Double podium and first 2008 win for Albergoni

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni continued his impressive form in the 2008 World Enduro Championship claiming two podium finishes at the second round of the series, the Grand Prix of Portugal staged in Vale de Cambra. Earning a well-deserved victory on Day1 Simone battled hard on Day2 to place 2nd and finished less than six seconds behind winner Ivan Cervantes despite a costly mistake on the extreme test.

Having recorded his best ever start to a world championship season at the recent GP of Sweden, Simone showed in Portugal that no matter how challenging the conditions he is certainly ready to take the E1 title fight to his class rivals.

Winning 6 of the opening day's 9 special tests, Simone took control of the Enduro 1 class early on with a winning performance on the opening enduro foray. With world champions Mika Ahola and Ivan Cervantes applying considerable pressure to the Italian throughout the opening day the Yamaha rider remained error- free and managed to maintain his lead.

 Knowing that just one mistake on the challenging Portuguese terrain would easily end his hopes of victory, Simone topped two of the third and final lap's three special tests to claim a well-deserved victory. Albergoni placed ahead of round one winner Mika Ahola with former E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes third.

Proceedings took a turn for the worse on Day2 as heavy rain ensured the three Portuguese special tests became heavily rutted and even harder to ride than on Day1. Despite the atrocious conditions Simone again performed extremely well aboard his WR250F.

Winning the first special test as he had on day one, Simone wasn't quite able to match Cervantes for pace during the opening lap. On lap two a mistake in the extreme test saw him lose six seconds to the Spaniard and despite his best efforts he wasn't quite able to repeat his Day1 achievement. Finishing the second day less than six seconds away from the top step of the podium Simone importantly again placed ahead of round one winner Mika Ahola.

Albergoni is currently second in the standings, just three points behind Ahola.

For Albergoni's UFO Corse Yamaha team mates Maurizio Micheluz and Cristobal Guerrero the GP of Portugal was one of mixed fortunes. Not pleased with his performances at the opening round of the series in Sweden, Micheluz claimed a solid 5th place finish on Day1 but then disappointingly failed to finish Day2 with an ignition problem.

For Guerrero, who following his early season shoulder injury is still not 100 per cent bike fit, the Portuguese event was extremely hard. The Spaniard was 7th on Day1 and managed to improve his result by one position on Day2 but was far from happy with his results.

The next stop of the 2008 WEC series is Cristobal's home race - the GP of Spain at Sitges, just south of Barcelona.

"It's been another good race for me. My speed is good but importantly my confidence also now. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season because I know I can compete against the two world champions that are in the Enduro 1 class - Cervantes and Ahola. I had two small crashes on day one but I was still able to win by one second so I am really pleased with that. After a small mistake in the extreme test I pushed as hard as I could but Ivan Cervantes was really fast. I finished five seconds behind, which is good but a little bit disappointing as I could have won again without that mistake."

Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 7th, Day 2 5th:

"It's been a really tough race for me because I haven't been able to do as much training ahead of the world championship races as I needed to do because of my shoulder injury. I took as many points as possible here in Portugal but I still don't feel completely comfortable in all of the special tests. The next race is my home race in Spain, so I hope that there I can get the kind of results I know I'm capable of."

"The first day was tough but I am pleased with my fifth place result. After the first race of the world championship in the snow I was looking forward to competing in more normal conditions. I was close behind fourth position so I was very happy. Day two was very difficult and disappointingly I had a problem with my bike on the first lap. The problem was the ignition and I wasn't able to finish the day."

