Antonio Meo extends points lead at Turkey EWC

A dramatic turn of events took place on the second day of the Turkey round of the EWC, which once again took place under the scorching sun of Europe’s harsh summer.

It was Antonio Meo in the E2 category who took the number one spot on Day 2 in Turkey. Meo has now extended his points lead to 24 over Ivan Cervantes in the points standings.

In the E2 class, KTM rider, Johnny Aubert, suffered mechanical problems in the opening stretch of the racing and lost a lot of time in making the repair, “My bike stopped suddenly just before the first Cross Test. The pipe leading to the carburettor unhooked itself and by the time I found the damage I was already three minutes behind” Aubert said. The hard-fought E2 category saw the French taking revenge on the Spanish with Antonio Meo and Pierre Alexandre Renet finishing first and second, respectively, ahead of KTM’s Cristobal Guerrero who rounded out the podium.

In the E1, Husqvarna’s Matti Seistola continues to stun his audience, winning Day 2’s action two seconds ahead of teamamte, Juha Salminen. Honda rider, Rodrig Thain, rounded out the podium, finishing third. KTM’s Thomas Oldrati and Gas Gas rider, Cédric Melotte, both were non-starters after engine breakdown’s in Day 1’s racing.

A major turn of events in the E3 class was the withdrawal of Gas Gas rider, Christophe Nambotim. Nambotim put it down to mechanical problems, saying “I was leading by five seconds when my engine let me down… This will make it very difficult to catch up with Mika Ahola in the championship.” Nambotim was keeping pace with Ahola before the breakdown took place. Mika Ahola has kept up his consistent performance and has now almost cemented himself as the unmovable leader of the category.

“I now have a 40 point lead in the Championship and being mid-season, I will struggle to remain focused,” admitted Ahola.

Second place in the E3 went to Husaberg rider, Marko Tarkkala, with his Swedish teammate, Joakim Ljunggren.

The next round of the Maxxis FIM Enduro World Championship will take place in Greece in the city of Kalapaka on June 18-19.