Aboard his WR450F Frenchman Johnny Aubert has produced his first overall ISDE win at the 82nd running of the International Six Days Enduro held at La Serena, Chile.

Topping the Enduro 2 class by being the fastest rider overall his efforts contributed substantially in helping his Yamaha UFO Corse A team to win the Manufacturers award. Johnny’s blistering speed also played a key role in helping France place second behind Italy in the World Trophy team competition.

Viewed by many as being the rider that would battle it out with reigning overall ISDE winner Juha Salminen for the top spot in the Enduro 2 class Aubert’s six-day event started in the best possible way as he won the E2 class ahead of Salminen on day one. With Juha then fighting back and winning day two ahead of Johnny on day three Aubert struck again to win the E2 class for a second day.

As day four drew to a close things changed dramatically at the top of the E2 class as Salminen would take no further part in the competition as of the start of day five having run into mechanical problems. With no other rider having got close to matching Aubert’s pace the Frenchman responded by continuing to ride faultlessly and as well as opening up a commanding E2 class lead he also moved to the top of the unofficial overall standings.
With the event nearing its close, and with France comfortably ahead of Sweden in the World trophy team competition, Aubert continued to set an outstanding pace until the end of day six, He recorded the fastest E2 class time during the final day’s motocross races which saw him finish a sizeable four minutes ahead of his nearest E2 class rival Alessandro Belometti.

Competing in only his second ever ISDE Johnny Aubert claimed not only the overall win, as well as the number one spot at the top of the Enduro 2 class, but also ensured that Yamaha finished the event at the top of the Manufacturer’s class. During the six days of competition the Yamaha UFO Corse A team only failed to top the Manufacturer’s class once.
Although unable to match the pace of Aubert, UFO Corse Yamaha rider Fabrizio Dini finished the Chilean event in an impressive fourth overall in the Enduro 2 class, which helped Italy claim the top spot in the World trophy Team competition. Riding consistently during the event Fabrizio finished fifth on day one before dropping on spot to sixth on day two but then improved to fourth on both days three and four. Then claiming ninth on day five knowing that he could ill afford to take any risks that might jeopardise Italy’s chances of winning the World Trophy team competition, Fabrizio then claimed the seventh fastest E2 time during the final motocross races to put the finishing touches to his impressive week long performance.

Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class – First:
“It has been an incredible week for me. I was confident that I could get a good result before the race, but in the ISDE anything can happen. Winning the E2 class on day one was a great start. Juha Salminen rode really well on day two and it looked like we would have a great fight during the competition. But when he had some problems and wasn’t in the competition any more I had a good lead in the class and was able to ride without pressure. It was a tough event, but I enjoyed it. I had no real problems all week so things worked out well for me, my team and the French team finishing runner up in the team trophy competition.”

Enduro 1 class

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Cristobal Guerrero claimed a well deserved runner-up result in the Enduro 1 class at the end of the 82nd ISDE where the young Spaniard helped both Spain top the World Junior Trophy category, as well as his Yamaha UFO Corse team win the Manufacturers award.
Competing as the UFO Corse Yamaha team’s number one rider due to Italian Simone Albergoni having to withdraw his entry from the competition due to a back injury, Cristobal started the event in the best possible way by winning the E1 class on the opening day. Repeating his class topping performance on day two Cristobal’s pace was unmatchable as he opened up an early class lead and very much looked like the rider to beat in the E1 class. On day three Cristobal dropped to third in class, yet still held a slender six second advantage over Finn Jari Mattila at the mid way point of the competition. On days four and five Cristobal finished second in class behind Mattila, but remained close to the Finnish Trophy team member in the overall E1 class standings.On the sixth and final day Cristobal recorded the second fastest E1 class time in the end-of-event motocross races to close to within 24 seconds of Mattila who went on to claim the class win.

Competing as the stand-in rider for injured Simone Albergoni motocross rider Alex Salvini produced one of the event’s most impressive results claiming third in the E1 class aboard his WR250F. Having never seen an ISDE event before, let alone compete in one, Salvini produced a week of strong results to help Italy win the Trophy Team competition. Tenth on day one the Italian worked his way up to as high as third in class on day four, but saved his best until last as he posted the fastest E1 class time during the final day’s motocross race.

Making it three Yamaha mounted riders inside the top five of the Enduro 1 class UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Maurizio Micheluz overcame a disappointing opening day, during which he placed in 13th, to finish fifth in class and playing an important part in helping Italy win the World trophy Team competition. Improving from 13th to fifth on day two before claiming the E1 class runner-up spot on day three Maurizio then ensured that he didn’t take any unnecessary risks. Aware that Italy stood a very real chance of topping the Trophy team competition he decided to air on the side of caution during days four and five but nevertheless still finished seventh and fourth in class respectively. Recording the 17th fastest time on day six Maurizio finally finished fifth in the E1 class.

 Cristobal Guerrero
Cristobal Guerrero

Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class – Second:
“It’s been a very good week for me. The first two days went really well and I really felt good. I didn’t have any major problems during the whole event and my bike was great all week. It was close between Jari and myself so it’s been an enjoyable event. I wanted to help to win the Junior Trophy for Spain, which we did, so I am very pleased with that. I didn’t push as hard as I could on days four and five because I didn’t want to take any risks that might affect the team’s chances. It’s been a great event for me!”

Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Fifth:
“Things didn’t start so well for the `Italian trophy team, or myself, but little by little we have improved our team result. The first day wasn’t so good for me but day two was better and then on day three I finished as runner-up in the E1 class. Italy was in a good position in the Trophy team competition by then so it was important for me not to make any mistakes and to keep out of trouble from there until the end of the race. It’s been a difficult week because of the sandy terrain which `I’m not used to. There have also been a lot of rocks and a lot of dust so it has been important to keep your concentration high during the race.”

