From
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Meo dominates Enduro 1 class at GP of Italy.....
CH Racing Husqvarna team rider Antoine Meo now sits close to 30 points ahead of his closest rival at the head of the Enduro 1 world championship standings having claimed two class wins at the GP of Italy as well as seeing his closest championship rival Johnny Aubert fail to finish either day. Winning comfortably on day one and then again topping the class on day two Antoine claimed his second consecutive double class win of the season in fine style in Lovere, northern Italy. Joining Meo in securing a podium result at the Italian GP was Enduro 3 class rider Seb Guillaume. Finally able to put his early season hand injury behind him, Seb lead for much of the opening day before placing as runner-up to countryman Christophe Nambotin.
It was Antoine Meo who again gave the CH Racing Husqvarna squad most to celebrate at the team’s home round of the ’10 EWC series. Having held the upper hand in the E1 class since the start of the series Antoine was well aware that the GP of Italy would be one of the championship’s most important events. Winning the Friday night Super Test before going on to win Saturday’s opening test, Meo simply ran away from his class rivals and in winning a total of eight special tests placed close to two minutes ahead of eventual runner-up Eero Remes.
The E1 Podium on day one.
On day two Meo was again the rider to beat as he quickly placed himself and his TE 250 at the top of the E1 class. Wanting to do enough to claim victory, but not wanting to take any unnecessary risks, Antoine’s winning margin was considerably less than on day one but importantly he claimed another 25 championship points. Also performing well in the Enduro 1 class was Finn Matti Seistola. Having improved his performances at each round of the championship so far, Matti challenged for a podium position on day one, a first in ’10. Although having a few difficulties with the extreme test the Finn nevertheless still managed to place fourth before going on to again finish as the first non-podium placing rider on day two. The team’s third E1 class rider Chris Hollis placed 14th and 11th over the two days.
Antoine Meo – Enduro 1: ‘It’s been a great race for me. Before I arrived I knew this would be an important race, maybe one of the most important races of the championship. It’s certainly turned out that way. With Johnny failing to finish the first day, and then not starting the second day, it has changed things in a massive way as far as the Enduro 1 championship goes. It’s not good to lose your closest rival but it’s good to know that I now have a good lead in the championship. Although I won on both days I didn’t feel like I rode as well as I could have done on day two. I made a few small mistakes, but generally things went well. With Johnny scoring no points on either day it puts me in a strange situation because unexpectedly I have a big lead in the championship now. But I will keep pushing hard to win races and hopefully everything will work out well.’
Matti Seistola – Enduro 1: ‘The first day was really good. My speed was better than at the first two rounds of the championship and I was fighting inside the top three, which I was really pleased with. I was running third going into the extreme test on the final lap where I got stuck on an uphill and lost the podium result. I finished fourth, which was good, but I need to find a little more to get onto the podium. Every race is getting better and better and I’m making less mistakes, but I still have to work on my extreme riding. But I’m really happy with my performances this weekend. My speed is good, I just need to continue improving on the extreme tests.’
Seb Guillaume showed on day one that he is all but over the hand injury that hampered his performances during the opening rounds of the ’10 EWC series. Setting some of the fastest E3 class special test times on day one Seb lead the class during the first two laps eventually placing a creditable second. With his hand injury having severely disrupted he training during the last two months, on day two Seb found it hard to match his day one pace. Continuing to push as hard as he could he finished the day fourth.
Bartosz Oblucki didn’t enjoy the best of races as the experienced Polish rider was credited with 16th on day one despite having been the fifth fastest rider in the E3 class. With a mix-up at a time control at the end of the day causing Oblucki to claim a worse result than he actually earned, day two didn’t bring any better fortune for Bartosz as a big crash mid way through the day resulted in him placing an eventual nine minutes behind the class winner.
Seb Guillaume Enduro 3: ‘The first day was really good for me. I was leading the Enduro 3 class after the first two laps and felt really good. But I had a big crash on the final enduro test, which bent my handlebars. Then I crashed again only a few corners later and the two mistakes cost me at least 30 seconds. I still managed to finish second but I was really pleased with that. The first lap on day two wasn’t too bad but I was really tired on the second lap. I wasn’t able to push as hard as I wanted to, but I managed to finish without any mistakes so I was happy. Now that my hand injury is ok I have to really work on my physical training, which I haven’t been able to do until now. Once I have better fitness I’m confident that I will be able to challenge for victory at the next races.’
2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 1
Enduro 1
1. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.05:50.41; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.07:33.80; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.08:07.92; 4. Matti Seistola (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.08:24.74; 5. Maurizio Micheluz (TM) 1.08:42.19; 6. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 1.08:56.72; 7. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 1.09:13.50; 8. Julien Gauthier 1.09:40.89; 9. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 1.09:54.32; 10. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 1.09:59.94… 14. Chris Hollis (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.12:27.53;
Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.06:17.74; 2. Seb Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.06:30.80; 3. David Knight (KTM) 1.06:33.09; 4. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 1.07:27.75; 5. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 1.09:03.01; 6. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1.09:13.82; 7. Aaron Bernardez (KTM) 1.09:52.26; 8. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 1.10:01.21; 9. Andrea Belotti (Gas Gas) 1.10:02.84; 10. Mirko Gritti (Beta) 1.10:20.39;
2010 Enduro World Championship
Grand Prix of Italy – Day 2
Enduro 1
1. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.05:13.28; 2. Eero Remes (KTM) 1.05:37.03; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 1.06:25.73; 4. Matti Seistola (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.07:13.36; 5. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 1.07:46.64; 6. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM) 1.07:53.20; 7. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 1.08:31.43; 8. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 1.08:50.76; 9. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 1.09:52.38; 10. Adrien Metge (Honda) 1.10:18.22; 11. Chris Hollis (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.10:51.43;
Enduro 3
1. David Knight (KTM) 1.04:47.42; 2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 1.04:56.60; 3. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 1.06:35.50; 4. Seb Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.06:40.73; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 1.07:49.20; 6. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 1.07:52.66; 7. Alessandro Botturi (Husaberg) 1.08:05.87; 8. Aaron Bernardez (KTM) 1.08:16:52; 9. Mirko Gritti (Beta) 1.08:43.18; 10. Oskari Kantonen (KTM) 1.09:52.85… 16. Bartosz Oblucki (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.13:11.91