Albergoni takes podium at frosty Sweden

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni got his 2008 Enduro 1 World Championship campaign off to an impressive start at the Grand Prix of Sweden, staged in Ostersund, where the Italian was runner-up on day one and then again finished on the podium with third place on day two. The series' only winter enduro is typically an event in which many southern European riders struggle, due to the frozen terrain and sub-zero riding conditions. Albergoni defied expectations and showed just how determined he is to win this year's E1 title by posting two solid results despite admitting that he certainly doesn't feel at home racing with spiked tyres.

Heading to Finland ten days prior to the Swedish opener for preparation, Simone mixed consistency with speed on day one and never dropped lower than fifth in the class on any of the day's seven special tests. Finishing just eight seconds behind eventual E1 class winner Mika Ahola on the event's opening test, Simone held off hard charging WEC newcomer Eero Remes from Finland and after one-hour of special test action placed as a deserved runner-up.

On day two Simone was again quick, despite the unfamiliar conditions. Although not starting Sunday as well as he had on Saturday, and not managing to get to grips with the fast motocross test, three solid enduro test performances saw him end the day third, just 18 seconds behind former double E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes. Up next on the WEC tour are the second and third rounds of the series, which will take place in Portugal and Spain - events that will be much more to Simone's liking.

Competing alongside Albergoni for the UFO Corse Yamaha team in the E1 class Maurizio Micheluz placed in seventh on both days - results the Italian was pleased with considering the frozen terrain. Performing well on the motocross test on day one, Maurizio was again at his best on the motocross tests on day two managing to record the third fastest E1 class time on the last lap of the event.

Although consistent on both days, and like Micheluz riding strongly on the event's fast and flowing motocross section, Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero was unable to perform as well as he'd hoped as several crashes hampered his results. Cristobal preparations for the meeting were hampered due to the shoulder injury he sustained at the final round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup but he was still able to secure two top ten results with eighth on day one and ninth on day two.

"I'm really pleased with my results this weekend. In 2007 and 2006 I really struggled with the conditions and my results were bad, which made things difficult for me for the rest of the season as I was always trying to catch up lost points. Finishing second on day one and third on day two is fantastic. I hoped that I would get two podium results but to get them is a really great start to the championship.

Day one went really well. I wasn't as fast on the motocross on day two as I was on day one, but my enduro tests were still good. I didn't expect to be as fast as I was. I have to thank Mika Ahola because I spent some time training with him in Finland before this GP."

"Things didn't go as well as I hoped they would here in Sweden - it is difficult riding in these strange conditions. Although there wasn't as much snow as there could have been it was still difficult.

My training before the race was also not the best because of my shoulder injury. I hoped for better results but I crashed too many times. I hope I can perform better in Portugal and Spain."

"The most important thing for me this weekend was simply to survive. I knew that the race would be tough for me so I just wanted to finish both days as well as I could. I finished seventh on day one, but not too far behind the other southern European riders.

My special test times on day two were quite good and I finished seventh again, which I'm happy with. I am looking forward to the rest of the championship now and won't miss coming back to the winter enduro next year!"

1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 68'8.110

2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'43.120

3 Eero Remes KTM FIN 1'45.280

4 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 2'20.120

5 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 2'33.780

6 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 2'45.370

7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'48.650

8 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 3'49.450

9 Niklas Gustafsson Honda SWE 4'22.660

10 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 5'50.220

1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 49'15.050

2 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 1'44.580

3 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 2'3.320

4 Eero Remes KTM FIN 2'7.990

5 Niklas Gustafsson Honda SWE 2'21.280

6 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 3'5.140

7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 3'14.430

8 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 3'30.560

9 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 3'51.050

10 Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 3'57.280

1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 50

2. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 42

3. Eero Remes KTM FIN 38

4. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 37

5. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 33

6. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 29

7. Niklas Gustafsson Honda SWE 28

8. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 28

9. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 25

10. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 11

11. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 11

1. Honda 50

2. KTM 42

3. Yamaha 42

4. Husqvarna 29

5. Suzuki 11  

-Yamaha Racing -