Ahola wins WEC season opener in Spain
Tuesday 05 April: Honda HM Zanardo rider, Mika Ahola got off to the best possible start for his 2011 championship campaign by taking victory on both days in superb style.
The opening of the Maxxis FIM Enduro
World Championship began on a balmy, almost summery Saturday, at the GP
AMV Seguros held in Ponts, a sweet little Catalan town, nestled between
the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean.
Ahola,
who has stepped up to E3 this year, sent out a message to all of his
rivals 
as he dominated two days of competition. Reigning E3 Champion,
David Knight, was powerless to stop him; forced to sit on the sidelines
after injuring himself badly at the end of the second lap on Day 1.
Honda Pro Racing wishes a speedy recovery to Knight and hope to see him
back soon.
He was only briefly troubled by Christophe
Nambotin who eventually lost pace with the flying Finn in the last two
timed sections of the day, as the quadruple World Champion began to show
his true class.
Ahola was once again imperial throughout
Day 2 in the E3 class. Again Nambotin was the only rider able to keep up
somewhat with the Honda man who is currently at the top of his game!
All will now head towards Portugal and the Vale de Cambra for the
next Grand Prix in the World Enduro Championship which takes place this
coming weekend.
Mika Ahola, Honda HM Zanardo:
"When
I walked the special I was thinking that it looked like my kind of race
and was feeling really positive about things. It was natural and fast
and my sort of terrain. I started with really bad luck though, crashing
in the Super Test Prologue which affected my start position. I also had
brake problems at the start of Day 1 which meant that I really needed to
push to gain back the time. I knew the French guys on two-strokes would
be fast but Nambotin’s pace really surprised me. With Knight out of the
picture for the time being, I think he will be my strongest competitor
throughout the first part of the season.”
Event results - Round 1 - Race 1
|
1
|
Mika Ahola
|
53:21.87
|
FIN
|
HONDA
|
Team HM Honda Zanardo
|
|
2
|
Christophe Nambotin
|
+13.65
|
FRA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Team
|
|
3
|
Sebastien Guillaume
|
+32.05
|
FRA
|
HUSQVARNA
|
Husqvarna CH Racin Monster Energy
|
|
4
|
Oriol Mena
|
+50.39
|
ESP
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Racing Team
|
|
5
|
Tadeusz Blazusiak
|
+1:11.90
|
POL
|
KTM
|
KTM Enduro Factory Team
|
|
6
|
Joakim Ljunggren
|
+1:18.84
|
SWE
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Racing Team
|
|
7
|
Marcus Kehr
|
+1:21.49
|
GER
|
KTM
|
KTM Enduro Supported Team
|
|
8
|
Marko Tarkkala
|
+1:32.17
|
FIN
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Team
|
|
9
|
Alessandro Botturi
|
+1:35.32
|
ITA
|
GAS GAS
|
FEG SRL
|
|
10
|
Juan Perez de la Torre
|
+1:48.10
|
ESP
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
11
|
Maurizio Micheluz
|
+1:50.29
|
ITA
|
FANTIC
|
Fantic Motor Scuderia Doimo Cityline
|
|
12
|
Jordi Figueras
|
+2:23.49
|
SPA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Team
|
|
13
|
Maurizio Facchin
|
+3:07.70
|
ITA
|
HONDA
|
Team HM Honda Zanardo
|
|
14
|
Jordi Viladoms
|
+3:19.28
|
ESP
|
YAMAHA
|
Yamaha O.Pons Team
|
|
15
|
Rudy Cotton
|
+3:27.28
|
FRA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Proracing Team
|
|
16
|
Jakob Morhed
|
+3:49.99
|
SWE
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
17
|
Jonas Karlsson
|
+4:13.58
|
SWE
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
18
|
Christian Espana
|
+14:33.90
|
AND
|
TM
|
Moto Equip TM
|
Event results - Round 1 - Race 2
|
1
|
Mika Ahola
|
54:52.30
|
FIN
|
HONDA
|
Team HM Honda Zanardo
|
|
2
|
Christophe Nambotin
|
+27.91
|
FRA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Team
|
|
3
|
Marko Tarkkala
|
+1:03.29
|
FIN
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Team
|
|
4
|
Sebastien Guillaume
|
+1:09.74
|
FRA
|
HUSQVARNA
|
Husqvarna CH Racin Monster Energy
|
|
5
|
Joakim Ljunggren
|
+1:11.45
|
SWE
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Racing Team
|
|
6
|
Oriol Mena
|
+1:44.17
|
ESP
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Racing Team
|
|
7
|
Marcus Kehr
|
+1:49.08
|
GER
|
KTM
|
KTM Enduro Supported Team
|
|
8
|
Alessandro Botturi
|
+2:16.93
|
ITA
|
GAS GAS
|
FEG SRL
|
|
9
|
Maurizio Micheluz
|
+2:28.71
|
ITA
|
FANTIC
|
Fantic Motor Scuderia Doimo Cityline
|
|
10
|
Juan Perez de la Torre
|
+2:29.46
|
ESP
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
11
|
Jordi Figueras
|
+2:44.35
|
SPA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Team
|
|
12
|
Jonas Karlsson
|
+4:22.46
|
SWE
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
13
|
Jakob Morhed
|
+4:24.52
|
SWE
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
14
|
Rudy Cotton
|
+4:48.20
|
FRA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Proracing Team
|
|
15
|
Jordi Viladoms
|
+5:57.74
|
ESP
|
YAMAHA
|
Yamaha O.Pons Team
|
Championship standings
|
1
|
Mika Ahola
|
50 pts
|
FIN
|
HONDA
|
Team HM Honda Zanardo
|
|
2
|
Christophe Nambotin
|
44 pts
|
FRA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Team
|
|
3
|
Sebastien Guillaume
|
38 pts
|
FRA
|
HUSQVARNA
|
Husqvarna CH Racin Monster Energy
|
|
4
|
Oriol Mena
|
33 pts
|
ESP
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Racing Team
|
|
5
|
Marko Tarkkala
|
33 pts
|
FIN
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Team
|
|
6
|
Joakim Ljunggren
|
31 pts
|
SWE
|
HUSABERG
|
Husaberg Factory Racing Team
|
|
7
|
Marcus Kehr
|
28 pts
|
GER
|
KTM
|
KTM Enduro Supported Team
|
|
8
|
Alessandro Botturi
|
25 pts
|
ITA
|
GAS GAS
|
FEG SRL
|
|
9
|
Maurizio Micheluz
|
22 pts
|
ITA
|
FANTIC
|
Fantic Motor Scuderia Doimo Cityline
|
|
10
|
Juan Perez de la Torre
|
22 pts
|
ESP
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
11
|
Jordi Figueras
|
19 pts
|
SPA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Team
|
|
12
|
Tadeusz Blazusiak
|
16 pts
|
POL
|
KTM
|
KTM Enduro Factory Team
|
|
13
|
Rudy Cotton
|
13 pts
|
FRA
|
GAS GAS
|
Gas Gas Proracing Team
|
|
14
|
Jordi Viladoms
|
13 pts
|
ESP
|
YAMAHA
|
Yamaha O.Pons Team
|
|
15
|
Jonas Karlsson
|
13 pts
|
SWE
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
16
|
Jakob Morhed
|
13 pts
|
SWE
|
KTM
|
No Name - KTM
|
|
17
|
Maurizio Facchin
|
8 pts
|
ITA
|
HONDA
|
Team HM Honda Zanardo
|
|
18
|
Christian Espana
|
3 pts
|
AND
|
TM
|
Moto Equip TM
|
