Spain’s Laia Sanz defeated France’s Ludivine Puy to win the Women’s Cup while France’s Mathias Bellino continued his dominating run in Enduro Junior to claim his sixth victory of 2012.

France’s Antoine Meo (KTM) put his disappointment of retiring on day one behind him to secure his seventh win of year with victory on day two in Enduro 1. Finishing second on the first Enduro Test of the morning, Meo quickly got to work on the dry and dusty conditions to set the fastest time in six of the day’s nine special tests.

“It was unfortunate not to finish yesterday but today I needed to make amends for my mistake,” commented Meo. “I was a little unsure of the conditions during lap one so I was careful not to make any mistakes. After that I began to push hard and was able to win comfortably.”

Finding the Cross Test to his liking, Finland’s Matti Seistola (Husqvarna) was on top form on day two. Enjoying a tough battle with France’s Rodrig Thain (HM Honda), the Finnish rider eventually beat his rival to secure second position by less than one-second. Adding to his winning result on day one, Thain ended day two in third place.

Although matching the pace of Seistola and Thain during the early morning, Finland’s Eero Remes (KTM) finished fourth. France’s Jeremy Joly (Yamaha) rounded out the top five.

Pierre-Alexandre Renet (Husaberg) returned to the top of the Enduro 2 standings on day two. Etching out an early lead after the first Enduro Test of the morning, Renet maintained his pace throughout the day to secure an eight-second victory over KTM’s Johnny Aubert. Recording his fourth victory of year, Renet now holds a 15-point lead in Enduro 2 as the championship passes the halfway point in the season.

“It was a tough race,” remarked Renet. “I managed to set a fast pace early on and it was enough to hold off Johnny to secure the win and extend my championship lead.” While unable to record another victory in Enduro 2, KTM’s Johnny Aubert ended his GP of Portugal with a podium result. Matching Renet’s pace during the final lap of the race, Aubert finished nine seconds behind the Husaberg rider. Spain’s Cristobal Guerrero (KTM) improved on his fifth place result on day one to secure a podium finish with third on day two.

After a fierce battle with Guerrero, Italy’s Alex Salvini (Husqvarna) finally placed just five seconds behind the Spaniard to finish fourth. France’s Jeremy Tarroux (KTM) produced a solid result to end his weekend in fifth.

It was another winning performance by Christophe Nambotin (KTM) in Enduro 3 as he recorded his eighth consecutive victory of the season. Mastering the dry and slippery special tests, the Frenchman remained unbeaten throughout the day to top his class by 67 seconds.

“I’m really happy with my result today as I managed to win all the special tests,” confirmed Nambotin at the end of day two. “Although I have a 50-point lead in the championship, my goal is to keep focused on each day and try to do the best I can. In Italy I will keep fighting for victory.”

Spain’s Oriol Mena (Husaberg) led a three-way battle to claim second position in Enduro 3. Setting a fast pace on the long Enduro Test, Mena held off Estonia’s Aigar Leok (TM) and Sweden’s Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) to record his best result of the season. Adding to his third place result on day one, Leok ended day two less than ten seconds behind Mena to finish third.

Finishing fourth, Ljunggren now moves up to second overall in the championship standings placing just one-point in front of Leok. Gas Gas’ Sebastien Guillaume completed the top five.

France’s Mathias Bellino (Husaberg) claimed another comfortable victory in Enduro Junior by winning all of the day’s nine special tests. Making a slow start to the morning, Spain’s Victor Guerrero overhauled Britain’s Danny McCanney (Gas Gas) on the final lap to secure second. With McCanney recording his second podium result of the weekend with third place, Italy’s Rudi Moroni (KTM) and Jonathan Manzi (KTM) finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Italy’s Giacomo Redondi (KTM) was once again victorious in the Enduro Youth Cup finishing over 30 seconds clear of runner up Portugal’s Luis Oliveria (Yamaha) and Italy’s Matteo Bresolin (Husaberg).

