Celebrations for Meo and Bellino

Bad weather fails to dampen spirits at the Maxxis Enduro World Championship, as France’s Antoine MEO and Mathias BELLINO are crowned enduro world champions at the GP Radio Suomi Pop of Finland… Adding to the title winning celebrations of day one, KTM’s Antoine MEO (F) was crowned the Enduro 1 World Champion on day two at the penultimate round of the series. Husaberg’s Mathias BELLINO (F) also clinched the Enduro Junior class title to bring the GP of Finland to an exciting close. “It’s been an amazing season,” confirmed Antoine MEO, the newly crowned Enduro 1 world champion. “I worked so hard all season for this moment and now that it’s finally happened it is fantastic. I want to thank my team for all their support in making this possible.” Echoing Meo’s comments, Mathias BELLINO, the Enduro Junior world champion commented, “All season I focussed on achieving this goal and now that it has finally happened I’m so happy.” With overnight rain ensuring conditions would be extremely slippery and technical, day two saw some new winners emerge. Fully recovered from his midseason injury, Italy’s Simone ALBERGONI (HM-Honda) grabbed victory in the Enduro 1 class, while Estonia’s Aigar LEOK (TM) was the winner of the Enduro 3 category. In the Enduro Junior class, rising sensation, Britain’s Danny McCanney (Gas Gas) secured a hard fought win. The race was also a strong showing for the Isle of Man nation with McCanney joined on the podium by Alex ROCKWELL (Husaberg) in third while his brother Jamie MCCANNEY (Husaberg) secured second in the Enduro Youth Cup class. With Antoine MEO securing the Enduro 1 world championship, day two in Finland also witnessed Italy’s Simone ALBERGONI (HM-Honda) narrowly beat MEO by two-tenths of a second to claim his first victory since 2009.“ After my bad luck this season through injury it’s very rewarding to finally win again. I hope this will be the first of many more,” remarked ALBERGONI. With MEO settling for second position, Italy’s Thomas OLDRATI (KTM) improved on his fifth place result on day one to claim third. Behind the leading trio, France’s Fabien PLANET (Sherco) fought off a fierce challenge by Finland’s Roni NIKANDER (KTM) to finish fourth. Adding to the list of first EWC time winners, Britain’s Danny MCCANNEY (Gas Gas) was the surprise victor of the Enduro Junior class. Engaged in an early fight with Sweden’s Robert KVARNSTROM (Beta), MCCANNEY gradually extended his advantage during the latter half of the day to record his first ever win in the EWC. Italy’s Jonathan MANZI (KTM) headed Britain’s Alex ROCKWELL (Husaberg) by one-second to claim second, while ROCKWELL secured his first EWC podium with third place. After leading the early part of the day, numerous mistakes pushed KVARNSTROM back to fourth while Argentina’s Kevin BENAVIDES (KTM) was fifth. The battle for top honours in the Enduro 2 class remained as competitive as ever with both France’s Pela RENET (Husaberg) and Spain’s Cristobal GUERRERO (KTM) locked in a daylong fight for victory. With nothing to separate the leading duo, it was the astonishing time set by RENET on the final enduro test that ultimately secured him the win.“It was an incredible battle with Cristobal but I managed to give it my all in the last enduro test to take victory. There was nothing between us and I knew that I must ride at my maximum if I wanted to win. It’s been a good day,” said RENET. Offering a strong challenge to his rival, GUERRERO was unable to gain the upper hand and eventually had to settle for the runner up position. Although separated by less than one-second leading into the final enduro test, it was a small mis take by the KTM rider that ultimately cost him a chance of victory. Unable to join the battle for the win, Finland’s Juha SALMINEN (Husqvarna) was forced to settle for third. Loosing out on the demanding enduro test, SALMINEN placed 16 seconds behind GUERRERO. Once again proving to be a fast learner, enduro newcomer Luis CORREIA (Yamaha) impressed many with his speed throughout the day to secure his second fourth place result of the weekend. Improving on his eighth place finish from day one, France’s Antoine BASSET (Yamaha) ended his day in fifth. Estonia’s Aigar LEOK (TM) delivered a stunning performance to claim his first ever EWC win by topping the Enduro 3 standings. Grabbing an early lead on the opening lap, the TM rider controlled his pace throughout the day to claim his place on the top step of the podium. “It feels amazing to have won,” confirmed a delighted LEOK. “Everything came together to make this happen. I felt comfortable all day and was able to push hard for the victory. It is a dream come true to win.” After clinching the Enduro 3 title with victory on day one, France’s Christophe NAMBOTIN (KTM) was unable to repeat his result on the final day in Finland. Making numerous mistakes in the slippery, rocky enduro test, the KTM rider lost touch with LEOK and after fending off a challenge by Sweden’s Joakim LJUNGGREN (Husaberg), the KTM rider ended his day in second. Working hard to capitalise on the mistakes made by NAMBOTIN, LJUNGGREN narrowly missed out on the runner up position by one-second. Claiming his best result of the season, Finland’s Marko TARKKALA (Beta) finished fourth while Spain’s Oriol MENA (Husaberg) rounded out the top five. Claiming a start-to-finish win, Italy’s Giacomo REDONDI (KTM) topped the Enduro Youth Cup standings. Britain’s Jamie MCCANNEY (Husaberg) recorded his second runner up position of the weekend to claim second while Sweden’s Mikael PERSSON (Husaberg) completed the top three. The 2012 Maxxis Enduro World Championship concludes with the eight and final round of the series in Brignoles, France on October 20/21.