda ESP 126
5 Giovanni Sala KTM ITA 109
6 Mika Saarenkoski Husqvarna FIN 106
7 Paul Whibley Honda NZL 105
8 Petri Pohjamo GasGas FIN 91
9 Andreas Toresson HusaBerg SWE 83
10 Valtteri Salonen Honda FIN 80
Manufacturers standings Enduro 2
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 KTM 194
2 Honda 178
3 GasGas 121
4 Husqvarna 108
5 Yamaha 78
6 Husaberg 72
7 Sherco 2
