ALCARRÀS, 24 June 2007- The FIM Supermoto World Championship is becoming tougher and tougher race by race.

Under demanding weather conditions, with very hot temperatures and a dry track, Thierry Van Den Bosch came back to victory in front of a 9800 people crowd, but was not able to pass in front of leader Adrien Chareyre in the points standings.

In the S2 class Davide Gozzini finally clinched his first GP victory with TM, as Gerald Delepine and Christian Iddon scored no points in one heat each, losing important Championship points.

 

In the UEM European Supermoto Championship Baptiste Rheims dominated the event with two back to back victories, and was imitated by Petr Vorlicek in the Open class.

 

S1

Thierry Van Den Bosch of Aprilia Off Road squeezed his machine on the Circuit de Velocitat d’Alcarràs to clinch two back to back wins. The Frenchman topped the overall in front of team mate Jerome Giraudo, who grasped his first podium of the season, and Kevin Berthome of Rexfelgen Wheels Cross2R, making it to his second career podium that came right after the second place at Villars sous Ecot. Adrien Chareyre of CH Azzalin and Bernd Hiemer of KTM Italia Miglio rounded off the top five thanks to solid performances throughout the two moto’s.

 

 

S1 GRAND PRIX RACE 1

Thierry Van Den Bosch was starting from pole and lead the pack into the first turn, ahead of Bernd Hiemer, Adrien Chareyre and Jerome Giraudo.

Giraudo moved up to second soon, and started to give chase to team mate VDB, but made a mistake in the off road section and his bike stopped. By the time he restarted it, he was back in sixth place but the gutsy Frenchman worked his way up to a final second place.

On the other hand Van Den Bosch pulled away with the lead, to own the chequered flag ahead of countryman Giraudo and Kevin Berthome.

The latter had a decent start from the tenth place, but rode a strong moto to arrive to the chequered flag almost two seconds behind the Aprilia duo. Bernd Hiemer rode a strong moto to pass both the Chareyre brothers and finish fourth.

The two CH Azzalin’s brothers fought with each other in the first half of the race, leaving an open door for Giraudo to pass both of them.

Adrien brought the bike home with the fifth place, followed by Thomas in sixth. Sylvain Bidart finished the heat in ninth place, as he did the second half of the moto with the gearbox blocked in fourth gear.

 

 

S1 GRAND PRIX RACE 2

Thierry Van Den Bosch dominated also the second moto from the first to the last lap, but the gap was shorter this time, as his rivals increased their rhythm compared to the first heat.

Adrien Chareyre was on VDB’s tail but Jerome Giraudo made to pass him at half race distance. Giraudo pushed hard to avoid a Van Den Bosch escape, clocking the best lap but not catching his team mate.

The Frenchman brought the bike home with second ahead of Adrien Chareyre. Thomas Chareyre was sixth and sandwiched between team mates Kevin Berthome and Sylvain Bidart, when he crashed and handed sixth to Bidart.

In the meanwhile Berthome and Hiemer had a dogfight for the fourth position, passing each other several time until Berthome definitely clinched the fourth place at the last lap. Also Bidart moved past Hiemer at the final lap, but the German quickly replied to bring the fifth place home, ahead of the French rival.

Thomas Chareyre finished fifteenth after another crash on the off road section.

 

S2

Davide Gozzini clinched his third Grand Prix victory –first with TM- at his fourth Grand Prix with the Italian factory team. Gozzini owned both chequered flags, and was first on the podium ahead of fellow TM rider Lorenzo Mariani of MRC –clinching his maiden GP podium. Attilio Pignotti of KTM Italia Miglio raced two solid moto’s after having encountered some difficulties at the beginning of the weekend, and completed the podium. KTM fellow rider Matthew Winstanley brought the bike home with a fourth place overall, ahead of BQR Aprilia Spain’s Nestor Jorge. Christian Iddon and Gerald Delepine had a bad day, as each of them did not finish one heat due to crashes; at the end of the day they rounded off the top 12.

 

 

S2 GRAND PRIX RACE 1

Superpole man Davide Gozzini had a storming start, and tried to pull away with the lead but had to face a tough opposition from British Christian Iddon. Iddo found an open door to pass Gozzini once, but the Italian moved right back to first, owning the chequered flag.

Iddon brought the bike home in second, as Gerald Delepine was moving up in the standings when he crashed and damaged the bike.

The Belgian did not finish the race, but Nestor Jorge made up for a bad start by moving up to a final third place.

Lorenzo Mariani was cruising in third place when he missed the first turn and went straight out of the track. The Italian re-entered the race in the top five, to drop down to an eventual sixth place later on.

Matt Winstanley raced a solid moto, moving up from seventh to a final fourth place ahead of Attilio Pignotti.

 

 

S2 GRAND PRIX RACE 2

Davide Gozzini rode another strong heat, dominating all 18 laps. The Italian lead the pack into turn one, followed by Lorenzo Mariani. Mariani stayed on Gozzini’s tail for opening laps, than lost the contact and settled down for second.

Mariani was closely followed by local rider Jorge Nestor, who missed the first corner while trying to pass the Italian. Jorge rejoined the race, but had a crash and brought the bike home with a disappointing tenth place.

Gerald Delepine and Attilio Pignotti had a dogfight for the third place, passing each other a few times before Pignotti secured a satisfactory third position.

Delepine lost his rival but found a new one soon in the shape of Matt Winstanley. The Brit assaulted Delepine to snatch the fourth place, as the 2005 World Champion settled down for fifth.

Iddon did not finish the first lap because of a collective crash, involving also Lorenzo Pes, Ales Hlad and Adriano Allegretti.

 

IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS

Adrien Chareyre still holds the red plate, but Thierry Van Den Bosch is second, only one point behind the rival. Thomas Chareyre dropped down to third, ahead of Giraudo and Berthome. Hiemer has improved on his Championship position and is currently sixth, ahead of Bidart and Beltrami.

 

Attilio Pignotti is back to the lead of the S2 Championship, passing both Delepine and Iddon. Delepine is now second with a ten point gap, and Iddon is third. Davide Gozzini moved up to fourth ahead of Jorge, while Hlad dropped down to ninth after crashing in the second moto.

 

UEM-EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP

Baptiste Rheims took his revenge, and won the fourth round of the S3 series in front of rival Tommaso Iacoboni. Thanks to two back to back victories, Rheims also moved back up to the Championship lead.

Iacoboni was second overall, which is also the same position he holds in the Championship, as Chris Hodgson completed the podium after clinching two third places.

In the points standings, the Brit made up ground on Peroni, who is currently third but was behind Hodgson in the overall at Alcarras. Francesco Bianconi rounded off the top five.

 

 

Series leader Petr Vorlicek dominated another event with two back to back heat wins. The Czech is the runaway leader, and took advantage of runner up Lionel Deridder’s bad day, to increase his Championship lead. Deridder was ninth overall, but Luca De Angelis made up ground on him, after finishing second overall today. Alberto Dell’Era completed the podium, as Malcolm Schneider and Richard Blakeman rounded off the top five.

 

WHAT’S NEXT

The FIM Supermoto World Championship and the UEM European Supermoto Championship will be back in two weeks at Sankt Wendel, Germany. The fifth round will be held on the 8^th of July.

 

 

www.SuperMotoS1.com,