MERRIMAN WINS DAY TWO IN FINLAND
29 August 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Finn Valtteri Salonen and Australian Stefan Merriman were the two official winners in the Enduro 2 class at the GP of Finland.

But on day one it was Merriman who topped the class''s results before he was excluded by the international jury. Having comfortably topped the E2 class on day 1 the reigning E1 world champion was disqualified for refuelling at a road-side petrol station and not one of the event''s designated fuelling areas. The UFO Corse Yamaha team have appealed against the decision.

With Merriman out of the results, home rider Salonen (Honda) claimed his first ever WEC victory finishing ahead of countrymen Petri Pohjamo and E2 championship leader Samuli Aro. On day two WR450F mounted Merriman claimed the class win after a day long battle with Aro. Separated by 13 seconds Merriman and Aro finished over one-minute ahead of the third placed rider Alessandro Botturi from Italy.

Yamaha Ufo Corse rider Andrea Beconi reached two top ten finishes in Heinola, coming home respectively eighth and ninth. Four time world champion is still second in provisional standings. Merriman has 244 points, Aro leads with 312 points, and Alessandro Botturi claimed third from Frenchman Fabien Planet. Italian Beconi is eighth.

The teams now move onto the ISDE in Povaszka Bystrica, Slovakia taking place from 12 to 18 september.

Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Day 1:DSQ, Day 2: First
''I''m really happy with the way things went on Sunday. I had some difficulties on the motocross test where Samuli was 10 seconds faster than me on each lap. I made some changes to my bike''s suspension and that made it a lot better. I was putting in some good times on the enduro test though, which helped me open up a lead. What happened on day one was really disappointing. The UFO Corse Yamaha team has appealed against the jury''s decision so we will know more in five days.''

Race classification Enduro 2
Round: 7 - Grand Prix of Finland
Circuit: Heinola

Race: 4 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 V. Salonen Honda FIN 54'' 13.450
2 P. Pohjamo TM FIN +5.460
3 S. Aro KTM FIN +19.160
4 J. Laaksonen KTM FIN +55.840
5 A. Botturi KTM ITA +1'' 9.470
6 B. Carlsson HusaBerg SWE +1'' 15.880
7 E. McConnell Honda GBR +1'' 54.970
8 A. Beconi Yamaha FRA +2'' 32.140
9 M. Aaltonen GasGas FIN +2'' 39.440
10 J. Mattila Beta FIN +2'' 48.360
11 R. Riihelainen GasGas FIN +4'' 31.070
12 S. Ekert HusaBerg GER +8'' 4.760

Race 2: 4 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 S. Merriman Yamaha AUS 57'' 38.220
2 S. Aro KTM FIN +13.790
3 A. Botturi KTM ITA +1'' 7.120
4 V. Salonen Honda FIN +1'' 34.280
5 E. McConnell Honda GBR +1'' 53.070
6 B. Carlsson HusaBerg SWE +2'' 5.490
7 J. Laaksonen KTM FIN +3'' 31.480
8 M. Aaltonen GasGas FIN +4'' 4.920
9 A. Beconi Yamaha FRA +4'' 7.710
10 J. Mattila Beta FIN +4'' 35.250
11 E. Albepart Honda FIN +5'' 31.050

Championship standings Enduro 2
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 312
2 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 244
3 Alessandro Botturi KTM ITA 239
4 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 209
5 Anders Eriksson Husqvarna SWE 203
6 Björne Carlsson HusaBerg SWE 195
7 Valtteri Salonen Honda FIN 151
8 Andrea Beconi Yamaha FRA 149
9 Jari Mattila Beta FIN 135
10 Euan McConnell Honda GBR 133
11 Helder Rodrigues GasGas POR 126
12 Paul Whibely GasGas NZL 108
13 Jean-François Goblet GasGas BEL 81
14 Miska Aaltonen GasGas FIN 76
15 David Frétigne Yamaha FRA 68
16 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 65
17 Kurt Caselli KTM USA 60
18 Andrea Belotti Husqvarna ITA 55
19 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FIN 50
20 Giuliano Falgari Husqvarna ITA 39


Manufacturers standings Enduro 2
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 KTM 321
2 Yamaha 295
3 Husqvarna 204
4 Honda 198
5 HusaBerg 196
6 GasGas 166
7 Beta 136
8 TM 66
9 Suzuki 39
10 Kawasaki 28
11 Sherco 23
12 Aprilia 2


Enduro 1 : Podium finishes for Germain and Oblucki in Finland

Round: 7 - Grand Prix of Finland
Circuit: Heinola
Date: 28 August 2005
Crowd: 6000
Temp: 17ºC
Weather: Clear Sky

Yamaha Moto France rider Marc Germain came second and fourth at the Finnish Enduro GP, this weekend in Heinola. Spaniard Ivan Cervantes (KTM) took another big step towards claiming the ''05 Enduro 1 world championship title following two impressive day wins. Germain remains second in the Enduro 1 world championship, trailing Cervantes by 68 points. Oblucki is currently seventh in standings, while the in standings, while the young Maurizio Micheluz hangs on to ninth.

