France's Antoine Meo delivers at 2009 ISDE

Meo delivers for France at 84th ISDE
CH Racing Husqvarna Factory Enduro Team 2009
International Six days Enduro, 12-17.10.2009

For a rider that was drafted into the French Trophy Team at the last minute for this year's International Six Days Enduro CH Racing Husqvarna rider Antoine Meo has much to be pleased about. Making his six days debut while competing aboard machinery he'd only ridden for a few hours prior to the start of the race, Meo claimed a superb third place result in the competitive Enduro 3 class behind countryman Christophe Nambotin and Finn Samuli Aro. In addition he played a key role in ensuring that for the second year in succession France topped the Trophy Team classification.

Not really knowing what to expect from the event Antoine came close to topping the E3 class on day one, eventually placing third and less than five seconds behind the day winner. Backing his impressive opening day performance up with third in class on day two, Antoine again secured the runner-up position on day three showing that despite having raced a 250cc four-stroke in the '09 World Enduro Championship he was more than competitive on Husqvarna's WR 300. Day four saw another strong performance from Meo as he finished third and just 16 seconds off the day winner. With France headed toward a second consecutive Trophy Team win Antoine finished the penultimate day of the event fourth in class. On the sixth and final day Meo then placed second behind Husqvarna team-mate Alex Salvini in the E3 class final motocross race to claim third in the Enduro 3 class and as a member of the victorious French Trophy Team.

Just two places behind Meo in the overall Enduro 3 class results was Italian Trophy Team rider Alex Salvini. Competing in the ISDE for the first time for Husqvarna the motocross star performed well throughout the week, despite finding things very different to what he is normally used to. Sixth on day one Salvini improved one position on day two before claiming an impressive third on day three. Despite being surrounded by experienced enduro competitors Alex placed fifth on days four and five before saving his best until the final day. Winning the Enduro 3 class final motocross race ahead of team-mate Meo, Alex secured fifth in the E3 class as well as helping Italy finish second in the Trophy Team competition.

In the Enduro 1 class Australian Trophy Team rider Chris Hollis claimed Husqvarna's best result as he placed his TE 250 in a well-deserved fifth position. Enjoying a relatively trouble free week, Hollis placed inside the top 10 of the E1 class on all but one of the six days with sixth in class on days two and three being his best results.

Antoine Meo - Enduro 1: "Considering that everything has been very last minute as I wasn't planning on racing in the ISDE I am really pleased with the way my race went. Being my first ISDE everything was new to me, but it went well, really well. Being a part of the winning French Trophy team is great. All the riders performed really well. Like I said I didn't know what to expect. I only spent a few hours riding the bike before the event, and switching to a two-stroke again after a season on a 250cc four-stroke wasn't easy in the beginning. I made a few mistakes during the week, but that's normal. It was a tough race but I enjoyed it."

Enduro 3 class results
1. Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 3.05:29.17; 2. Samuli Aro (KTM) 3.06:06.77; 3. Antoine Meo (CH Racing Husqvarna) 3.06:33.77; 4. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 3.07:32.10; 5. Alex Salvini (CH Racing Husqvarna) 3.08:48.34; 6. Alessandro Botturi (KTM) 3.11:44.70; 7. Marcus Kehr (KTM) 3.12:34.59; 8. Marko Tarkkala (BMW) 3.12:48.44; 9. Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna) 3.4:27.80; 10. Nate Kanney (KTM) 3.16:10.57

Enduro 2 class results
1. Rodrig Thain (TM) 3.06:48.33; 2. Luis Correia (Yamaha) 3.06:58.64; 3. Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 3.08:41.29; 4. Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 3.09:17.95; 5. Oscar Balletti (Honda) 3.10:26.27; 6. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 3.10:29.93; 7. Toby Price (Kawasaki) 3.10:31.39; 8. Calle Sjoo (Husaberg) 3.11:52.89; 9. Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 3.12:40.00; 10. Valtteri Salonen (Husaberg) 3.12:57.45; 14. Marc Bourgeois (CH Racing Husqvarna) 3.15:26.08

Enduro 1 class results
1. Eero Remes (KTM) 3.05:51.59; 2. Simone Albergoni (KTM) 3.09:50.85; 3. Michal Szuster (Yamaha) 3.11:27.41; 4. Fabio Mossini (Honda) 3.11:46.64; 5. Chris Hollis (CH Racing Husqvarna) 3.13:35.84; 6. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 3.14:10.05; 7. Amel Advokaat (KTM) 3.15:07.87; 8. Victor Guerrero (Yamaha) 3.15:19.31; 9. Paul Edmondson (Suzuki) 3.15:39.95; 10. Ralph Hubers (Yamaha) 3.16:15.16