CH Racing Husqvarna Factory Team 2009 World Enduro Championship ’09 – Round 1, Penafiel, 21/22.3.2009

Strong start to ’09 WEC season for CH Racing Husqvarna

The opening round of the ’09 World Enduro Championship will long be remembered as a race that delivered more than its fair share of mixed results, but for the CH Racing Husqvarna team the GP of , staged in Penafiel, ended positively as team riders Antoine Meo, Bartosz Oblucki and Seb Guillaume all enjoyed podium results. An extremely dry, dusty and demanding race the ’09 season opener also saw Husqvarna claim their first E1 class podium with their new 250cc four-stroke bike.

The results secured by Meo, Oblucki and Guillaume at the end of the opening day’s competition were without question the highlight of the weekend for the CH Racing Husqvarna team. Following several months of focused testing and training all three riders showed that they have what is needed to challenge for top results this season. For Meo and Oblucki the results were particularly pleasing as the GP of Portugal saw both riders respectively compete internationally in the Enduro 1 and Enduro 2 classes for the first time.

With defending Enduro 1 world champion setting the pace in the E1 class Antoine Meo made a solid start to his championship campaign finishing in second position to the Finn on day one. Topping one of the day’s special tests, the final extreme test, Antoine rode consistently and kept himself out of trouble, which allowed him to take advantage of a late race fall by Italian Simone Albergoni. Despite continued good riding day two didn’t go quite as well for Antoine as he placed fifth. Less than five seconds away from the fourth placed rider and a further 10 seconds adrift of third placed Thomas Oldrati, Antoine’s only real mistake was during the opening extreme test, which come the end of the day proved decisive in preventing him from claiming a second podium result.

With the opening round of the ’08 WEC season ending in injury for Bartosz Oblucki the Pole’s third place result at the end of the opening day’s competition at the GP of Portugal was arguably the team’s most pleasing result. Switching to the Enduro 2 class for the first time ever, Oblucki quickly overcame a disappointing Friday night Super test performance to battle for a podium position. Topping the extreme test time sheets late in the day, Bartosz managed to do just enough to finish ahead of Frenchman Rodrig Thain and make a welcomed return to the WEC podium. Day two started well for Oblucki with a second podium finish well within his reach. But as the day moved past the mid-way point, and competition for a podium place started to hot up, he made a hand full of small errors, which dropped him to seventh in class.

As one of several riders with a very real chance of claiming the ’09 Enduro 3 world title Frenchman Seb Guillaume got his championship campaign off to a strong start by finishing on the podium on both days. Third and just 14 seconds behind runner-up on day one, Seb found the opening WEC race of the year tough, yet made few major mistakes during the first day. Making less mistakes but feeling tired on day two Seb managed to finish ahead of defending Enduro 3 world champion Samuli Aro to claim his second podium result and begin the ’09 world championship in impressive form.

Antoine Meo – Enduro 1: “I’m pleased with my first world championship race in the Enduro 1 class. Finishing second on day one was great, especially after I crashed on the extreme test and lost a lot of time. I hard to work hard all day to reclaim the time I lost, so to finish on the podium was very positive. It was also Husqvarna’s first world championship podium with the bike. “Sadly, the second day didn’t go quite as well as the first. Again I made a mistake on the first extreme test and lost some time so I had to work hard to come back. It was a very tough day with all the dust, but I am pleased to have finished fifth. Two strong results is exactly how I wanted to start the championship.”

Bartosz Oblucki – Enduro 2: “To finish on the podium in the E2 class at my first world championship race on the 250cc two‐stroke is great. After two years of disappointing results and injuries I am really pleased. I wasn’t so fast early in the day but then I made a few changes to the bike, which changed everything. My confidence improved and I was able to be really fast. “Things were going really well on day two up until half way through the day. I was in third or fourth, and fighting with several riders, and when I started to push so that I could be three or four seconds faster in each special test I started making mistakes.”

Seb Guillaume – Enduro 3: “It’s been a difficult GP for me, but I am really pleased that I managed to finish on the podium on both days. I made a lot of mistakes on the extreme test but I seemed to be quite ok on the others. The competition is really strong in the E3 class so any mistakes are really hard to overcome. “I felt really tired at the start of the second day, which made for a long hard race. The first lap was really difficult for me but after that I didn’t find things too bad. The changes made to the extreme test suited me and I managed to make some fast times in all of the tests. To finish on the podium on both days is good.”