Winning day one by 29 seconds, Cervantes topped day two by 30 seconds to extend his already large championship advantage. For Germain a cautious start to the event resulted in the French rider not being able to challenge Cervantes for the day one win. UFO Corse Yamaha rider Bartosz Oblucki rode his WR250F to third on day one. For Oblucki third on day one marked the Polish rider''s first visit to the podium after what has been a troubled season. On day two Italian Simone Albergoni finished in the runner-up spot, but was unable to challenge Cervantes for the day win. Disappointingly for Germain several small crashes resulted in him missing the podium by one place while Oblucki''s race ended when a stick punctured his bike''s left radiator forcing him to retire from the event.

Marc Germain (Yamaha France) Day 1: second, Day 2: fourth:
''I made a very bad first lap on day one because I was a little bit too cautious. Apart from that the day went really well apart from not being able to beat Ivan Cervantes. The second day wasn''t very good for me though. I made a lot of small mistakes, which cost me a lot of time. Ivan Cervantes and Simone Albergoni were both very fast so I was not able to keep the same pace as them. I had a good battle with Alessandro Belometti and there wasn''t many seconds between us at the end of the day. I am happy with the weekend because I had some good results and didn''t have any big crashes.''

Bartosz Oblucki (UFO Corse Yamaha) Day 1: Third, Day 2: DNF ''Finishing on the podium at the end of the first day was great - it has been a long time coming this year. I felt that I rode well and didn''t make too many mistakes. I felt really relaxed and rode consistently all day. I was really looking forward to the second day because I felt that I could finish on the podium again. Things were going pretty well but then a stick went through my radiator and my bike lost all its coolant. That is the type of luck I have been having this season. Just when things looked to be improving for me something went wrong again.''


Race classification Enduro 1
Round: 7 - Grand Prix of Finland
Circuit: Heinola

Race: 4 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 I. Cervantes KTM ESP 53'' 31.830
2 M. Germain Yamaha FRA +29.450
3 B. Oblucki Yamaha POL +31.700
4 P. Edmondson Honda GBR +35.140
5 A. Belometti KTM ITA +35.590
6 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +48.860
7 R. Larsson TM ITA +49.940
8 M. Szuster Honda POL +1'' 48.940
9 M. Micheluz Yamaha ITA +2'' 15.990
10 S. Tonelli Yamaha ITA +2'' 32.650
11 F. Georgsson KTM SWE +2'' 53.040
12 P. Olsson Yamaha SWE +4'' 15.900
13 M. Hartmann KTM GER +4'' 29.930
14 M. Pievani Yamaha ITA +5'' 11.240
15 M. Pihlajavesi KTM FIN +5'' 24.550
16 L. Holm KTM FIN +5'' 32.100
17 L. Kurvinen Honda FIN +7'' 43.590
18 J. Laine Yamaha FIN +14'' 12.790
19 P. Laine Husqvarna FIN +14'' 20.730

Race 2: 4 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 I. Cervantes KTM ESP 57'' 31.840
2 S. Albergoni Honda ITA +30.030
3 A. Belometti KTM ITA +1'' 23.850
4 M. Germain Yamaha FRA +1'' 26.190
5 R. Larsson TM ITA +1'' 59.600
6 R. Michalik TM CZE +3'' 8.780
7 F. Georgsson KTM SWE +3'' 26.690
8 M. Micheluz Yamaha ITA +3'' 52.120
9 P. Olsson Yamaha SWE +4'' 28.390
10 S. Tonelli Yamaha ITA +4'' 40.270
11 M. Pihlajavesi KTM FIN +4'' 47.660
12 M. Hartmann KTM GER +5'' 56.330
13 L. Holm KTM FIN +6'' 30.670
14 M. Pievani Yamaha ITA +7'' 59.280
15 L. Kurvinen Honda FIN +9'' 24.140
16 J. Laine Yamaha FIN +15'' 26.270

Championship standings Enduro 1
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 342
2 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 274
3 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 246
4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 245
5 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 218
6 Petteri Silvan KTM FIN 187
7 Bartosz Oblucki Yamaha POL 172
8 Richard Larsson TM ITA 170
9 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 139
10 Simone Tonelli Yamaha ITA 83
11 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 83
12 Daniele Telini Yamaha ITA 78
13 Michal Szuster Honda POL 69
14 Julien Gauthier Husqvarna FRA 68
15 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 68
16 Roman Michalik TM CZE 61
17 Peter Bergvall Yamaha SWE 57
18 Manuel Pievani Yamaha ITA 51
19 Xacob Agra Yamaha ESP 39
20 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 38

Manufacturers standings Enduro 1
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 KTM 350
2 Honda 279
3 Yamaha 275
4 TM 181
5 Husqvarna 125
6 Kawasaki 40
7 Suzuki 25
8 GasGas 5

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