2008 Enduro 1 Portugal 30/03/2008 Race 1

1 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 50'11.120

2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'2.430

3 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 0'11.800

4 Eero Remes KTM FIN 0'45.340

5 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 0'56.790

6 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'4.120

7 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'14.430

8 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'13.820

9 Daryl Bolter Husqvarna GBR 2'19.010

10 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'31.880

1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 53'59.090

2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 0'5.510

3 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'29.420

4 Eero Remes KTM FIN 1'6.940

5 Tom Sagar KTM GBR 2'12.570

6 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 2'43.330

7 Paulo Felicia Kawasaki POR 4'8.490

8 Jordan Curvalle Suzuki FRA 4'20.080

9 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 4'35.060

10 Fernando Ferreira Yamaha POR 6'28.340

Johnny Aubert seizes first win in double podium outing

Johnny Aubert knew before the 2008 E2 World Enduro Championship started that to beat seven-time world champion Juha Salminen he would have to perform at his very best and on day one of the GP of Portugal that's exactly what the UFO Corse Yamaha rider produced. Following decent outings at the first round of the championship in Sweden the former motocross racer claimed his first Enduro 2 class victory of the year following a solid opening day performance in Portugal.

Locked in an intense battle with his Finnish E2 class rival, the Frenchman emerged from the opening day less than one second ahead having topped 5 of the day's 9 special tests. On Day2 Aubert started well by winning 2 of the opening lap's 3 special tests, but despite his hardest efforts a double class win eluded him as he placed as runner-up to Salminen at the end of a demanding competition.

Showing that the Enduro 2 title fight is likely be a two-rider tussle, Aubert, with Salminen right behind him, placed more than two minutes ahead of third placed competitor Joakim Ljunggren. Aubert was runner-up to Salminen at the end of the first special test with no other rider posing any real threat to the duo. He then managed to top test two to claim a small but decisive advantage. With little to separate the rivals throughout the day, Aubert arrived at the ninth and final special test trailing Salminen. Aubert recorded a time just under two seconds faster, which was enough for him to take the lead and the day win.

A wet and technical Day2 started with Aubert looking as if he was headed towards another E2 class victory as he headed the first two special tests from Salminen. However the Finn claimed the following four tests by the mid-way point of the day. Aubert was in second, but comfortably ahead of third place rider Valtteri Salonen. Despite taking the event's penultimate test, Johnny was unable to repeat his success of the previous 24 hours, but nevertheless claimed a solid runner-up result to continue his good start to the '08 WEC series. He is lies second in the standings, three points behind Salminen.

Aubert's Italian UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate, Fabrizio Dini, performed well at the GP of Portugal with 7th and 6th place results in the Enduro 2 class. Starting Day1 badly, Dini had to battle his way back from 15th position on lap one to an eventual 7th - a result that would have been better if it wasn't for a mistake on the final extreme test. Despite the worsening conditions on day two Dini improved his result and placed a deserved 6th.

"Winning the first day was really good. It was really close between me and Juha. Before the last special test of the event there was only one and a half seconds between us, but I was behind Juha. I pushed as hard as I could and managed to win the day. I didn't have any real problems on day two, only that Juha Salminen was really fast. It's been a hard race. I didn't have any problems, apart from a small mistake in the first extreme test, but it was very wet. You had to keep pushing hard all day; there was no time to rest. For my championship it has been another good weekend."

Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - day 1 7th, Day 2 6th:

"It's been a nice race but very hard. The time controls were tight and it meant that there wasn't much time to relax during the day. Both days were extremely difficult. It was a strange race for me. I started day one very badly, in 15th position. By the end I was in sixth, but then I fell on the last extreme test and dropped to seventh. Considering the way my day started it wasn't such a bad result. The second day wasn't so bad. It was really difficult because of the weather but it was the same for all riders. I didn't have too many problems although I didn't like the mud on the motocross test so much. I hope that in Spain we have better conditions."

1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 49'13.710

2 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 0'59.000

3 Joakim Ljunggren HusaBerg SWE 2'4.870

4 Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 2'6.550

5 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 2'37.970

6 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 2'54.000

7 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 2'54.600

8 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 2'58.560

9 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 3'0.100

10 Nicolas Deparrois GasGas FRA 3'22.760

1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 54'12.030

2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 0'30.980

3 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 1'56.970

4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 1'57.240

5 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 2'15.120

6 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 2'57.940

7 Simo Kirssi BMW FIN 3'8.920

8 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 3'53.440

9 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 4'20.390

10 Rodrig Thain TM FRA 4'44.320

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