2009 World Enduro Championship Grand Prix of Portugal – Day 1

Enduro 1 class 1. Mika Ahola (Honda) 56:41.57; 2. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 57:46.89; 3. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 57:51.89; 4. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 57:57.79; 5. Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 58:34.57; 6. Xavier Galindo (KTM) 58:47.26; 7. Fabien Planet (KTM) 58:53.38; 8. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 59:12.42; 9. Marc Bourgeois (CH Racing Husqvarna) 59:34.55; 10. Felipe Zanol (Yamaha) 59:42.01;

Enduro 2 class 1. (KTM) 56:33.43; 2. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 57:57.56; 3. Bartosz Oblucki (CH Racing Husqvarna) 58:22.46; 4. Rodrig Thain (TM) 58:29.14; 5. (BMW) 58:34.69; 6. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 58:56.74; 7. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 58:57.10; 8. Simo Kirssi (BMW) 59:17.45; 9. Nicolas Depparois (Gas Gas) 1:00:00. 38; 10. Luca Cherubini (TM) 1:00:18; 88;

Enduro 3 Class 1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 57:35.65; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 58:03.79; 3. Sebastien Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 58:18.52; 4. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 58:39.35; 5. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 58:36.94; 6. David Knight (BMW) 58:59.87; 7. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 59:16.97; 8. Marko Tarkkala (BMW) 59:23.49; 9. Tom Sagar (Husaberg) 1:00:20.98; 10. Fernando Ferreira (Yamaha) 1:02:04.44;

Enduro Junior class 1. Oriol Mena (Husaberg) 59:02.48; 2. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 59:16.56; 3. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 59:22.62; 4. Jeremy Joly (Honda) 59:54.33; 5. Vanni Cominotto (KTM) 1:01:42.32; 6. Goncalo Reis (KTM) 1:01:50.99; 7. Matthieu Gagnoud (Honda) 1:01:56.66; 8. Antoine Basset (Husqvarna) 1:02:20.09; 9. Edoardo D’Ambrosio (KTM) 1:02:47.72; 10. Ellie Vecchie (Gas Gas) 1:02:50.41; 16. Jonathan Manzi (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1:04:24.40

2009 World Enduro Championship Grand Prix of Portugal – Day 2

Enduro 1 class 1.Mika Ahola (Honda) 55:54.00; 2. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 56:59.20; 3. Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 56:49.31; 4. Eero Remes (KTM) 57:01.81; 5. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 57:05.86; 6. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 57:34.39; 7. Fabien Planet (KTM) 57:43.13; 8. Xavier Galindo (KTM) 58:23.39; 9. Nicolas Paganon (Kawasaki) 58:32.77; 10. Felipe Zanol (Yamaha) 58:58.63; 12. Marc Bourgeois (CH Racing Husqvarna) 59:30.07;

Enduro 2 class 1. Johnny Aubert (TM) 55:36.98; 2. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 57:06.18; 3. Rodrig Thain (TM) 57:20.10; 4. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 57:21.51; 5. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 57:31.15; 6. Juha Salminen (BMW) 58:03.84; 7. Bartosz Oblucki (CH Racing Husqvarna) 58:12.62; 8. Simo Kirssi (BMW) 58:24.68; 9. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) 58:37.53; 10. Luca Cherubini (TM) 58:57.58;

Enduro 3 Class

1. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 56:12.51; 2. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 56:56.80; 3. Sebastien Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 57:16.79; 4. Samuli Aro (KTM) 57:19.39; 5. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 57:38.50; 6. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 57:46.58; 7. Marko Tarkkala (BMW) 58:20.29; 8. Jordi Figueras (Gas Gas) 1:00:50.17; 9. Fernando Ferreira (Yamaha) 1:00:50.17; 10. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 1:01:52.67;

Enduro Junior class 1. Oriol Mena (Husaberg) 58:03.74; 2. Jeremy Joly (Honda) 58.20.68; 3. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 58:25.20; 4. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 58:40.77; 5. Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha) 59:19.55; 6 Vanni Cominotto (KTM) 59:59.16; 7. Philip Mclaughlin (TM) 1:00:21.96; 8. Goncalo Reis (KTM) 1:00.51.43; 9. Calle Sjoo (Husaberg) 1:00:52.52; 10. Elie Vecchi (Gas Gas) 1:01:17.38; 13. Jonathon Manzi (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1:01:40.02;

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