Australian duo Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) and Jake Stapleton (TM) enjoyed mixed fortunes at round one of the 2006 Maxxis FIM World Enduro Championship in an ice and snow-laden Sweden last weekend.

The first-ever world championship ‘Winter Enduro’ saw Merriman (YZ450F) struggle in the slippery conditions at Ostersund, with the 32-year-old only finishing fifth and sixth in E2 – results normally alien to the four-time world champion.

“I couldn't get the feeling with the spikes on the ice,” lamented Merriman. “I felt I had no security as I hit the corner and couldn't push at all. It was slippery like butter on glass on many corners, and some other turns had dry snow with grip.

“I really didn't have the experience to read the conditions. The snow ruts were very deep in many places. In these conditions you must sit down and ride the ruts - and my technique is very different. I am used to standing up, feeling the terrain and choosing a line.”

Meanwhile, Stapleton (EN250) was prominent in completing the all-powers junior class in third overall, citing the long snow ruts as his major ‘enemy’ over the two days.

With the temperature a ‘balmy’ five degrees – 20 hotter than what the riders had been expecting – Saturday’s racing saw defending world champion Samuli Aro (KTM) overcome fast-starting fellow Finn Mike Ahola (Honda) to win E2 by a massive 26.720sec. Merriman’s teammate Jonny Aubert (Yamaha) was third – the same trifecta as day two.

Merriman was a clear fifth on day one – 28.460sec behind Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) and 27.580sec in front of sixth-placed Fabien Planet (KTM). On Sunday, following a dump of snow overnight, he fell just 2.290sec short of Salonen to finish in sixth – and 31 championship points to show for his efforts.

"I really didn't feel prepared - either with myself or the bike,” Merriman said. “I had one set of spikes for training, and only two days to set-up my race bike for the ice and snow.

“I am grateful for the points I have, but I will still have a lot of work ahead of me for the remainder of the year."

Other than DNFs or a single disqualification, Merriman hadn’t finished off a world enduro podium since round three of the 2004 championship.

Aro now heads into round two in Portugal (May 6-7) on 50pts, from Ahola (44), Aubert (40) and Salonen (34).

In the Juniors, Stapleton began cautiously on Saturday, but he still managed to finish second in four of the special tests behind Swede Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg), who took to the oppressive conditions with aplomb. Despite a few spills along the way – he wasn’t alone – Stapleton finished on the podium in third, followed by a fourth on day two.

Despite the disappointment of not making a better first of the second outing, Stapleton is equal third in the standings alongside Robert Kapajcik (Yamaha). The pair is on 38pts, behind Ljunggren (50) and Michael Szuster (Yamaha, 44).

“The weekend hasn’t been as hard as I thought it was going to be," said Stapleton. “To be honest, the hardest part was the trails between the special tests. It didn’t matter what technique I tried, I just couldn’t master how to ride legs out with both feet sliding on top of the snow, and my bike in the big, long snow rut.

“The terrain was really unpredictable. I didn’t know when I could push hard with the front-end and when it was going to start moving around on me.

“I was going okay on day one, but I crashed on the motocross test on two separate occasions, and then got stuck on the extreme test as well. I was pretty fortunate to salvage what I did - it could have been a lot worse.

“I didn’t really get into things on the first few laps on day two; I went pretty slowly for some reason. I then spent the afternoon getting my head down and trying to make back what I lost in the morning.

“Really, this weekend was a damage limitation exercise, because I knew that I wouldn’t be that fast in these conditions. I’m looking forward to getting back to the dirt now.”

In E1, Petri Pohjamo (TM) and world champion Ivan Cervantes (KTM) swapped first places, but Cervantes’ second place on day one saw him leave with a 4pt lead over the Finn – 47 to 43. Dual world 250cc four-stroke champion Peter Bergvall (Suzuki) was third on 40pts – the Swede’s first podium in three years.

E3 had a familiar ring about it – David Knight waltzing through proceedings. The KTM-riding Briton won both days, following on from his incomparable 2005 – 21 wins from 22 starts.

Knight (50pts) has now finished on the podium in the last 34 E3 races, for 26 wins.

Knight’s KTM factory sidekick Marko Tarkkala (44pts) claimed second in both Ostersund outings, and Husaberg’s Bjorne Carlsson (40pts) made third his own.

World enduro classes
E1 – 125cc two-stroke vs 250cc four-stroke
E2 - 250cc two-stroke vs 450cc four-stroke
E3 - 500cc two-stroke vs 650cc four-stroke