Continued WEC success for Salminen, victory at GP of France

[mika]

September 13, 2009

Two weeks after giving BMW their first ever World Enduro Championship victory Juha Salminen has again climbed to the top of the Enduro 2 class podium, this time winning the opening days competition at the GP of France staged in St Flour. With his confidence high after the memorable winning performance at the GP of Greece Juha was determined to continue his winning ways and despite a steady start to the opening days competition he ended the penultimate day of the championship close to eight seconds ahead of his nearest class rival.

Although winning just three special tests during the opening days competition Salminen saved his best for last as he won three of the final five tests. Importantly on the final enduro test he remained mistake free, which ensured he secured victory ahead of David Knight and Cristobal Guerrero. In doing so Juha claimed his second E2 class win in as many WEC events.

Day two was a frustrating one for Juha. Making a positive start a small number of mistakes prevented him from reaching the top of the E2 class results. Although winning special tests on a number of occasions the seven-time world champion also made one mistake too many, which prevented him from repeating his first day result. At the end of a tough day Juha placed third, which ensured that he claimed the runner-up position in the final 09 Enduro 2 World Championship standings.
Returning to the WEC having been forced to sit out both the GP of Mexico and the GP of Greece Simo Kirssi battled hard to claim 12th and 11th place Enduro 2 class results. More than a little race rusty due to his enforced layoff the cross-country specialist gave the event his all and importantly showed that he is fit and ready for the upcoming final, and all important, round of the German Cross Country series. Despite missing four days of competition due to injury Kirssi placed ninth in the Enduro 2 World Championship.

BMW Motorrad Motorsports Marko Tarkkala enjoyed a positive final round of the 09 WEC series. Performing well on all special tests the Finn claimed fifth in the Enduro 3 class on day one before being pushed into sixth on day two. Tarkkala placed seventh in the Enduro 3 World Championship.

Also competing alongside Tarkkala in the Enduro 3 class was Swede Anders Eriksson. With the event marking the official end to his hugely successful career the former seven-time world champion claimed a well deserved top 10 result on day one. Bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team when he joined in 08, Anders played an important role in the development of BMWs G 450 X.

Salminen and Tarkkala will now take a well earn break before turning their attentions to the International Six Days Enduro, held in Portugal in mid October where they will compete as members of the Finnish Trophy Team. Eriksson will also compete in Portugal, for the Swedish trophy Team.

Juha Salminen Enduro 2 class: Its been a bit of a mixed weekend. Sometimes things went really well, other times not. The first day went well, really well, but the second day didnt for some reason. I was able to put in a good time on one test, but then not on another. The morning of the first day wasnt easy for me, I made some mistakes and lost a little time, but then the afternoon went well. The season finished too early for us really, it would have been nice to have had some more races because in the last few events things started to come together well. Its been a tough season but with a positive end.

Simo Kirssi Enduro 2 class: Its been a good weekend for me really. The first day wasnt great but coming back from a wrist injury the important thing for me was that despite a little pain I was able to race hard. On day two I crashed on the motocross test a few times and lost some time there, as well as once in the enduro test. Im really looking forward to the final round of the German Cross Country season now, that will be a big race for me and the team.

Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager: It a really satisfying end to the world championship after a pretty rough starts. Its been like weve had two seasons within one. The first half absolutely didnt go as we planned it, but the second half has been very good. Juha has remained focused on pushing to win in the Enduro 2 class and during the final three races he has been not only competitive but has also enjoyed two class wins.

2009 World Enduro Championship - Grand Prix of France, Day 1

Enduro 2
1. Juha Salminen (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 48:55.84; 2. David Knight (Kawasaki) 49:03.24; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 49:09.38; 4. Rodrig Thain (TM) 49:26.69; 5. Nicolas Paganon (Kawasaki) 49:30.66 6. Oscar Balletti (Honda) 49:41.84; 7. Nicolas Deparrois (Gas Gas) 50:09.63; 8. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 50:11.90; 9. Antoine Lettelier (Aprilia) 50:18.82; 10. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 50:21.81; 11. Fabrizio Dini (Beta) 50:37.47; 12. Simo Kirssi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 50:53.67; 13. Emmanuel Albepart (Kawasaki) 51:10.27; 14. Jean Francois Goblet (BMW) 51:48.86; 15. Simon Wakely (Husqvarna) 52:37.55; 16. Kenneth Gunderson (Yamaha) 52:58.18; 17. Kevin Gauniaux (Gas Gas) 53:25.05; 18; Christophe Robert (KTM) 53:42.45; 19. Erwin Plekkenpol (Honda) 54:11.91; 20. Vincent Charbonnier (KTM) 54:52.36

