Albergoni ends 2008 with 3rd

The final round of the '08 World Enduro Championship, staged in Mende, France, proved to be a challenging one for UFO Corse Yamaha team riders Simone Albergoni and Maurizio Micheluz as both were unable to secure podium finishes at the GP of Europe.

However Yamaha France rider Marc Germain performed well finishing in a strong runner-up position on Day1 and 3rd on Day2. With the French event bringing the '08 WEC series to a close, Albergoni, Germain and Micheluz, as well as injured UFO Corse Yamaha rider Cristobal Guerrero, officially claimed 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place positions respectively in the Enduro 1 world championship.

For Albergoni hopes that the final event of the season would bring with it rewarding end-of-season results failed to materialise as Italy's number one enduro rider was unable to finish in the top three. Despite performing well throughout the opening day's competition, including a test win early on, Albergoni finished 4th. On day two Albergoni dropped one position to 5th despite riding consistently during the day.

Having set his sights on claiming his first enduro world championship title this season, and having started the year with impressive results at the first three rounds of the series, Albergoni's disappointment was clear after the event.

Improving on his '07 world championship position of 7th, Maurizio Micheluz' outing in France were typical of several of those he endured during 2008 as he spent much of both days battling for the fourth place before he ended up finishing 7th on both days. Although disappointed at having not finished higher, Maurizio was pleased to have ended the year 5th in the competitive Enduro 1 world championship standings.

"From the mid-way point of the season I've found it hard to ride at my best. I've not really enjoyed a single corner of any special test since the middle of the season. I don't know why. I have just struggled and it's a mystery. My season started in a good way but after Poland my motivation went downhill and although I finished third in the championship I'm just not happy with things. When your target is to win it's hard when you realise that's not going to happen."

"I finished seventh on both days but I was also fighting for fourth and fifth position on both days. I crashed three times on the enduro test on the first day, as well as twice on day two. I lost everything in the enduro test. On both days fourth position wasn't too far away. It's just disappointing that I didn't finish higher. The beginning of the year things didn't go so well but the end of the year things have gone better."

1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 52'16.390

2 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'20.430

3 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 0'21.400

4 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'16.090

5 Eero Remes KTM FIN 1'17.170

6 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 1'23.460

7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'40.710

8 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 2'25..540

9 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'31.020

10 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'36.210

11 Damien Miquel Yamaha FRA 3'42.840

12 Raphael Andre Kawasaki FRA 3'59.180

13 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 8'11.740

14 Charles Feyrit Honda FRA 9'14.630

1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 51'11.530

2 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 0'2..500

3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'5.130

4 Eero Remes KTM FIN 2'5.330

5 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 2'15.470

6 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 2'21.370

7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'35.560

8 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'41.350

9 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'50.080

10 Thomas Oldrati KTM ITA 2'50.640

11 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 3'6.280

12 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 3'31.340

13 Damien Miquel Yamaha FRA 4'40.790

14 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 7'20.300

15 Charles Feyrit Honda FRA 9'31.020

Rider Standings 11/10/2008

1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 375

2. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 364

3. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 301

4. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 284

5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 224

6. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 185

7. Eero Remes KTM FIN 171

8. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 163

9. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 154

10. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 140

11. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 139

12. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 102

13. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 97

14. Damien Miquel Yamaha FRA 62

15. Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 58

1. Honda 375

2. KTM 351

3. Yamaha 338

4. Husqvarna 197

5. Suzuki 153

6. TM 102

7. Kawasaki 56

8. Sherco 12

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- Yamaha Racing Communications-