Podium sweep for Metzeler in notorious Erzberg Enduro!

26 June 2011

Metzeler riders took an incredible podium clean sweep at the brutal Erzberg extreme
enduro, held in Austria this past weekend. Polish specialist Tadeusz Blazusiak took the
win on his factory KTM from Brits Dougie Lampkin (Gas Gas) and Jonny Walker (KTM).


Regarded by many as one of the toughest off-road events in the World this years event was
added to by continuous rain as riders battled over huge boulders and near vertical climbs.
Riders pass through 'help zones' where the crowds pull them up and then struggle onwards
up the steep valley sides assistance is forbidden.

Both Blazusiak and Lampkin used their immense bike skills after being top trials riders for
many years (Dougie has been 12 times World Trials Champ). Jonny Walker surprised and
impressed many as he put himself up on the podium with a brave performance. All three
riders kept traction to a maximum with Metzeler's 6 Days Extreme tyres.


Blazusiak was ecstatic after his fifth win saying, "It's been a tough race but to get a fifth win is
just amazing. From the start I felt good, but the weather was horrible. I took an early lead
before getting past on one of the first climbs, but once we got to the first tough sections in the
forest I got back into the lead and pushed hard to open up a gap at the front. I didn't have any
problems on any of the next hard sections and had about a two or three minute lead as I got
to the toughest rock section known as Carl's Diner. It's amazing having five wins here, I have
to say such a big thanks to everyone who helped me as well as to all my sponsors. Now I'll be
spending my time getting ready for Endurocross in the States which starts with the first race
at X Games.'


Results – Erzberg Rodeo 2011


1. Taddy Blazusiak (POL/KTM)
2. Dougie Lampkin (GBR/Gas Gas)
3. Jonny Walker (GBR/KTM)



Metzeler leading E3 class at mid-season and runner-up in the 2011 Enduro World Championship

11th -12th June 2011

Not a single Grand Prix this year has seemed to have escaped the heat, and upon arriving in Fethiye (Turkey), on the shores of the Aegean Sea, it was no different with a glaring sun and temperatures around 40 degrees, not making it easy for the 70 participants in this 4th event of the FIM ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP season to endure 7 hours of riding, 180 km of difficult routes and 13 very technical and demanding timed specials.

DAY 1

E2 - The conditions of the first day of racing seemed familiar to the Spaniards who managed an astounding double in the ENDURO 2 with in particular, Cristobal GUERRERO's (KTM) superb victory, who was left satisfied after having battled brilliantly all day with his fellow countryman, Ivan CERVANTES (ESP-GAS), who rode easily on his 250 GAS GAS 2 stroke. "This is the 3rd Grand Prix victory of my career and my first on my KTM," commented Guerrero. "Through the races I am feeling more and more comfortable on the bike and we are working well with the team mechanics. And also, I felt very comfortable on this difficult circuit and as I enjoy the heat…." Championship leader Antoine Meo (FRA-HVA) finished the day well but was unable to catch up the Spanish duo. Johnny AUBERT (FRA-KTM) offering a moment of struggle with Guerrero and Cervantes and finished courageously but with difficulty, due to his painful foot following his injury at the Italian GP. An unexpected Spanish double in Enduro 2, therefore, with an excellent effort from Metzeler's Ivan CERVANTES who regained important points against Antoine Meo.

E1 - Like the Spaniards, the Husqvarna duo of riders Salminen/Seistola where strong in the E1 class and took between the two of them took a double-win in the class for the weekend. With Juha Salminen's 4th victory of the season, he reinforces his lead position but will have to rely more and more on his teammate, Matti Seistola, who is making progress from race to race. A good performance as well from the Frenchman Rodrig THAIN (HM HONDA) held the lead for a long while and then trailed Salminen by 9 seconds. A larger distance from him was Metzeler and KTM rider Eero REMES (FIN) who gifted Juha Salminen some big Championship points, whilst the other KTM rider, Thomas OLDRATI, was forced to retire for the day.
.
E3 - No surprise in the ENDURO 3, where Metzeler expert Mika AHOLA (FIN - HM HONDA) made use of his extensive experience on the Metzeler 6 Days Extreme tyres to crush the opposition accompanied by the Swede Joakim Ljunggren (HUSABERG), who managed a promising second place. Mika Ahola would have taken a nearly perfect race by Christophe NAMBOTIN (FRA-GAS) to reach his pace, but the GAS GAS representative fell several times in the first few specials, therefore losing all hope of victory.