Fortunes were reversed on day two in the Women’s Cup as Laia Sanz (Gas Gas) claimed victory. After her second place result on day one, the Spaniard started day two in a determined fashion. Beating her teammate, Ludivine Puy on all but three of the day’s special tests, Sanz secured her third victory of the season. With Puy finishing second, France’s Audrey Rossat (KTM) took advantage of Husaberg’s Blandine Dufrene’s early retirement to claim third. The Australian duo of Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha) and Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) placed fourth and fifth respectively.

The Maxxis Enduro World Championship continues with round five in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy on June 30-July 01.

Results

GP of Portugal – Day Two

Enduro 1:

1. Antoine Meo (KTM) 53:38.90; 2. Matti Seistola (Husqvarna) 54:00.11; 3. Rodrig Thain (HM Honda) 54:00.84; 4. Eero Remes (KTM) 54:07.39; 5. Jeremy Joly (Yamaha) 54:38.46; 6. Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 54:42.02; 7. Fabien Planet (Sherco) 54:54.25; 8. Goncalo Reis (Gas Gas) 55:25.61; 9. Nicolas Deparrois (Kawasaki) 55:31.14; 10. Antti Hellsten (TM) 56:06.72…

Enduro 2:

1. Pierre-Alexandre Renet (Husaberg) 53:15.99; 2. Johnny Aubert (KTM) 53:24.84; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (KTM) 53:39.91; 4. Alex Salvini (Husqvarna) 53:45.01; 5. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM) 53:53.47; 6. Juha Salminen (Husqvarna) 54:06.88; 7. Fabio Mossini (KTM) 54:20.95; 8. Jordan Rose (TM) 54:24.04; 9. Luis Correia (Yamaha) 54:26.17; 10. Ivan Cervantes (Gas Gas) 54:31.17…

Enduro 3:

1. Christophe Nambotin (KTM) 53:25.29; 2. Oriol Mena (Husaberg) 54:32.31; 3. Aigar Leok (TM) 54:42.22; 4. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 54:45.96; 5. Sebastien Guillaume (Gas Gas) 55:00.98; 6. Maurizio Micheluz (HM Honda) 55:17.03; 7. Marko Tarkkala (Beta) 55:17.63; 8. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 55:56.03; 9. Jordi Figueras (Gas Gas) 55:58.27; 10. Joaquim Rodrigues (Honda) 56:00.11…

Enduro Junior:

1: Mathias Bellino (Husaberg) 53:43.18; 2. Victor Guerrero (KTM) 55:05.16; 3. Danny McCanney (Gas Gas) 55:16.50; 4. Rudi Moroni (KTM) 55:21.04; 5. Jonathan Manzi (KTM) 55:32.62; 6. Mario Roman (KTM) 55:35.07; 7. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 55:36.55; 8. Arnau Sola (Yamaha) 56:08.09; 9. Alexandre Queyreyre (Yamaha) 56:15.42; 10. Kevin Rohmer (Yamaha) 56:20.18…

Enduro Youth Cup:

1. Giacomo Redondi (KTM) 55:17.01; 2. Luis Oliveira (Yamaha) 55:50.33; 3. Matteo Bresolin (Husaberg) 57:12.48; 4. Kirian Mirabet (KTM) 57:38.00; 5. Davide Soreca (Yamaha) 57:46.30; 6. Guido Conforti (Yamaha) 57:54.01; 7. Nicolo Bruschi (HM Honda) 58:01.88; 8. Albin Elowson (Husaberg) 58:45.58; 9. Mattia Giulietti (Husaberg) 58:52.52; 10. Andrea Castellana (HM Honda) 59:18.55…

Women’s Cup:

1. Laia Sanz (Gas Gas) 39:52.03; 2. Ludivine Puy (Gas Gas) 39:58.84; 3. Audrey Rossat (KTM) 43:42.70; 4. Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha) 43:46.18; 5. Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) 44:09.91; 6. Juliette Berrez (TM) 44:27.92; 7. Jessica Jonsson (Gas Gas) 45:18.27; 8. Toni Jardine (KTM) 54:34.89

Words/Images: ABC Communications