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 47:51.81; 2. Sebastien Guillaume (Husqvarna) 49:03.38; 3. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 49:05.92; 4. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 50:21.54; 5. Marko Tarkkala (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 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

2009 World Enduro Championship - Grand Prix of France, Day 2

Enduro 2
1. David Knight (Kawasaki) 55:38.23; 2. Rodrig Thain (TM) 55:51.39; 3. Juha Salminen (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 56:02.95; 4. Oscar Balletti (Honda) 56:29.56; 5. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 56:26.75; 6. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 56:47.44; 7. Antoine Lettelier (Aprilia) 57:07.64; 8. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 57:09.09; 9. Nicolas Paganon (Kawasaki) 57:28.37; 10. Fabrizio Dini (Beta) 57:36.00; 11. Simo Kirssi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 57:39.39; 12. Nicolas Deparrois (Gas Gas) 57:55.49; 13. Emmanuel Albepart (Kawasaki) 58:11.23; 14. Jean Francois Goblet (BMW) 58:51.84; 15. Erwin Plekkenpol (Honda) 1.01:11.39; 16. Kevin Gauniaux (Gas Gas) 1.00:33.03; 17. Christophe Robert (KTM) 1.02:02.16; 18. Vincent Charbonnier (KTM) 1.03:19.86

Enduro 3
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 54:36.38; 2. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 55:41.84; 3. Sebastien Guillaume (Husqvarna) 56:20.66; 4. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 56:36.51; 5. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 56:52.79; 6. Marko Tarkkala (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 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

 

[mika]

Salminen is Vice World Champion!

September 14, 2009

As factory rider Juha Salminen parked his BMW 450 X inside the Parc Ferm?® at St Flour, France, all the pressure of a demanding season fell off his shoulders. Salminen had clinched runner-up honours in the hotly contested World Enduro Championship (WEC), to become Vice World Champ in the toughest class of them all: the E2 category. Now, after a difficult start to the campaign, he and his team had reason to celebrate.

The success came as a result of hard and tirelessly work carried out in the past year. The first races didn??t go according to plan and the BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders struggled to get familiar with their machinery. But the whole staff kept working on every detail and, step by step, the factory bikes became better and better.

"The season was too short in the end," said Juha Salminen. The quiet Finn referred to his impressive finish in the series, where he scored a number of wins and second places. Maybe, with some more races left, the title could have gone his way. The team earned two wins, one runner-up position and a third place at the final two meetings in Greece and France.

These achievements tell a lot about BMW??s competitiveness. Brand and bike now clearly belong to the top league. Both in the WEC and off road racing in general. This is further underlined by Simo Kirssi??s Cross Country success and Andreas Lettenbichler??s recent top results this June and August. The German finished third at the Erzberg before putting his BMW on top of the podium at the infamous Red Bull Romaniacs.

The World Enduro season is in the books, but work continues for the riders. The Six Days (team world championships) are to follow in October and Simo Kirssi plans to defend his German and European Cross Country title. And the "extreme" division is gearing up towards the Roof of Africa, the legendary extreme rally held in the Lesotho mountains. Andreas Lettenbichler goes there with the ambition to bring this victory to Munich also.

Berti Hauser, Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport: "First of all I would like to congratulate Juha and the team. This is a remarkable success, just like the achievements of Simo and Marko (Tarkalla). Admittedly, before the season, we aimed at the title. But we soon had to realise that this was too ambitious. We suffered a bit at the beginning. Yet, with strong commitment and plenty of passion coming from Markus Theobald, Wolfgang Fischer and their staff, we did manage to turn things around.

"They addressed the specifics of WEC racing and soon Juha was able to fight for podium positions. But we wanted more. We wanted to win and we wanted the vice championship. And that??s exactly what we got.

"I??m touched and proud to see the team alter from the middle of the field into a front-runner. Juha ended only six points behind the world champ, he did take the vice title and he guided us to runner-up in the manufacturer??s championship. This success is based on a lot of work. Obviously we??re delighted. The team has all the ingredients to be capturing the title in the future."