Simone Guerrero on French podium as Albergoni struggles

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni finished the sixth round of eight in the 2008 WEC series - a dry Grand Prix of France staged in Uzerche - with two 5th place results as team-mate Cristobal Guerrero claimed his first podium of the season with 3rd on Day2.

Looking to finish on the podium as he did in Wales recently title contender Albergoni struggled to master the dry French special tests and as a result failed to perform at his best. Although he was the highest UFO Corse Yamaha team rider on day one Abergoni ended the event far from satisfied with his performances. Despite an 'off-weekend' Albergoni still holds third in the Enduro 1 world championship standings.

Making the most of his home support Yamaha France rider Marc Germain finished on the podium on Day1 placing a strong 3rd behind current E1 championship leader Mika Ahola and Spaniard Ivan Cervantes. The first of four Yamaha mounted riders inside the top six, Spaniard Guerrero claimed the UFO Corse Yamaha team's best result with 4th, just 20 seconds behind Germain. With Albergoni finishing 5th Italian Maurizio Micheluz overcame pain from his tendonitis injury to finish 6th.

Just as he had on Day1 Cristobal Guerrero delivered the UFO Corse Yamaha team's best result by claiming his first silverware of 2008. With 3rd position and classifying just 11 seconds behind runner-up Ahola, Guerrero rode well throughout the day and battled with Germain. Little separated the two riders as they arrived at the event's final motocross test and Guerrero outpaced his more experienced brand-mate and finished three seconds ahead of him, ending Day2 with the final step of the podium.

Behind Germain Simone Albergoni again struggled to shine and although making no major mistakes could do no better than match his Day1 result of 5th. Handicapped by his arm injury Maurizio Micheluz placed 7th having come close to matching his day one result of 6th.

Albergoni is 38 points behind leader Ahola with the penultimate round of the series taking place in Italy on September 27th/28th. Guerrero is 5th and 13 points from Germain in 4th.

Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 5th, Day 2: 5th

"It's been a terrible weekend for me and the worse thing is that I'm not sure why. Normally I ride well in these conditions but this weekend nothing went right for me. Finishing fifth on both days isn't good enough. I was just too slow. I made some small mistakes but overall I just didn't have any speed in the corners. I'm really disappointed."

"It's been a good weekend, and day two was really good. I liked the dry terrain because it is much more like what I am used to in Spain. I enjoyed the first day but I made too many mistakes to get on the podium, but I was riding well most of the time. Although I crashed on two of the three special tests on the first lap, the rest of the day went well. I did catch a slow E3 rider in the final extreme test, but I got my first podium of the year so I am very happy."

"This GP has been really frustrating for me because I know I can be fast in dry conditions but because of the problem with my arm I found it really difficult. I simply couldn't ride as I wanted to. Sixth on day one wasn't too bad but I crashed twice on the extreme test on day two, which dropped me to sixth position. It's not too bad considering my arm, but I am disappointed that I wasn't more competitive."

1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 50'28.470

2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'20.950

3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'28.110

4 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 0'47.700

5 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'43.920

6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'0.100

7 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'0.320

8 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'11.450

9 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 2'13.710

10 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 2'37.150

11 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'40.830

12 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 4'1.220

13 Danielle Tellini Suzuki ITA 4'5.080

14 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 6'42.020

15 Francois Ciognac KTM FRA 9'28.430

1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 59'48.640

2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'51.620

3 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'2.660

4 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'4.690

5 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'52.090

6 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'28.540

7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'36.890

8 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 3'18.970

9 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 3'28.370

10 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 3'45.550

11 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 3'55.260

12 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 4'24.550

13 Kevin Gauniaux KTM BEL 4'46.600

14 Damien Miquel Suzuki FRA 5'48.770

15 Jakub Horak KTM CZE 7'44.560

1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 284

2. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 275

3. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 237

4. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 198

5. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 185

6. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 158

7. Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 130

8. Tom Sagar KTM GBR 128

9. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 119

10. Eero Remes KTM FIN 112

11. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 91

12. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 81

13. Jakub Horak KTM CZE 66

14. Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 58

15. Danielle Tellini Suzuki ITA 50

1. Honda 275

2. KTM 271

3. Yamaha 252

4. Husqvarna 139

5. Suzuki 130

6. TM 91

7. Kawasaki 47

8. Sherco 12

- Yamaha Racing -