18/19 March 2006
Östersund, Sweden
Enduro World Championship first round
TM STARTS THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
PETRI POHJAMO DOMINATES THE FIRST DAY
It is now no longer a secret that Petri Pohjamo is the right man for achieving results that count when the conditions are most demanding. He showed this in the first round of the Hard Race Trophy in Italy and confirmed it in Sweden in the round that inaugurated the 2006 season of the Enduro World Championship. On a terrain made insidious by the extremely rigid temperature that never allowed the track to reach an acceptable consistency, the TM RACING/BERLONI Team flag-bearer gained a significant victory on the first day and repeated it on Sunday with fourth place. The weekend at Östersund was, for the Finn on the TM 125 saddle, a completely different way of starting a season, compared to 2005. Twelve months ago, in fact, the injury in Spain conditioned not only that race but also the entire season. Today the important points gained have a special significance because they immediately project Pohjamo into the upper zone of the classification, rewarding his constancy and perseverance. And confirming that the TM 125 is a highly competitive motorbike, able to fight for victory in the E1 class and able to achieve leadership in four-stroke motorbikes, above all when the conditions are hardest. This is Petri’s comment about his race: “…. I expected to have a good race and the victory on Saturday partially satisfies me because on Sunday as well, with a few mistakes less, I could have fought for victory. I am sure I can express myself at this level for the entire championship and fight for the title…”
If Petri Pohjamo’s was the most striking result for the TM RACING/BERLONI Team, it was certainly not the only one. The Italian team was able to turn to its advantage a round full of dangers and unknowns that for two days went on in an unusual environment for an Enduro with temperatures that never rose higher than zero and with a sky that did not spare snowstorms. Other than the affirmation in the E1 class, the two positive placements of the Scot, Euan McConnell, in the E2 deserves mentioning, ending his transfer to Sweden with an eleventh and sixteenth place. It went even better for the Italian Alessio Paoli, author of two days running close to the top ten, as confirmed by ninth place on Saturday and eleventh place on Sunday. A hard and challenging transfer but supported by the results, not least the performance of Jacob Stapleton, the young Australian, who was able to conquer a third and fourth place in the EJ at the end of an extremely regular competition, raced with heart and head.
With these placements and with the TM not suffering the slightest inconvenience, the comments of Tulio Provini, the TM RACING/BERLONI technical manager, could not be other than enthusiastic: “.... A significant victory could be enough to justify a transfer that on the eve might have been a dangerous trap. But the two days in Sweden have given us much more, a team result that confirms the wisdom of the choices made in defending our colours. And our motorbikes? The results speak for themselves. We have nothing to demonstrate in the E1, and we are more than satisfied in the other classes with the reliability shown by out motors, in conditions that to define prohibitive is without doubt reductive…”
For the classifications www.abc-wec.com
Next appointment with the TM RACING/BERLONI Team and the Enduro World Championship is fixed for May 6/7 at Guimaraes in Portugal.
TM RACING/BERLONI Team
Press Office
