Salminen still in E1 championship lead after Grand Prix of Slovakia

Juha Salminen, at home in Finland mending a broken collarbone after an accident racing in Britain may have missed this weekend's E1 Grand Prix of Slovakia but at least he has the satisfaction of knowing he still leads the season's standings.

The absence of the season's overwhelmingly dominant E1 rider at least opened up the opportunity for other competitors to enjoy the top spot on the podium. Apart from the two races held this weekend in this Slovak ski resort high in the Tatra Mountains, Salminen has won every other race this season.
 
Salminen wants to be 100 percent fit for the final event in France so he opted to miss this weekend's racing, an event that KTM Enduro Factory Team boss Fabio Farioli described as a very good race and good weather conditions. "It was just the right balance of challenges for the riders and what the organizers wanted to get out of it," Farioli said. The 55 km trail was covered 3.5 times during the day and included woodland, grasslands and attractive landscape.
 
Alessandro Belometti, the second KTM E1 factory rider, struggled with consistency in Sunday's race and finished fifth.
 
Salminen still tops the standings with 300 points from his 12 race victories. He retains a 27-point edge on second placed Simone Albergoni of Italy and there are another 50 points up for grabs for the two races making up the French Grand Prix to close the season. Belometti remains in fifth place in the standings.
 
 Results
1. Simone Albergoni, Italy, Yamaha
2. Marc Germain, France, Yamaha
3. Cristobal Guerrero, Spain, Yamaha
4. Maurizio Micheluz, Italy, Yamaha
5. Alessandro Belometti, Italy, KTM