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| 22.03.2009 |
| Perfect weekend for KTM’s Johnny Aubert in opening rounds of E2 World Championships |
| Portugal proved to be fertile ground for brand new KTM factory rider Johnny Aubert of France. It was a perfect way for the reigning E2 world champion to celebrate his first race weekend with his new team in Penafiel near Porto. |
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Already on Saturday Aubert said he was happy with his result, with his new KTM machine and with the team and the preparation they had made for the start of the season. “It was a very good day for me. I was first in the special test. I got out in front and stayed there for the rest of the time.” Teammate Alessandro Belometti was second on Saturday and followed it up with another positive fourth place on Sunday for 40 championship points and second place in the standings behind Aubert.
KTM Offroad Director Pit Beirer was in Portugal to see the orange racing team launch their bid for 2009 titles and said it was “awesome to see the way we dominated the E2 and E3 classes.” Factory team boss Fabio Farioli also expressed his satisfaction for his team’s efforts in the first two rounds of the competition.
The Maxxis World Championship also celebrated a new feature this weekend with a special test on Friday night in Penafiel with a one-on-one rider competition in front of a crowd of some 3000 enthusiasts held in a stadium type atmosphere. Overall times counted towards Saturday’s race and the attractive scene setter was a great success with the fans. This feature will be integrated into a number of GPs this season.
E2 Saturday Round 1
E2 Sunday Round 2
Standings after Rounds 1&2
| POS. |
RIDER |
MANUFACT. |
NAT. |
POINTS |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
1 Johnny Aubert |
KTM |
 |
325 |
| 2 |
2 Juha Salminen |
BMW |
 |
317 |
| 3 |
6 Joakim Ljunggren |
Husaberg |
 |
258 |
| 4 |
96 Cristobal Guerrero |
Yamaha |
 |
248 |
| 5 |
4 Rodrig Thain |
TM |
|
220 |
| 7 |
99 Alessandro Belometti |
KTM |
 |
208 |
|
|
 | | Back to back victories for KTM's Johnny Aubert
|  | | Aubert in some winning action in Portugal
|  | | Second and Fourth in opening rounds for Belometti |
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