DAY 2

E2 - Right from the start, bad luck struck KTM rider Johnny AUBERT (FRA), who suffered a mechanical difficulty just a few kilometers after the start …. "My bike stopped suddenly just before the first Cross Test. The pipe leading to the carburetor unhooked itself and it took time to find the damage, I was already 3 minutes behind!" Recipient of bad luck since the beginning of the season, Johnny AUBERT ran well in the ENDURO 2 race where the battle raged throughout the day, this time with Antoine MEO (FRA - HVA), who captured the victory 4 seconds ahead of Pierre Renet (FRA-HUSA), the latter gaining back his motivation after repeated falls yesterday. Cristobal GUERRERO (ESP-KTM) and Ivan CERVANTES (ESPGAS) also shone today, although they had to make do with 3rd and 4th places.

E1 - Matti Seistola (FIN-HVA) continued to surprise the audience and won the ENDURO 1 category by a mere 2 seconds in front of his teammate and mentor, Juha Salminen (FIN - HVA). Since his victory in Italy, Seistola has impressed with his strength of mindset and surely regretted his withdrawal from the Portuguese GP due to mechanical problems. He confirmed the Husqvarna domination in this category, ahead of Eero REMES (FIN-KTM)…. "I really like the format of this race with its chain of specials. Of course this second victory pleases me greatly and I think that my very intense training over the winter with Salminen and AHOLA has a lot to do with my progress. Mika AHOLA taught me some incredible things this winter and I owe him a lot…" In this 2nd day of races, Rodrig THAIN (FRA - HM HONDA) also shone with a highly deserved podium finish under the eyes of Thomas OLDRATI (ITA-KTM), who did not start today and had to watch the race as a spectator, just like Cédric MELOTTE (BEL-GAS), victim of an engine breakdown yesterday.

E3 - Another major turn of events today in ENDURO 3 when of GAS GAS rider Christophe NAMBOTIN encountered a mechanical difficulty during the third lap: "I was leading by 5 seconds when my engine let me down… this will make it very difficult to catch up with Mika AHOLA in the Championship." The Frenchman showed himself to be at Mika AHOLA's (FIN-HM HONDA) pace before the breakdown happened and was a gift to Mika AHOLA, who is now firmly leading the category and has defeated adversaries at each round: KNIGHT in Spain, Guillaume in Portugal and now NAMBOTIN. "NAMBOTIN'S withdrawal from the race really is bad news for me. I have now a 40 point lead in the Championship and being mid-season, I will struggle to remain focused," admitted a generous Mika AHOLA at the end of the race. The Finnish giant, Marko Tarkkarla (FIN-HUSA) scored a 2nd place behind his Swedish team-mate, Joakim Ljunggren to complete a 100% Scandinavian podium. It is also to be noted in Enduro 3 an excellent performance by Alex Salvini (ITA-HVA) 4th, and Fabio MOSSINI (ITA-BETA) 5th, whilst Sébastien Guillaume (FRA-HVA) was completely out of it for the whole weekend.

Just enough time to breath and the performers in the FIM ENDURO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP will once again take to the road for the 5th Grand Prix of the season in the direction of Kalampaka, Greece and its wonderful surroundings at the foot of the Meteora.

VIDEO:

Day 1 - http://youtu.be/9knkAWoFia4
Day 2 - http://youtu.be/TF_AxhLR4qk

7th Round Results – Day 1 – Fethiye, Turkey

E1
1 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 25
2 SEISTOLA Matti FIN HVA 22
3 REMES Eero FIN KTM 25 METZELER

E2
1 GUERRERO Cristobal ESP KTM 25 METZELER
2 CERVANTES Ivan ESP GAS 22 METZELER
3 MEO Antoine FRA HVA 20

E3
1 AHOLA Mika FIN HON 25 METZELER
2 LJUNGGREN SWE HUSA 22
3 NAMBOTIN FRA GAS 20 METZELER

8th Round Results – Day 2 – Fethiye, Turkey

E1
1 SEISTOLA Matti FIN HVA 25
2 REMES Eero FIN KTM 22 METZELER
3 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 20

E2
1 MEO Antoine FRA HVA 25
2 RENET Pierre Alexandre FRA HUSA 22
3 GUERRERO Cristobal ESP KTM 20 METZELER

E3
1 AHOLA Mika FIN HON 25 METZELER
2 TARKKALA Marko FIN HUSA 22
3 LJUNGGREN SWE HUSA 20

2011 FIM Enduro World Championship Stand. (After 8 Rounds)

E1
1 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 189
2 REMES Eero FIN KTM 160 METZELER
3 SEISTOLA Matti FIN HVA 156

E2
1 MEO Antoine FRA HVA 182
2 CERVANTES Ivan ESP GAS 158 METZELER
2 RENET Pierre Alexandre FRA HVA 152

E3
1 AHOLA Mika FIN HON 194 METZELER
2 NAMBOTIN FRA GAS 151 METZELER
3 LJUNGGREN SWE HUSA 147

 



Metzeler brings home another 10 podiums from Sicilian round of the 2011 Enduro World Championship

14/15th May 2011

  Over the weekend in Italy, more specifically the island of Sicily (Francavilla di Sicilia) had the honor of hosting and organizing for the first time in its history an Enduro World Championship race, a discipline with two distinct rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Riders pushed their Metzeler 6 Days Extreme tyres to the maximum for a total of 10 podiums in the E1, E2 and E3 classes. The frequent victors of two out of the three classes are also incumbent World Champions: Aubert and Ahola, who join their competitors Remes, Cervantes, Nambotin and Guerrero in lead positions.

