PLEVEN, 22 July 2007- The first edition of the Bulgarian Grand Prix at Pleven, that was attended by 10000 spectators, will be remembered as one of the hottest events of the FIM SuperMoto World Championship.

Temperatures at the track, divided into slide section and sky section –the latter being completely covered with tarmac- were about 40° Celsius in the air, and 56° Celsius on the asphalt.

Such a hot and demanding sixth round was won by Thomas Chareyre in the S1 class, and Davide Gozzini in the S2 class.

The European Championship event was won by Alessandro Tognaccini in the Open class, and Baptiste Rheims topped the overall of the S3 class.

 

S1

Thomas Chareyre of CH Azzalin clinched his second Grand Prix victory of the season in front of his brother and team mate Adrien, who crashed in the final moto but made an impressive recovery. Massimo Beltrami of HM Giletti Assomotor finished with a solid third place, which marked his comeback to the podium after Jesolo 2005. Boris Chambon of Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport was fourth overall after two consistent moto’s, and finished ahead of Yamaha Evolution’s Ivan Lazzarini.

Thierry Van Den Bosch was twelfth, after a first corner crash in the final heat where he hit his back very hard and damaged the bike.

 

S1 GRAND PRIX RACE 1

Thomas Chareyre lead the pack into turn one, while Ivan Lazzarini, Bernd Hiemer, Boris Chambon, Jerome Giraudo, Aurelien Rolland and Christian Ravaglia jumped the start and were then given a penalty.

Massimo Beltrami chased leader Thomas until he was passed by Adrien Chareyre; Beltrami was then cruising in third place when Ivan Lazzarini moved past him, but the “Lazza” was given a stop-and-go penalty and handed third back to Beltrami.

Thomas Chareyre had some troubles with the seat of his bike, becoming too soft because of the heat, and gave up to his brother. The latter won the heat ahead of Thomas, as a surprising Thierry Van Den Bosch made an impressive recovery from the ninth start position, and finished third.

VDB chased Beltrami until he found an open door, but the Italian made a mistake and was passed also by Balducci, who ended fourth ahead of Beltrami.

Lazzarini finished eighth and Chambon rounded off the top ten.

 

S1 GRAND PRIX RACE 2

Massimo Beltrami took the holeshot, but lost the first place when he slid entering the main straight. Thomas Chareyre took the chance and passed, to race a flawless heat and clinch the victory.

Beltrami put the heat on the youngster, but finally settled down in second place; the Italian did not feel safe until he made it to the chequered flag.

A very fast Boris Chambon gave his best in the second half of the heat, pushing Beltrami until the very last metre. Beltrami made no mistake and left Chambon behind in third.

Ivan Lazzarini finished the heat in fourth place ahead of Adrien Chareyre. The latter crashed at the first lap, at the first corner, and other Superiders such as Van Den Bosch and Balducci crashed into him. Once he got back onto the bike, Chareyre made an impressive recovery.

 

S2

Davide Gozzini of TM Factory came back to victory at the Dolna Mitropolia, after a breathtaking battle with his main rival Christian Iddon; the two tangled up with each other after they had taken off at the last jump of the sky section. Aprilia Off Road’s Iddon brought the bike home in second, hurting his right foot after the contact with Gozzini, as KTM Italia Miglio’s Attilio Pignotti completed the podium. Gerald Delepine was fourth overall because he damaged his sub-frame in the final heat, and home Superider Ales Hlad of Motoracing completed the top five.

Massimo Manzo sat out of this Grand Prix as he broke his tibia and fib on Saturday.

 

S2 GRAND PRIX RACE 1

Gerald Delepine secured his heat win with a holeshot; the Belgian lead all 14 circulations, as Davide Gozzini has to chase a very gutsy Nestor Jorge to earn his second position.

Jorge rode aggressively in the first half of the heat, and had some grip problems that allowed Gozzini to move in front of him.

Once the Spaniard had dropped down to third, he found Aprilia fellow Superider Christian Iddon on his tail. Iddon passed, but could not catch Gozzini, who was impressive in the final part of the heat, chipping away at the gap from Delepine.

Attilio Pignotti made up for a disastrous start, to finish fifth, ahead of Marcel Goetz, Paolo Gaspardone and Ales Hlad.

Lorenzo Mariani, using a new engine, brought the bike home in ninth after having been second at the start.

 

S2 GRAND PRIX RACE 2

Gerald Delepine lead the pack into turn one, followed by Davide Gozzini and Christian Iddon. Iddon broke the ice a few corners later, passing Gozzini to chase Delepine.

The Belgian made a mistake, arriving late on the brakes and missing the first corner; handing the lead to Iddon, Delepine made another mistake, landing too far in the sky section and damaging his sub-frame. He finished tenth.

The tough fight for first between Iddon and Gozzini saw the two tangling up with each other in a jump; after the breathtaking landing, Gozzini found himself first ahead of Pignotti and Iddon, who almost crashed and injured his right foot.

But the Brit was too motivated, and chased Pignotti until he moved up to second. Gozzini finished first ahead of Iddon, who was three seconds behind, while Pignotti decided to ride for the points, and brought the bike home in third.

Ales Hlad and Matthew Winstanley rounded off the top five.

 

IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS

Thierry Van Den Bosch lost the red plate, which is now back into Adrien Chareyre’s hands. The gap between the two is only twenty-one points, and Thomas Chareyre is still chasing them from the third place. Jerome Giraudo dropped down to fifth as Kevin Berthome is now fourth.

 

Leader Attilio Pignotti did not increase his advantage over runner up Gerald Delepine, and the rivals are still divided by only three points. Davide Gozzini is still third ahead of Iddon, as Nestor Jorge completes the top five.

 

UEM-EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP

With a final heat win, Baptiste Rheims topped the overall and increased his Championship lead over runner up Tommaso Iacoboni. The latter won the first heat but was third on the podium, behind a solid Chris Hodgson, who missed his first victory in the series by just five points. Olivier Scheen and Riccardo Peroni rounded off the top five.

For the first time this season, Championship leader Petr Vorlicek was beaten and finished second behind an impressive Alessandro Tognaccini. Both Superiders were level on points, and Dejan Opet completed the podium. Luca De Angelis finished fourth ahead of Richard Blakeman, as second placed in the Championship Lionel Deridder had a bad day and finished fifteenth.

 

NEWS OF THE DAY – THE BEGINNING OF A NEW SUPERMOTO ERA

Today’s opening ceremony at Dolna Mitropolia, the first circuit ever to host a sky section completely covered with asphalt, marked the beginning of a new SuperMoto era.

 

Youthstream President Giuseppe Luongo said: “We are at the moment for the birth of this sport, we have finally created something that is unique in the world, it is unique today but it will not be unique in some months,  I really think this is the way SuperMoto will be. We gave the sport the push it needed to become big and bright; I think we are in the right track now, we believe that in two or three years maximum all the tracks will be like this one, otherwise we will do SuperMoto Grand Prix in city circuits.”

 

FIM/CMS President Dr. Wolfgang Srb said: “Basically we wanted to improve the sport, and the former off-road section has always been a little bit of a worry. Now it is all asphalt, the old off-road part is gone, and we will name it sky zone from now on. It is nice, clean, it is good for the bikes, it is good for the Superiders; both FIM and Youthstream are happy about this new chapter of SuperMoto. The show will be much better now.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT

The series will be back to action in more than a month, when the FIM SuperMoto World Championship collective will gather at Busca –the venue winner of the Grand Prix Revelation Award last year- on September 16.