FRENCH WEC NEWS! Double Podium for Meo and Guillaume!

CH Racing Husqvarna Factory Enduro Team 2009
World Enduro Championship ’09 – Round 8, St Flour, France, 12-13.9.2009

Meo enjoys double E1 class victory at GP of France

Continuing his recent run of good form Frenchman Antoine Meo has ensured success for Husqvarna at the final round of the ’09 World Enduro Championship, the GP of France staged in St Flour. Winning the Enduro 1 class on both days aboard his TE250 – his second double E1 class victory in as many races – Meo once again showed that he had the beating of his E1 class rivals despite being pushed hard on both days. Joining Meo in securing podium results Seb Guillaume claimed second and third place results in the Enduro 3 class. At the end of a demanding season Meo secured the runner-up position in the E1 championship standings while Guillaume finished third in E3.

For the second consecutive event the World Enduro Championship enjoyed dry weather. And with thousands of spectators turning out to watch the final round of the ’09 season the event proved to be a memorable one. With three challenging special tests, as well as two demanding time controls, the event was anything but easy.

For Antoine Meo the GP of France ended in celebration as for the second consecutive WEC race the former GP motocross rider enjoyed class winning success. Wanting to impress in front of his home fans Meo topped the Friday night Super Test before continuing to dominate the E1 class. Pushed hard by Mika Ahola early on day one, Antoine edged ahead as the day neared its close and enjoyed a 20 second winning margin. On day two Meo had to work hard for victory. Battling against countryman Marc Germain little separated the two throughout the day with Antoine just doing enough to secure his sixth consecutive day win of the season. Competing alongside Meo in the E1 class for Husqvarna Marc Bourgeois placed a creditable sixth on day one before claiming the exact same result on day two.

Disappointingly, due to the injury of Bartosz Oblucki at the GP of Greece the CH Racing Husqvarna team were unable to field any riders in the Enduro 2 class. Despite having scored no points in the last two rounds of the ’09 WEC series Oblucki still placed a creditable sixth in the final end of season championship standings.

Husqvarna’s Seb Guillaume brought his ’09 Enduro 3 campaign to a successful close in St Flour as the Frenchman visited the podium on both days. Although hoping to claim victory in front of his home crowd Seb placed a deserved second on day one having pushed newly crowned E3 World Champion Ivan Cervantes into third. On day two Seb again rode well but slipped to third. Seb also claimed third in the ’09 Enduro 3 World Championship standings.

Antoine Meo – Enduro 1: “It’s been a fantastic event for me and everyone in the Husqvarna team. I never imagined that I would have so much support from the spectators - it was incredible. Everywhere around the special test and course they were cheering me on. It was amazing. I made a lot of mistakes on the first day and crashed three times but I still managed to win, which was great. Then again on day two I crashed twice on the enduro test. That made it really close between Marc Germain and myself. I felt really good so I was able to push hard right the way until the end of the race, and I won again. It’s been amazing to win in front of so many of my supporters.”

Seb Guillaume – Enduro 3: “It’s been a great event but a really difficult race for me. I’m not sure if it was because there were so many people here supporting me but I didn’t ride my best on the first day, I didn’t get going like I wanted to. Christophe Nambotin was really fast on day one, which left me to have a great fight with Cervantes. I’m pleased with second but I know I could have ridden better. The second day was tough because the course was really rough and the special tests were really challenging. Finishing the season with another podium result was great, but I really wanted to win. The enduro test became a little dangerous so I didn’t want to take any risks. I made a lot of little crashes so I’m pleased with third.”
2009 World Enduro Championship

Grand Prix of France – Day 1

Enduro 1
1. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 48:56.86; 2. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 49:16.40; 3. Mika Ahola (Honda) 50:17.47; 4. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 50:34.01; 5. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 50:36.11; 6. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 50:36.54; 7. Eero Remes (KTM) 50:44.78; 8. Jari Mattila (Suzuki) 50:56.49; 9. Maurizio Gerini (KTM) 53:42.35; 10. Felipe Zanol (Yamaha) 54:18.16; 11. Julien Pommier (Yamaha) 54:22.07; 12. Graham Jarvis (Sherco) 54:36.75; 13. Jakub Horak (KTM) 56:26.96

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 47:51.81; 2. Sebastien Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 49:03.38; 3. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 49:05.92; 4. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 50:21.54; 5. Marko Tarkkala (BMW) 51:03.96; 6. Markus Kehr (KTM) 51:05.21; 7. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 51:30.47; 8. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 52:39.32; 9. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 53:04.67; 10. Anders Eriksson (BMW) 53:23.23; 11. Michael Vukcevic (Husqvarna) 54:18.36; 12. Mark Risse (Gas Gas) 54:55.09; 13. Gordon Clarke (TM) 56:51.73; 14. Pierre Tardieu (TM) 1.00:06.35