On Saturday, the first round of the E1 class saw the success of Juha Salminen (HVA), followed by Matti Seistola (HVA) and Metzeler's own Eero Remes (KTM) in the third spot. In E2, Johnny Aubert (KTM) and Ivan Cervantes (GAS) ended respectively in first and third places, leaving the competition for second occupied by Antoine Meo (HVA). Finally, in the E3 class, Christophe Nambotin (GAS) and Mika Ahola (HON) have placed Metzeler's 6 Days Extreme in top two spots, ahead of the Finn Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg). The final count after Sunday's races included three wins, four second places and three third place finishes for a total of 10 podiums during the weekend's races.

The newly chosen location of Sicily for the Enduro World Championship helped raise appreciation among riders involved in the competition, who defined the assigned racing paths as amongst the most difficult in the entire world. Championship points await each of the riders competing in the next five events for a total of ten rounds. Next meeting is in Fethiye, Turkey on the 10th and 11th of June.

VIDEO:

Day 1 - http://youtu.be/SOdShQwJvjA

Day 2 - http://youtu.be/T-LlFJfUFdo

5th Round Results – Day 1 – Francavilla, Sicliy

E1

1 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 25
2 SEISTOLA Matti FIN HVA 22
3 REMES Eero FIN KTM 25 METZELER

E2

1 AUBERT Johnny FRA KTM 25 METZELER
2 MEO Antoine FRA HVA 22
3 CERVANTES Ivan ESP GAS 20 METZELER

E3

1 NAMBOTIN FRA GAS 25 METZELER
2 AHOLA Mika FIN HON 22 METZELER
3 LJUNGGREN SWE HUSA 20

6th Round Results – Day 2 – Francavilla, Sicliy

E1

1 SEISTOLA Matti FIN HVA 25
2 REMES Eero FIN KTM 22 METZELER
3 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 20

E2

1 MEO Antoine FRA HVA 25
2 CERVANTES Ivan ESP GAS 22 METZELER
3 GUERRERO Cristobal ESP GAS 20 METZELER

E3

1 AHOLA Mika FIN HON 25 METZELER
2 NAMBOTIN FRA GAS 22 METZELER
3 LJUNGGREN SWE HUSA 20

2011 FIM Enduro World Championship Stand. (After 6 Rounds)

E1

1 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 142
2 REMES Eero FIN HVA 124 METZELER
3 SEISTOLA Matti FIN HVA 109

E2

1 MEO Antoine FRA HVA 137
2 CERVANTES Ivan ESP GAS 118 METZELER
3 RENET Pierre Alex FRA HUSA 114

E3

1 AHOLA Mika FIN HON 144 METZELER
2 NAMBOTIN FRA GAS 131 METZELER
3 LJUNGGREN SWE HUSA 105

Knight and Aubert the experts at 2011 Enduro rounds in Portugal, Remes with first win

 Aubert and Remes set par for championship.

The annual opening "Spain/Portugal" Championship round came to a close in the Vale De Cambra this past weekend, much to riders' relief after four intense days of competition.  The dust, heat, deep ruts and rugged red clay terrain made this POLISPORT GP of Portugal a challenging competition.  Falls were numerous and spectacular, especially in the extreme special where more than 5000 spectators witnessed the technical know-how of the best Enduro riders in the world.

Marcus KEHR (KTM) was first exit the racing action with a fractured metacarpus injury early in the Enduro Test. And in this same special, another great of the Enduro 3 category, the Frenchman GUILLAUME (HVA) made a mistake and departed with a dislocated shoulder. Contrarily, the Metzeler "KNIGHT / NAMBOTIN / AHOLA" trio endured an incredible battles throughout the whole competition. Despite health concerns, AHOLA (FIN-HON) showed his class during the 9 timed sections and as always, finished with an exceptional lap to beat KNIGHT (GBR-KTM) and NAMBOTIN (FRA-GAS).

