The FIM SuperMoto World Championship paddock is all set up on the area of the Oval Lingotto in Torino, the host of the season’s first Grand Prix. After a rainy morning of normal proceedings, the weather seems to have settled into positive and dry conditions and the riders are raring to take part in the season’s first battle.

In the S1 class, Husqvarna CH Racing’s Thomas Chareyre and Aprilia Off Road’s Thierry Van Den Bosch will both aim at Torino’s win. The venue is one of the few where VDB did not win a GP, while Chareyre conquered his first of two GP victories here in 2007, during the first floodlit SuperMoto Grand Prix. DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory’s Ivan Lazzarini and KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer, who both moved to the S1 class last year, are looking forward to a positive start to 2008 after they struggled to adapt to the class in 2007.

HM Honda Racing Monticelli’s Jerome Giraudo is at his World Championship debut on the Honda machinery after having spent the previous four years with Aprilia. With Kevin Berthome and Sylvain Bidart reinforcing 2007 Manufacturer World Champion Husqvarna’s line up onboard the new Cross 2R machinery, Fabio Balducci will debut on the Suzuki, Boris Chambon on the TM and Nestor Jorge on the Yamaha. Eddy Seel continued his partnership with Rigo Racing and will be at the gate with Suzuki for the third consecutive season.

The S2 class will see the youngest and the oldest SuperMoto World Champions, in the likes of Adrien Chareyre and Gerald Delepine respectively, battle it out for victory onboard the factory Husqvarna bikes of the Husqvarna CH Racing team. The red-white duo will see lots of other manufacturers willing to snatch the Title, which is defended by Delepine.

TM will line up fourth placed in 2007 Davide Gozzini, Aprilia counts on Britain’s top Superider Christian Iddon and KTM has last year’s runner up Attilio Pignotti. With TM Factory Racing’s Gozzini and KTM Italia Miglio’s Pignotti opening the season in home Italy, both are looking forward to delighting their home crowd as they did last year in Castelletto, with Gozzini winning one heat and Pignotti collecting his maiden overall win.

Aprilia Off Road’s Iddon has positive memories from Torino 2007, which was also the first year the venue played host to the series. The Brit collected his first of two Grand Prix victories at a wet Oval and will go for it again this weekend but Aprilia will also line up Italian experienced and GP winner Massimo Beltrami.

The European SuperMoto series also starts from Torino. In the S3 class last year’s young gun Olivier Scheen, at his maiden season in the Championship, will try to use the previous experience to put in a strong season which might end with his maiden continental Title. The opposition to the Belgian will be strong though, with UK’s James Moore and Frenchman Romain Titone both ready to give chase right from round one.

Luca De Angelis, Alessandro Tognaccini, Alberto Dall’Era and Heino Meusburger, who rounded off last year’s top six in the Championship, will battle it out for victory in the Open class, with 2007 Champion Petr Vorlicek having left to race the S1 World Championship. Former World Championship Superider Marco Candelori and last year’s S3 European Champion Baptiste Rheims will also join them in the chase for the top spots.

The fantastic Oval Lingotto race track, which last year played host to the maiden night time SuperMoto GP, is located in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games area, alongside the ice skating facility. The course is inside the Torino Expo Area and is one of the most glamorous and fascinating venues in the calendar, also due to its location close to the glittering city centre of Torino.

Torino’s city centre is actually only 500 metres away from the Oval Lingotto, adding a special value to this location. Torino has been the heart of FIAT, one of the major Italian car manufacturers, and in the twenties the Lingotto area was hosting a branch of the manufacturer. The Torpedo, the Balilla, the Topolino and other significant cars in FIAT’s history passed through the Lingotto factory. With the branch being closed since 1982, now the Lingotto hosts one of architect Renzo Piano’s masterpieces, in the likes of the "Bolla" - a dream facility made of steel and crystal.

The first FIM SuperMoto Grand Prix of 2008 will be run inside the event "Torino Motorfest" by Magic For Fun, which is a mix of sport and fun, and offers the spectators lots of activities related to motorcycling. With the Grand Prix being the top sportive event inside the Motorfest, there will be also Freestyle Motocross shows and contests featuring the breathtaking trick called "backflip".

The rock band "The New Story" will play live and lots of special guests will attend the event throughout the weekend. Riding schools for participants of any age will be organised with the supervision of FMI (Italian Motorcycling Federation) technicians but the spectators will also enjoy bike and car tests. On Sunday there will be the special test of the hydrogen powered scooters "Hysyrider" by Hysylab. During the whole weekend the Ristorante Italiano will provide gourmet Italian food.

Saturday April 12: EC Open Free Practice 1 at 9:00 am; EC S3 Free Practice 1 at 9:30 am; KTM Italia Trophy Free Practice 10:05 am; EC Open Pre Qualifying Practice at 10:30 am; EC S3 Free Practice 2 at 11:00 am; S2 Free Practice 1 at 12:00 am; S1 Free Practice 1 at 12:40 am; EC Open Qualifying Race 1 at 1:30 pm; S2 Free Practice 2 at 2:00 pm; S1 Free Practice 2 at 2:40 pm; EC Open Qualifying Race 2 at 3:30 pm; S2 Time Practice at 4:00 pm; S1 Time Practice at 4:50 pm; EC S3 Time Practice and EC Open Last Chance Qualifying Practice at 5:40 pm; KTM Italia Trophy Time Practice at 6:15 pm

Sunday April 13: KTM Italia Trophy Warm Up at 7:45 am; EC Open Warm Up at 8:05 am; EC S3 Warm Up at 8:30 am; S2 Warm Up at 8:55 am with Superpole immediately after; S1 Warm Up at 9:30 am with Superpole immediately after; KTM Italia Trophy Race 1 at 10:15 am; EC Open Race 1 at 10:50 am; EC S3 Race 1 at 11:35 am; S2 Race 1 at 12:25 am; S1 Race 1 at 1:25 pm; EC Open Race 2 at 2:25 pm; S2 Race 2 at 3:25 pm; S1 Race 2 at 4:25 pm; EC S3 Race 2 at 5:25 pm; KTM Italia Trophy Race 2 at 6:00 pm.

EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe) : S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy) : S2 Race 2 at 15:00, S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

ART (Pan Middle East) : S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

Sport TV (Slovenia) : S2 Race 2 at 15:00, S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

Trans 7 (Indonesia) : S2 Race 2 at 15:00, S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

Mediazone (Worldwide) : S2 Race 2 at 15:00, S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday April 13, S1 Race 2 at 22:00 GMT; Tuesday April 15, S1 Race 2 at 8:00 GMT

- Daniele RIZZI -