World trophy class

1. Italy – Alex Salvini E1, Alessandro Belometti E2, Alessandro Botturi E3, Maurizio Micheluz E1, Fabrizio Dini E2, Andrea Belotti E3
2. France - Johnny Aubert E2, Fabien Planet E3, Damien Miquel E1, Julien Gauthier E1, Jordon Curvalle E3, Nicolas Deparrois E2
3. Sweden – Joakim Ljunggren E2, Andreas Toresson E1, Patrick Wicksell E3, Peter Bergvall E1, Fredrick Georgesson E1, Bjorne Carlsson E3
4. The Netherlands – Ralph Hubers E1, Hans Vogels E2, Erwin Plekkenpol E3, Amel Advokaat E2, Alex van de Broek E2, Mark Wassink E3
5. Great Britain – Tom Sagar E1, Paul Edmondson E2, Euan McConnell E3, Dylan Jones E1, Chris Hockey E2, Edward Jones E1
6. Australia – Damian Smith E1, Ben Kearney E1, Kirk Hutton E1, Anthony Roberts E2, Jehi Willis E2, Darren Lloyd E2
7. Germany – Marcus kehr E3, Arne Domeyer E1, Bert Meyer E2, Stefan Hau E1, Marco Straubel E2, Peter Dirk E1
8. United States – Kurt Caselli E3, Jimmy Jarrett E2, Rory Sullivan E2, Fred Hoess E3, Ron Schmelzie E1, Jordan Brandt E3
9. Chile – Jeremias Isreal E2, Nicolas Urrutia E1, Francisco Lopez E2, Ruy Barbosa E2, Ricardo Leon E2, Jose Moreno E3
10. Czech Republic – Michal Kadlecek E2, Jan Zaremba E2, david Cadek E3, Zdenek Gottvald E1, Tomas Dokoupil E2, Vita Kuklik E3

World Junior trophy class

1. Spain – Cristobal Guerrero E1, Oriol Mena E1, Lorenzo Santolino E2, Carlos Andreu E2
2. France – marc Bourgeois E1, Christophe Nambotin E3, Jean Charles Gilbert E2, Julian Dubac E1
3. Finland – Antti Hellsten E1, Olli Turma E1, Roni Nikander E1, Patrick Wikman E2
4. Australia – Josh Strang E2, Christopher Hollis E1, Jarrod Bewley E2, Blake Hore E2
5. Chile – Vincente Isreal E2, Josue Smith E3, Cristobal Urrutia E3, Daniel Gouet E1
6. United States - David Kamo E3, Russell Bobbitt E2, Cole Kirkpatrick E2, Ben Smith E1
7. Czech Republic – Tomas Loukota E1, Martin Kuklik E2, Jakub Horak E1, Milan Engel E1
8. Argentina - Franco Caimi E1, Marcos Giustozzi E2, Kevin Benavides E3, Diego Noras E1
9. New Zealand – Adrian Smith E1, Brock Hamilton E2, Morgan Dransfield E3, Jason davis E2
10. Sweden – Rucard wressel E2, Martin Sundin E1, Jonas Karlsson E2, Fredrik Berg E1

Enduro 1 class

1.Jari Mattila (KTM) 2.41:18.53; 2. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 2.41:42.32; 3. Alex Salvini (Yamaha) 2.44:35.48; 4. Tom Sagar (KTM) 2.47:27.50; 5. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 2.47:32.19; 6. Andreas Toresson (Suzuki) 2.47:43.93; 7. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 2.48:16.73; 8. Damien Miquel (Kawasaki) 2.48:50.13; 9. Ralph Hubers (Yamaha) 2.49:08.13; 10. Julien Gauthier (Honda) 2.50:17.46; 11. Oriol Mena (Yamaha) 2:50.48.72; 12. Arne Domever (KTM) 2.52:01.63; 13. Damien Smith (Yamaha) 2:53.01.65; 14. Franco Caimi (Yamaha) 2.53:21.19; 15. Ben Kearney (KTM) 2.53:25.07; 16. Peter Bergvall (KTM) 2.53:44.64; 17. Antti Hellsten (Husqvarna) 2.54:30.87; 18. Kirk Hutton (Yamaha) 2.55:21.49; 19. Greg Evans (KTM) 2.55:38.73; 20. Fredrik Georgsson (KTM) 2.56:09.54…

Enduro 2 class

1.Johnny Aubert (France) 2.36:19.08; 2. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 2:40.40.10; 3. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 2.42:12.08; 4. Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha) 2.45:01.58; 5. Jeremias Isreal (Honda) 2:45.10.12; 6. Hans Vogels (Yamaha) 2.45:45.15; 7. Paul Edmondson (Suzuki) 2.45:57.40; 8. Petri Pohjamo (Honda) 2.46:47.58; 9. Josh Strang (Suzuki) 2.47:36.05; 10. Vincente isreal (Honda) 2.48:57.04; 11. Jimmy Jarrett (Suzuki) 2.49:10.55; 12. Michal Kadlecek (KTM) 2.50:02.69; 13. Jan Zaremba (KTM) 2.50:22.09; 14. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 2.50:59.29; 15. Carlos Andreu (KTM) 2.51:42.36; 16. Amel Advokaat (KTM) 2:51.58.64; 17. Nicolas Deparrois (Husqvarna) 2:52.32.83; 18. Jarrod Bewley (Yamaha) 2.54:47.49; 19. Anthony Roberts (Honda) 2.55:11.83; 20. Ricard Wressel (Husaberg) 2.56:14.25…