Posted: Thursday, 29th May, 2008 : 8:41 AM - - 5,983 Reads

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Arriving on Wednesday prior to the race, the highway exit to Colleferro was closed due to flooding from three days of heavy rain. Cloudy conditions continued the following days, which didn't help much in drying out the track. However Merriman got to work setting up his bike and walking the three special stages (one cross and two enduro tests), to prepare for the race.

The race on Sunday started with the 250 four stroke class first (Simone Albergoni, Maurizio Micheluz, Mika Ahola, Cherubini). On the first lap only the cross test was timed, as the two enduro tests were pre ridden. The first riders through had a distinct advantage in the grassy cross test as they had firm ground to race on. Merriman arrived with the 500 class, after the 450 class and the track was considerable cut up with sloppy mud and no grass left for grip.

Merriman had to claw back the time lost in the intial laps as the day progressed, by not making any mistakes and setting very fast times in the rocky enduro test, where he was able to utilise his trials skills. many riders took time penalties in the time controls due to the bank of riders stuck on the trail.

Ahola also took a minute penalty, where he was unable to complete repairs to his bike within the time limit at a time check. However the jury cancelled all time penalties at the end of the day, due to the delay of the riders at certain bottlenecks on the trail, so Ahola was fortunate not to lose time. Auberts' Yamaha broke down on the second lap, forcing him to retire from the race.

Merriman had a couple of crashes, one on the second lap of the cross test in the slippery mud and another on the last lap of the first enduro test. Even after the crash, he still managed to set the fastest time overall in this special test! A brilliant victory for merriman on the Aprilia 550 v Twin. Assoluti D'italia - Colleferro, Roma
Overall classification 25th May 2008
1. Stefan Merriman - Aprilia 550 41.56:48
2. Maurizio Micheluz - Yamaha 2504T 42.08:27
3. Mika Ahola - Honda 250 4T 42.08:28
4. Simone Albergoni - Yamaha250 4T 42.31:89
5. Fabrizio Dini - Yamaha450 4T 42.33:03

Points standings after 5 rounds of Italian Enduro Champs
1. Johnny Aubert 100pts
2. Maurizio Micheluz 82pts
3. Stefan Merriman 81 Pts
4. Simone Albergoni 70pts
5. Mika Ahola 62pts
6. Alessandro Belometti 48pts
7. Antoine Meo 42pts
8. Oscar Baletti 24 pts
9. Alessandro Zanni 23 pts
10. Thomas Oldrati 23pts

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