KTM WINS IN THE SNOW OF SWEDEN

The two Finnish riders were at home in the deep snow conditions, the only 2-race series ridden in winter conditions and using spiked tyres. Aro moved up from E2 last year to the big bike category where he fought a tough battle with fellow Finn Mika Ahola and the stage has now been set for the two KTM riders to lock horns in the 2008 season.
 
Good fight
‘Aro and Marko fought a great battle for the lead all the way and they were only a couple of seconds apart going into the second last test,’ team boss Fabio Farioli said after the race. ‘It was a good race and a good fight.’
 
Finns at home in snowy conditions
KTM’s two Finnish riders were really at home in the snowy conditions at Oestersund. Temperatures varied between 2- and minus 2 decrees Celsius on a day where there was no wind, conditions that are expected to prevail for the second race on Sunday. This is the third year that the Enduro season has opened in Sweden and the winter conditions have now become a standard challenge.
 
Results:
1. Samuli Aro, Finland, KTM
2. Marko Tarkkala, Finland, KTM
3. Bjorne Carlsson, Sweden, Husaberg
4. Sebastien Guillaume, France, Husqvarna
5. Christophe Nambotin, France, Gas Gas

Salminen of Finland, who moved from E1 where he was the dominant rider and title winner to take up new challenges in the E2 class in 2008.  He was lying between sixth and eighth position in the early stages of the race but in characteristic form, worked his way up through the order as the race progressed.
 
Close to victory
‘Salminen was very close to victory in the final stages of the race but then he stalled the bike and had to settle for third place,’ said team manager Fabio Farioli. Salminen’s teammate Alessandro Belometti of Italy rode consistently and finally finished in seventh place.
 
Winter conditions suit Scandinavian riders
Although temperatures were only around two degrees Celsius and there was a lot of snow on parts of the course, conditions that were well suited to the Scandinavian riders in the field, there as no wind. Similar conditions are expected for Sunday’s race at the same venue. Parts of the course were covered in very heavy snow and the motocross test will be run in reverse on Sunday.
 
Results
1. Joakim Ljunggren, Sweden, Husaberg
2. Johnny Aubert, France, Yamaha
3. Juha Salminen, Finland, KTM
4. Valtteri Salonen, Finland, Husaberg
5. Antonio Meo, France, Husqvarna 
7. Alessandro Belometti, Italy, KTM

Deep snow
Cervantes, from Spain, who won the E3 title in 2007 lost a minute riding in the unfamiliar deep snow in the early part of the race and found himself in eighth position. He managed to move up two positions riding in the winter conditions in the first of two races that launches the 2008 season.
 
Sagar crashes at jump
Cervantes teammate Britain’s Tom Sagar came unstuck in the latter part of the race but fortunately suffered no serious injury. ‘He took a hard fall,’ said team boss Fabio Farioli, speaking from the hospital where Sagar was being checked over.’ He came off a jump too fast and hit a bump.’ Farioli said he expected Sagar would ‘at least try’ to start in the second race on Sunday. The British rider finished in the top three in the junior competition last season and is expected to learn a lot from the more experienced Cervantes during the 2008 season.
 
Spiked Tyres
To add to the unusual winter conditions of the races, the only ones contested using spiked tyres, riders had to cross part of the frozen lake and this year had to detour around breaks in the ice. For Sunday the motocross test will be held in reverse and parts of the course covered in heavy snow will be eliminated. 
Results E1
1. Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda
2. Simone Albergoni, Italy, Yamaha
3. Eero Remes, Finland, KTM
4. Marc Germain, France, Yamaha
5. Bartosz Oblucki, Poland, Husqvarna
6. Ivan Cervantes, Spain, KTM