UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert is the 2008 Enduro 2 World Champion. Having held the lead in the E2 series on his WR250F from the third round the former French motocross racer has now lifted his first ever world title, continuing an excellent season of racing for Yamaha after MotoGP and MX1 Motocross world championship success.
Competing against Juha Salminen, the rider widely regarded as the best enduro racer of all time, Aubert put the finishing touches to what has been a near faultless season finishing 2nd on Day1 in Mende, France and then 3rd on Day2.
Starting the final round of the '08 WEC campaign with a commanding lead in the E2 class Aubert realistically needed just a handful of points from both days of competition to secure the coveted E2 title. Competing in front of a hugely enthusiastic home crowd, Aubert pushed hard on day one but was clearly riding well within his limits as he opted not to challenge for the class win.
Finishing over one-minute behind winner Salminen, Aubert ensured that on day two he needed to collect only the required points in order to take the crown. By finishing 4th, and earning his 16th podium finish of the year, Aubert did exactly what he needed to do and joined Finns Mika Ahola and Samuli Aro as a '08 World Enduro Champion.
Not having such a good weekend was Italian rider Fabrizio Dini. Although scoring 7th in the final Enduro 2 world championship ranking Fabrizio found the French event's enduro test extremely challenging and saw several mistakes prevent him from finishing closer to the podium.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: 2nd, Day 2: 3rd
"It's amazing to be able to say that I'm world champion. It hasn't sunk in yet but I know in a few days I will be so, so happy when I realise what I've achieved. It's been a long, hard year. I was nervous on day one, but on day two it wasn't so bad. I put in some good tests but I was really only thinking about the championship. I have to thanks the team for doing a great job this year. They have helped me do what I have always dreamed of, becoming world champion."
Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: 9th, Day 2: 8th:
"It's been a nice race but not a good one for me. I didn't like the enduro test. It was really slippery and hard to understand. I felt like I was the slowest rider in the event on that test. I crashed many times on day one, which gave me a pretty bad result. I stalled my bike on the enduro test on day two and I lost 40 or 50 seconds. After that things went ok because I was fast on the extreme and motocross tests. I finished seventh in the world championship, which is the same as last year. I'm not overly happy with my final position but I've enjoyed the year."
Circuit Length: n/a
Crowd: 10,100
Weather: Changeable
2008 Enduro 2 France 12/10/2008 Race 1
1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 51'7.800
2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 1'19.620
3 Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 1'43.150
4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'15.150
5 Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 2'25.540
6 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 2'51.170
7 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 3'0.330
8 Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 3'17.140
9 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'24.320
10 Jean Francois Goblet BMW BEL 3'51.570
11 Mickael Metge HusaBerg FRA 5'1.490
12 Rudy Cotton Beta FRA 5'9.440
13 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 5'18.180
14 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 5'54.250
15 Christophe Robert KTM CHE 6'28.700
Race 2
1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 50'31.820
2 Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 0'51.600
3 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 1'1.540
4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'3.620
5 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 2'14.720
6 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 2'16.930
7 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 2'43.270
8 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'12.030
9 Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 3'12.930
10 Jean Francois Goblet BMW BEL 4'28.110
11 Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 4'34.760
12 Mickael Metge HusaBerg FRA 4'39.990
13 Rudy Cotton Beta FRA 6'3.770
14 Hans Vogel KTM NED 6'17.650
15 Christophe Robert KTM CHE 6'49.930
Rider Standings 11/10/2008
1. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 361
2. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 353
3. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 259
4. Rodrig Thain TM FRA 226
5. Antoine Meo Husqvarna FRA 222
6. Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 217
7. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 196
8. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 173
9. Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 147
10. Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 139
11. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 134
12. Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 134
13. Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 110
14. Alessandro Zanni Honda ITA 78
15. Jean Francois Goblet BMW BEL 70
Manufacturer Standings 11/10/2008
1. KTM 378
2. Yamaha 361
3. Husqvarna 248
4. HusaBerg 243
5. TM 226
6. Honda 221
7. BMW 191
8. Aprilia 173
9. GasGas 134
10. Beta 66
11. Suzuki 26
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