Champions are crowned at the final round of the WEC in France

Day 1:

In the first day of the final round of the WEC championship, spectators saw Metzeler riders Mika Ahola and Christophe Nambotin battle in the French countryside for the championship in Enduro 3.  One of them would take home the crown, and Ahola beat Nambotin on the first day to take home the championship, and simultaneously became the first person to take home a WEC title in all three categories.  Ahola was able to maintain the lead for the entire day, no doubt due in part to an injured wrist that Nambotin was nursing.

Juha Salminen was crowned champion on the first day as well.  The battle for the E1 title had come down to the last round, with Salminen and Metzeler rider Eero Remes duking it out for the lead; Salminen needed to finish ahead of Remes, and he did. Salminen started the day off poorly, losing some time in the first lap of the special stage, but he shook it off, regained the lead and held it for the rest of the day.

Enduro 2:  Pierre-Alexandres Renet from France took home the victory, while Metzeler rider Cristobal Guerrero came home third, behind Frenchman Antoine Meo.

Day 2:

Titles had already been secured by Salminen and Ahola on Saturday, and Meo had an unassailable lead from an earlier round, but there was still some great racing.  In Enduro 3, Nambotin’s wrist kept him from competing after Saturday’s valiant effort, and the podium went Ahola, Salvini, Tarkkala.

Enduro 2 saw Meo clawing his way to victory past Pierre-Alexandre Renet, who crashed during the third lap, and Guerrero and Cervantes coming 2^nd and 3^rd.

Congratulations to Metzeler riders—and indeed, all the competitors—for a great season, and especially to Mika Ahola for winning Enduro 3.

Final championship results:

E1:
1.  Salminen Juha Finland
2.  Remes Eero Finland
3. Seistola Matti Finland

E2:
Meo Antoine France
Guerrero Cristobal
Cervantes Ivan

E3:
Ahola Mika Finland
Nambotin Christophe France
Ljunggren Joakim Sweden

Info and Pics from enduro-abc.com

Metzeler Brings Home Two Wins in Andorra WEC Round

Day 1:

Heavy rains meant that the first day’s Xtreme test went untimed, but there was still lots of action in the seventh round of the World Enduro Championship. Juha Salminen retired from Enduro 1 on the second lap with gearbox trouble, so all eyes were on his main competitor, Metzeler rider Eero Remes. Remes spent the first day battling Rodrig Thain and Frenchman Matti Seistola. Ultimately, Remes managed to fend off both of them to take first place—he was joined on the podium by Thain and Sestola in second and third, respectively.

In Enduro 2, there was fierce competition between Metzeler’s Ivan Cervantes and Frenchmen Antoine Meo and Pierre-Alexandre Renet. Cervantes was looking good in first place until a Meo’s last-second dash in the final special. Metzeler’s Taddy Blazusiak took 6th in his first day of racing E2 this season, and Metzeler’s Cristobal Guerrero took 4th.

In Enduro 3, our own Mika Ahola and Christophe Nambotin had less than a second between them at the end of the third lap, but Nambotin made some mistakes in the last two specials and wasn’t able to capitalize on his first place hopes. And the end of the day, the podium went Ahola, Ljunggren, and Nambotin.

Day 2:

Eero Remes started strong and was full of confidence after his E1 victory one day one. Victory slipped through his fingers and the day wore on, and he saw Juha Salminen take it from him at the very end and had to settle for second place. E2 saw Metzeler riders Guerrero and Cervantes battling all day long. Meo won the war, however, as his 3rd place puts him in a sufficiently strong position to win the championship, despite there being one round left. Taddy Blazusiak worked his magic on the Xtreme Test to the crowd’s delight, and finished the competition in 5th place.

On the big bikes of E3, there was a 3-way fight for first place. Ahola, Nambotin and Ljunggren. On the last lap, they were separated by a second, but the final order was Metzeler’s Nambotin in first, Ljunggren in second, and Ahola in third.

Make sure to check out the videos to see how fierce this competition was. The skill these guys have is incredible, and to compete for more than seven hours in two days requires tremendous stamina.

All our riders were using Metzeler’s 6 Days Extreme Enduro or variations. It was developed with factory riders for the most extreme conditions, and features superior structural characteristics and excellent puncture resistance. The knob distribution offers outstanding grip in all conditions—just check out the results below.

Final Standings (Metzeler riders in bold)

E3
1 NAMBOTIN Christophe
2 LJUNGGREN Joakim
3 AHOLA Mika

E2
1 GUERRERO Cristobal
2 CERVANTES Ivan
3 MEO Antoine
5 BLAZUSIAK Tadeus

E1
1 SALMINEN Juha
2 REMES Eero
3 SEISTOLA Matti

From enduro-abc.com

Metzeler Tires Are Great, But Have You Heard of Mousse?

