Guerrero and Aubert lead Yamaha assault on the 82nd ISDE
Representing Spain and France respectively UFO Corse Yamaha team riders Cristobal Guerrero and Johnny Aubert will head Yamaha's official participation in the 82nd running of the International Six Days Enduro, which takes place in La Serena, Chile from November 12 to 17. The UFO Corse Yamaha team's other riders; Fabrizio Dini, Maurizio Micheluz and Alex Salvini will all defend the Italian honors for the country trophee.The base for the event will be the coastal town of La Serena, 500km north of the Chilean capital Santiago. Surrounded by picturesque sandy beaches to the west and rugged mountains to the east the hugely varied terrain neighboring La Serena will ensure this year's ISDE is both a challenging and spectacular event. Over 520 riders will compete this year as enduro competitors from all around the world take up the challenge of competing in the race known to many as the Olympics of motorcycling. 30 countries will be represented with 20 Trophy teams, 15 Junior Trophy teams, five Women's Club teams, over 100 Club teams and 20 individual entrants making up the huge entry. Competing aboard a WR250F, Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero starts the event hoping to win the Enduro 1 category.Proving during his '07 World Enduro Championship campaign that he has the speed to not only compete against, but also beat, the world's best E1 class riders. Cristobal will start the event as Yamaha's number one 250cc four-stroke powered rider following team-mate Simone Albergoni's withdrawal from the competition. Set to lead the Italian Trophy team Albergoni recently injured his back and as a result has opted not to compete. Fortunately Simone has found a suitable replacer in Alex Salvini, who had to do a crash course in changing tyres and other mechanical skills needed to look after the WR250F during the times when no mechinical support is allowed by the team mechanics.
As the fastest Enduro 2 class rider in the WEC series on numerous occasions this season, Frenchman Johnny Aubert heads into the 82nd ISDE hoping to top the E2 class. Mounted aboard a WR450F Aubert, who eventually finished third in the E2 world championship classification, will go up against last year's overall ISDE winner Juha Salminen as he aims to collect his first ever ISDE class win while helping France in their bid to top the Trophy team competition.
With an abundance of spectacular terrain surrounding La Serena the six-day event will essentially be split into four. Days one and two will see the event head south from the Serena Golf Club, which is where the event's parc ferme will be housed, with the course hugging the Pacific coast and its sandy beaches. On days three and four riders will be sent inland as the course heads through the mountains and over terrain very different to that used during days one and two. On day five the event heads north along the beautiful Chilean coast line to the town of La Higuera before returning to La Serena. Day six will see the world's best enduro riders compete in the traditional final day motocross races, which will bring the event to a spectacular close.
