It is time for the main SuperMoto international event of the year, the FIM SuperMoto of Nations to be held in Pleven, Bulgaria, on an all asphalt course this forthcoming weekend.
This will be the third edition of the event as Italy and France are currently level in points with both having taken home the Francesco Zerbi Trophy once since Bishopscourt, Northern Ireland, 2006.
Italy won that first edition with France winning one year after in Franciacorta, Italy. This year it will be a thrilling new challenge.
Having lost their supremacy last year by one point the Italians will be seeking revenge this year in Pleven on what will be a "neutral" course both for them and the defending Champions from France.
Italy has put together a solid line up including three top riders all having World Championship experience. Ivan Lazzarini will steer the 450 twin cylinder Aprilia SXV in the S1 class which is positive news for the squad; since his first Aprilia podium this year in Valladolid Lazzarini has not finished a GP in a lower position than the second place.
Currently fighting for the S2 World Title Davide Gozzini will take on the SMoN challenge onboard the works TM 660. The Superider looks forward to his second consecutive appearance in the team and to Pleven where he won a Grand Prix last year.
Also Attilio Pignotti will enter the event for his second consecutive year; the KTM rider will round off Italy’s line up in the Open class.
Defending Champion Team France mixed their cards at the end of last year and put together a new line up for Pleven.
2006 SMoN debutant Sylvain Bidart is back in the team after he missed the battle last year when Adrien and Thomas Chareyre and Thierry Van Den Bosch won the Trophy.
Riding in the S1 class Bidart will head the French team alongside young gun Adrien Goguet (S2), who took his first steps in the World Championship scene last year, and multiple French Champion Stephane Blot (Open).
Ending third both in 2006 and in 2007 Team Great Britain aims at a step forward this year even after Christian Iddon’s withdrawal due to his recently healed wrist injury.
Former Motocrosser and current SuperMoto World Championship racer Matthew Winstanley will be in the S1 class. The Brit has just collected his first S1 National Title and is currently experiencing his best World Championship season being 5th in the standings.
The S2 rider in team GB will be Chris Hodgson, a youngsters that came through the junior ranks via the KTM Red Bull Cup. The "Racing Snake" will be in Pleven onboard a KTM 505.
Veteran Ady Smith will replace GP winner Iddon in the Open class. Smith has already worn Team Great Britain’s gear in the International Six Days Enduro and was two time British SuperMoto Champion.
Team Germany missed the first edition of the event but took a solid fourth last year at Franciacorta. Chasing a podium result this year will be two young guns Jan Deitenbach (S1) and Nico Joannidis (S2) with veteran Dirk Spaniol rounding off the squad in the Open class. The latter is also the team manager of the Suzuki Germany SuperMoto Team, a characteristic that expert Spaniol will surely use to build up the team spirit.
There will be lots of other Nations entering the event with Slovenia, Finland and Great Britain lining up a Junior team as well.
Among the riders chasing the Francesco Zerbi Trophy there are 2007 European Champion Petr Vorlicek from Czech Republic, GP winner Ales Hlad riding for Bulgaria, former high level motocrosser Jussi Vehvilainen from Finland –the Junior Finnish team will have Mauno Hermunen who led some laps during Castelletto’s wet GP this year- and current S3 European Championship leader Oliver Pope.
DOLNA MITROPOLIA AND PLEVEN
The Dolna Mitropolia complex is the best permanent SuperMoto facility in the world that combines a challenging slide zone in asphalt with a permanent sky section featuring a special asphalt surface that covers the ground.
The combination of the healthy support from the local Government and the hard work of the Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation contribute in keeping up the high Pleven standards as all Superiders look forward to racing on the Bulgarian course. Last year Pleven won the Best SuperMoto Organizer Award at the FIM Off Road Awards.
Pleven is in the North of Bulgaria, about 170 kilometres North-East of Sofia, and lies on the central part of the Danube lowland. Pleven is the seventh largest city in the country, having about 120,000 inhabitants living in its urban centre.
The city has kept a lot of its cultural and historical heritage and is actually known as the town of museums. Some of its main buildings are the theatre house "Ivan Radoev" founded in 1919 and the fascinating building hosting the exhibition-donation "Svetlin Rusev".
THE EVENT’S SCHEDULE
Saturday October 11: SuperMoto Youngsters Show Demo at 8:30 am; S1 Free Practice at 9:00 am; S2 Free Practice at 9:45 am; Open Free Practice at 10:30 am; S1 Time Practice at 12:00 am; S2 Time Practice at 12:45 am; Open Time Practice at 1:30 pm; S1 Qualifying Race at 3:00 pm; S2 Qualifying Race at 4:00 pm; Open Qualifying Race at 5:00 pm; SuperMoto Youngsters Show Demo at 5:40 pm
Sunday October 12: SuperMoto Youngsters Show Demo at 9:00 am; SMoN Warm Up Group 1 at 9:30 am; SMoN Warm Up Group 2 at 10:00 am; SuperMoto Youngsters Show Demo at 10:40 am; SMoN Race 1 (S1+S2) at 1:00 pm; SMoN Race 2 (S2+Open) at 2:15 pm; SuperMoto Youngsters Show Demo at 2:45 pm; SMoN Race 3 (S1+Open) at 4:20 pm
Information, photos and results are online at http://www.supermotoS1.com , the official website of the FIM SuperMoto World Championships.
MediaZone Moto is the leading global online broadcaster of Motocross and SuperMoto events. Fans worldwide can watch the thrills from this and every race of the 2008 FIM Motocross & SuperMoto World Championships LIVE and On Demand exclusively at www.MediaZoneMoto.com.
Youthstream is the company that manages the exclusive television, marketing and promotional world wide rights of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the FIM Motocross of Nations, the FIM Women's Motocross World Championship, the FIM Veteran's Motocross World Cup, the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto of Nations, the FIM Snowcross World Championship, the UEM Motocross European Championship, the UEM Motocross of European Nations and the UEM SuperMoto European Championship.
- Daniele RIZZI, Youthstream -