AN AGGRESSIVE TRIO: AHOLA, KNIGHT AND NAMBOTIN

Metzeler expert KNIGHT (GBR-KTM), who injured his hip in Round 1 of the E3 World Championship in Spain last weekend made an amazing comeback this weekend to ride through the pain to score a 1-2 for the two competition rounds in Val De Cambra in Portugal.

David showed he is much more than just a superb rider to win on Saturday, after which he said. "I was first in all the tests but the Enduro was very difficult. There were deep lines and lots of dust so it was hard to see. I think this was one of the hardest races I have ever had, especially in the last lap when I started to stiffen up. I took some pain killers before the race but really had to dig deep to concentrate."

LJUNGGREN (SWE-HUSABERG) seems to be making progress on his Husaberg, finishing 4th in front of his teammates TARKKALA (FIN) and MENA (ESP).  But Metzeler rider NAMBOTIN is very strong and should be able to recover points in the next few races, "As a team, we are going to have to continue to work hard, in particular on the engine of my bike before the Italian Grand Prix." With a total of 97 points, Mika AHOLA is definitely the man to beat in E3.

WORLD CHAMPION AUBERT IS BACK

Johnny AUBERT (FRA-KTM) shined at this event, showing his class on his KTM 350 and blowing away the Enduro 2 category, "I leave this Portuguese Grand Prix feeling reassured. But the races weren't easy and RENET put pressure on me at the beginning of the race. I reclaimed 12 points from MEO with the double win but the season is long, and I'm still hopeful despite the disappointment of Spain."  MEO (FRA-HVA), current category leader, put in some serious times and stole the 2nd place on the podium from the HUSABERG rider. GUERRERO (ESP-KTM) finished with a convincing 4th place. 

FIRST VICTORY FOR REMES

Although Enduro 2 seemed to be a race for French riders, the Enduro 1 seems to be reserved for the Finnish. Eero REMES (FIN-KTM) managed a very good race and won outright his first Grand Prix of the season, reminding his countryman SALMINEN (FIN-HVA) that he will be an important rival for the world title.  SEISTOLA (FIN-HVA) thought he would arrive in third to complete the all Finnish podium, but this spot went instead to Rodrig THAIN (FRA-HONDA) ahead of Thomas OLDRATI (ITA-KTM) in 4th, who is still demonstrating future promise.

ON THE ROAD TO SICILY

No change in the women's category where Ludivine PUY (FRA-GAS) once again is ahead of Laia SANZ (ESP-HON), Blandine DUFRENE (FRA-GAS GAS) and Geraldine FOURNEL (FRA-KTM).

After two very exciting days of this dramatic Grand Prix in Portugal, the FIM Enduro World Championship paddock will have a short rest to analyze this much disputed start to the season. The next round in FRANCAVILLA di SICILIA at the foot of Mount Etna in Italy is scheduled for the 14th and 15th of May is sure to be very important in the race to the title.

VIDEO:
Day 1 - http://blip.tv/file/4998495
Day 2 - http://blip.tv/file/5001585

2nd Round Results - Day 1 - Vale de Cambra, Portugal

E1
1 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA 25 
2 REMES Eero  FIN KTM 22  METZELER 
3 THAIN Rodrig  FRA HON 20  METZELER

E2
1 AUBERT Johnny FRA KTM 25 METZELER
2 RENET Pierre Alex FRA HUSA 22
3 GUERRERO   ESP KTM 20 METZELER

E3
1 KNIGHT David  KTM GBR 25 METZELER
2 AHOLA Mika  FIN HON 22 METZELER
3 NAMBOTIN  FRA GAS 20 METZELER

3rd Round Results - Day 2 - Vale de Cambra, Portugal

E1
1 REMES Eero  FIN KTM --  METZELER
2 SALMINEN Juha FIN HVA -- 
3 THAIN Rodrig  FRA HON --  METZELER

E2
1 AUBERT Johnny FRA KTM 25 METZELER
2 MEO Antoine  FRA HVA 22
3 RENET Pierre Alex FRA HVA 20
 
E3
1 AHOLA Mika  FIN HON 25 METZELER
2 KNIGHT  GBR KTM 22 METZELER
3 NAMBOTIN  FRA GAS 20 METZELER

2011 FIM Enduro World Championship Stand. (After 4 Rounds)

E1
1 SALMINEN  FIN HVA 72       
2 REMES  FIN HVA 60 METZELER
3 THAIN Rodrig  FRA HON 54 METZELER

E2
1 MEO Antoine  FRA HVA 90 
2 RENET Pierre Alex FRA HUSA 80
3 CERVANTES Ivan ESP GAS 76  METZELER

E3
1 AHOLA Mika  FIN HON 97 METZELER
2 NAMBOTIN   FRA GAS 44 METZELER
3 LJUNGGREN  SWE HUSA 65