The third round of Italian enduro champs returned to the home of the late Fabrizio Meoni, the famous Italian rally rider who died in the Dakar in 2005.The annual race held in his honour, was staged in the tuscan village of Castiglione Fiorentino, south of Florence.

Merriman, who has been busy over the last two weeks testing and modifying his bike setup, was looking forward to putting his changes to the test.

He arrived Wednesday to walk the tests. On Thursday he was walking the long enduro test, (almost 8 mins) and almost three hours to walk, when a storm broke and he was caught in a downpour of rain and the temperatures dropped to an unusual low of 6 degrees.

Thursday evening he was feeling the chill and woke the Friday morning before the race with a fever and flu like symptoms. His conditions worsened as he struggled to start the race on Saturday. His fever was so bad he didn’t sleep the night before and had difficulty with his balance to even stand up.

Leading the championship by 32 pts, Merriman realized he would have to try and salvage as many points as possible over the weekend despite his condition, to hold on to his lead. The fever made it difficult to judge distances and Merriman found it hard to stay hydrated as his flu kicked in.

Not himself Merriman finished a lowly 5th overall on Saturday.

About the race, Merriman said” I really struggled with the fever today. It was a tough race. I didn’t think I would make it past the second lap, as I was dehydrating so quickly. I am happy to have finished, but it is not the result I would have liked.”

Day 1 – Overall Classification
1. Albergoni 47.31:60
2. Belometti 47.37:77
3. Ahola 48.05:74
4. Micheluz 48.17:44
5. Merriman 48.27:61

After the race Saturday, Merriman had a very high temperature and was forced to bedrest. A visit from the doctor and an early night, aided Merriman’s return on Sunday. Merriman battled his was through to fifth again on Sunday. His only saving grace was his closest arch rival, Albergoni finished second and so didn’t gain as many points on him as the previous day.

Day 2 – Overall results
1. Ahola 43.51:67
2. Albergoni 43.56:16
3. Aubert 44.04:40
4. Belometti 44.10:10
5. Merriman 44.32:74

Merriman still leads the title chase for the overall Italian Enduro Champion.
1. Merriman 122
2. Albergoni 113
3. Belometti 93
4. Ahola 82
5. Aubert 64