Enduro Junior
1. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 50:12.46; 2. Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha) 50:32.22; 3. Yannick Bossi (TM) 51:04.84; 4. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 51:05.25; 5. Adrien Metge (Husqvarna) 51:18.32; 6. Victor Guerrero (Yamaha) 51:28.41; 7. Edoardo D’Ambrosio (KTM) 51:36.78; 8. Calle Sjoo (Husaberg) 52:04.86; 9. Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) 52:19.90; 10. Elie Vecchi (Gas Gas) 52:34.58; 11. Mathieu Gagnoud (Honda) 52:35.33; 12. Romain Gioffre (Honda) 52:36.53; 13. Philip Mclaughlin (TM) 52:45.75; 14. Jonathon Manzi (CH Racing Husqvarna) 53:16.81; 15. Martin Bonnet (Sherco) 53:57.83; 16. Armand Monleon (Gas Gas) 54:33.40; 17. Daniel Gibert (BMW) 54:49.54; 18. Marc Sola (Gas Gas) 55:00.10; 19. Florian Bouquet (Husqvarna) 55:33.91; 20. Loic Pouderoux (KTM) 56:10.99


2009 World Enduro Championship
Grand Prix of France – Day 2

Enduro 1
1. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 56:00.51; 2. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 56:03.96; 3.Eero Remes (KTM) 56:03:96; 4. Mika Ahola (Honda) 56:55.95; 5. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 57:58.82; 6. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 57:59.32; 7. Jari Mattila (Suzuki) 58:05.32; 8. Jordan Curvalle (Sherco) 58:44.21; 9. Maurizio Gerini (KTM) 59:35.24; 10. Graham Jarvis (Sherco) 1.02:17.32; 11. Jakub Horak (KTM) 1.04:00.06;

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 54:36.38; 2. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 55:41.84; 3. Sebastien Guillaume (CH Racing Husqvarna) 56:20.66; 4. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 56:36.51; 5. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 56:52.79; 6. Marko Tarkkala (BMW) 57:34.54; 7. Markus Kehr (KTM) 58:12.75; 8. Michal Kadlecek (TM) 1.00:17.44; 9. Rudy Cotton (Beta) 1.01:01.18; 10. Michael Vukcevic (Husqvarna) 1.02:01.09; 11. Mark Risse (Gas Gas) 1.04:17.91; 12. Gordon Clarke (TM) 1.04:31.01

Enduro Junior
1. Benoit Fortunato (Yamaha) 57:26.49; 2. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 58:20.97; 3. Calle Sjoo (Husaberg) 58:30.67; 4. Adrien Metge (Husqvarna) 58:42.74; 5. Sebastien Bozzo (Husqvarna) 1.00:05.91; 6. Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) 1.00:12.56; 7. Philip Mclaughlin (TM) 1.00:23.05; 8. Edoardo D’Ambrosio (KTM) 1.00:33.08; 9. Romain Gioffre (Honda) 1.00:43.22; 10. Pierre Pallut (Husqvarna) 1.00:44.14; 11. Jonathan Manzi (CH Racing Husqvarna) 1.01:08.24; 12. Elie Vecchi (Gas Gas) 1.01:22.85; 13. Martin Bonnet (Sherco) 1.01:46;96; 14. Mathieu Gagnoud (Honda) 1.02:06.61; 15. Daniel Carrecedo (Gas Gas) 1.03:15.60; 16. Thibaut Dussuelle (Yamaha) 1.03:21.87; 17. Kevin Rohmer (KTM) 1.03:40.55; 18. Daniel Gibert (BMW) 1.03:41.70; 19. Marc Sola (Gas Gas) 1.03:48.77; 20. Loic Pouderoux (KTM) 1.04:58.09

Congrats! to CH Racing! Very impressive year. Meo was very close in the overall standings taking second in the series. Had he got a few more podiums earlier in the season it would have been a nail biter. His results are definitely a testament to the new 250, placing that well against a multi-world champ aboard the top of class CRF is very impressive. Have to wonder what kind of mods on his bike though, I know his TE450 from last year was a significantly different setup from stock. Either way can't wait to hear some real ride reports on the new bike.

My invite to stand in for Bartosz in France must have got lost in the mail. :foul:

Still, great results for Husky! Yaaaaay!