YAMAHA DOMINATES ISDE IN POLAND
19 September 2004 - Yamaha Racing

UFO Corse Yamaha riders Bartosz Oblucki,21, and Stefan Merriman, 31, were crowned Enduro 1 and Enduro 2 class champions respectively at the end of day six of the 79th International Six Days Enduro in Kielce.

The event marked Merriman''s competitive international debut in the Enduro 2 class on the WR450F. Winning all but one day of the six day-event, the Australian also won the overall. Marc Germain (Yamaha Moto France) finished second in the Enduro 1 class behind Oblucki. The WR250F mounted home rider Michal Szuster was the revelation of the event finishing fourth in the Enduro 1 class.

The prestigious event came to an ugly close on day six following the race organiser''s failure to water the track used for the final day''s motocross races. As a direct result of the dusty conditions the majority of riders agreed not to race on the grounds of safety with only the Enduro 1 class race taking place. Two tragic accidents on Wednesday had already cast a shadow over the race.

Stefan Merriman''s week ended with the three-time world champion completing three warm up laps of the final motocross, but no more. Effectively making the final Enduro 2 class results the same as at the end of the fifth day, Merriman placed close to five minutes ahead of his closest rival, Finn Petri Pohjamo. US rider Kurt Caselli claimed third with Finn Valtteri Salonen fourth and Seb Guillaume fifth. Adding to the excitement in the Enduro 2 class was the high-profile battle between enduro legends Merriman (current leader in the E1 World Championship) and Salminen (current leader in the E2 World Championship). Merriman: ''It''s been a long time since I''ve been able to compete against Juha on equal machinery so I really wanted to race against him at the ISDE before he leaves Europe to race in the US next year. It was a shame that Salminen had problems early in the week but we continued to battle one another during the last three days. There was only a second or two between us on most special tests and we were both trying things to get an advantage. I was constantly adjusting my suspension and Juha changed his shock, I think we were both riding on the limit!''

For home hero Oblucki the final day ended with the Yamaha Ufo Corse rider claiming his first ever ISDE class win after he placed his WR250F one minute and 10 seconds ahead of Yamaha Moto France rider Marc Germain in the final Enduro 1 standings. Oblucki had an excellent week of racing behind him, winning three days of the event and scoring two second places behind Italy''s Albergoni. With Germain winning the main Enduro 1 class race on day six, Yamaha riders claimed the top three places with Polish Junior Trophy team rider Michal Szuster claiming the runner-up spot and Italian Simone Tonelli (Yamaha Ufo Corse) finishing third. In the final end of event Enduro 1 class results Italian Alessandro Belometti finished third behind Oblucki and Germain with Yamaha-mounted Szuster fourth.

Finland claimed a double Trophy and Junior Trophy team win as their junior squad moved into the top spot following the disqualification of the Spanish team. Behind Finland in the Trophy team competition Italy placed second with France third. In the Junior Trophy team competition Poland claimed second with Australia third. Yamaha Ufo Corse won the manufacturers-team classification beating KTM-Fairoli and Husqvarna.

Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class; winner
''We put in a huge amount of work getting my bike ready for the six days so I knew that I was ready to race against Salminen. I won''t say that it has been an enjoyable week but having ridden well and proved myself that makes me really happy. The organisation has been pretty good all week apart from the final day. It''s been a pretty hard enduro too - there''s not been much road work. The course hasn''t been that challenging but it was pretty difficult because of the dust and the fact that you could never stop concentrating.''

Bartosz Oblucki (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1; winner
''I''m so happy to have been able to win the enduro 1 class here at my home race. I have been under a lot of pressure this week - the spectators were reaching out to touch me on the special tests and cheering me on so much that sometimes they were almost slowing me down. It is great to have so much support but it made it a very stressful week for me. I only made a few mistakes during the week, which I am really happy about. I will try and continue to ride like I have this week in the last two rounds of the World Enduro Championship and see what happens.''

Marc Germain (Yamaha France) Enduro 1; second
''The first three days I was finding it hard to motivate myself because I have had many races in France this year and I wasn''t as fresh for the race as I wanted to be. The second part of my ISDE was a lot better; there hasn''t been so much dust and some good berms. On day four and five I was second behind Bartosz (Oblucki) and I won the Enduro 1 class on the last day. Overall I am quite satisfied with my ISDE.''

FINAL STANDINGS ISDE ENDURO 1 CLASS
1. Bartosz Oblucki (POL - UFO Corse Yamaha), 2. Marc Germain (FRA - Yamaha), 3. Alessandro Belometti (ITA - KTM), 4. Michal Szuster (POL - Yamaha), 5. Fabien Planet (FRA - KTM), 6. Silvan Petteri (FIN - KTM), 7. Pedro Tragter (NED - Honda), 8. Roberto Bazzurri (ITA - Husqvarna), 9. Richard Larsson (SWE - TM), 10. Helder Rodrigues (POR - KTM), 11. Mario Rinaldi (ITA - UFO Corse Yamaha), 12. Simone Tonelli (ITA - UFO Corse Yamaha), 13. Paul Edmondson (GBR - Honda), 14. Daryl Bolter (GBR - Husqvarna), 15. Raphael Andre (FRA - Husqvarna), 16. Niklas Gustafsson (SWE - KTM), 17. Damian Smith (AUS - Yamaha), 18. Cristobal Guerrero (ESP - Yamaha), 19. Miquel Damien (FRA - Yamaha), 20. Ivan Jakes (CZE - KTM)...

FINAL STANDINGS ISDE ENDURO 2 CLASS
1. Stefan Merriman (AUS - UFO Corse Yamaha, 2. Pohjamo (FIN - Gas Gas), 3. Kurt Caselli (USA - KTM), 4. Valtteri Salonen (FIN - Honda), 5. Sebastian Guillaume (FRA - Gas Gas), 6. Tomi Peltola (FIN - KTM), 7. Mika Saarenkoski (FIN - Husqvarna), 8. Nicolas Deparrois (FRA - Husqvarna),9. Glenn Kearney (AUS - Yamaha), 10. Xavier Puigdemont (ESP - KTM), 11. Gerard Farres (ESP - KTM), 12. Tomas Bucenec (SVK - KTM), 13. Giovanni Sala (ITA - KTM), 14. Alessandro Botturi (ITA - KTM), 15. Jari Mattila (FIN - KTM), 16. Andreas Toresson (SWE - Husaberg), 17. Roman Michalik (CZE - TM), 18. Joakim Ljunggren (SWE - KTM), 19. Miki Arpa (ESP - Husqvarna), 20. Jean-Francois Goblet (BEL - GAS GAS)...

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