Metzeler makes a range of tires, from racing slicks to touring tires to motocross tires and beyond. We also make a product that you may not be familiar with. It’s like an inner tube but never gets flats, and is used in off-road competition.

It takes a lot of preparation to ride in the top levels of off-road racing, and the last thing any competitor wants is to DNF because of a flat tire. Metzeler has the answer. Mousse is just like an innertube but is made from foam and so cannot be punctured. To aid with mounting, a properly-sized mousse provides an equivalent tire pressure of about 10 psi—too low for street use but perfect for a rocky enduro; in a harescrable situation, mousse provides traction but prevent pinch flats. Check out the terrain these riders have to cover:

Mousse converts report that mousse substantially reduces the mental load of racing. It’s easy to back off on the really rough stuff in order to preserve the tires, but with mousse it’s not necessary. Is that less mechanically sympathetic? Yes. Is it necessary to win at the top level? Absolutely

As with any product that is so specialized, there are caveats. Roling resistance is slighty greater, and a lubricant must be used on the inside of the tire to prevent premature wear, but the advantages far outweigh the drawbacks, and many a top-rider has used mousse to make it to the podium without wincing at every bump.

It’s not too hard to change either–check out this video at Enduro Talk.

Metzeler Mousse Page

World Enduro Championship Greece – Round 5, Greece

The World Enduro Championship racers competed in the 5th round this weekend in Kalampaka Greece. Temperatures were hovering around 95F as the riders ripped through the hills on both two and four strokes.

Day 1:

In Enduro 3, Christophe Nambotin rode consistently through the first day and wound up in first place going into the second day. Nambotin had suffered from mechanical issues in the Turkey and was pleased to be on a reliable bike and in the lead. Mika Ahola had rough start in Greece but wound up riding hard through the day and wound up making all the way to third place by day’s end.

Metzeler rider Ivan Cervantes had a heartbreaking first day in E2 when his engine failed and he was forced to retire, while E1 frenchman Rodrig Thain battled his way to 3rd place.

Day 2:

In E3, Nambotin stayed focused and rode straight to the win. In a post-race talk he said “This is the first double that I have achieved in this championship and certainly helps towards forgetting about my disappointment at having had to withdraw in Turkey. My objective now is to try to win as many races as possible and we shall see what will be at the end of the season…

Cristobal Guerrero put pressure on Antoine Meo thoughout the second day in E2, but was ultimately unable to take the lead and Meo got away with the win. In the championship standings, Meo is also first, while Guerrero is second—the battle has been close all season—Guerrero’s retirement in Spain accounts for nearly half of Meo’s championship lead.

In E1, Juha Salminen was neck and neck with teammate Matti Seistola and finally pulled away during the third lap of the Enduro test. Rodrig Thain fought with Eero Remes for third, with Thain eventually pulling ahead and securing third place.

Current WEC Standings: enduro-abc.com

Photo Credit offroadmotorcycles.ca

Metzeler Leading FIM Enduro World Championship at Mid-Season

Television can make it seem like motorcycles are good only for the X Games, World Superbike Championship and motocross, but in Europe there are other genres of motorcycle competition that are equally awesome. The FIM World Enduro Championship events, for instance, are banzai caricatures of a typical weekend ride.  The two-day events comprise an enduro section held on woodsy trails, a motocross section on a motocross course, and an extreme test where riders tackle terrifying hillclimbs, rock gardens, and mild trials-type obstacles.  The Turkish race this past weekend had seven hours of riding over 180km in 13 different timed specials, all in scorching 100+ degree weather.

The three classes are based on engine displacement—E1 is 125cc 2-strokes (250cc 4-stroke), E2 is 250cc 2-stroke (450cc 4-stroke) and E3 is run on up to 500cc 2-strokes or 650cc 4-strokes.  The bikes have to be street legal too—check out the action in the videos and keep in mind that all these bikes have lights and plates and could be ridden to the grocery store. These rules motivate the manufacturers to come up with some wild—but legal—dirtbikes.  Metzeler is in on the action too, sponsoring riders and developing some terrifically capable yet legal rubber.

The 2011 series is half over, and at the conclusion of the June 10-11 Turkish event the championship performance of Metzeler riders has been outstanding. Finn Mika Ahola leads E3, Spaniard Ivan Cervantes is in second place in E2, and Finn Eero Sare second in the standings in E2 and E1. We’re rooting for you guys—the race footage is great and we’ll continue doing our best to emulate you on our weekend rides.

Day 1

Day 2