KTM S1 rider Bernd Hiemer of Germany let his head rule his heart in northern Spain this weekend to settle for a second and third in the two individual motos for overall third and enough points to assume the championship standing leadership.
Hiemer thus secured the coveted red number plate for his team for the first time in the current season and now takes the lead in the championship after the third of eight rounds. Hiemer also benefited from the fact that his nearest rival Thierry van den Bosch of France had several crashes at the Spanish venue and came in at fourth place in the overall GP classification.
Hot temperatures creates concentration problems
The German rider said it was a far from perfect weekend with riders fighting extremely hot temperatures and a track that was badly cut up after a freak storm halted practice for the GP on Saturday.
"It was very difficult to stay concentrated because it was so hot," Hiemer said. "I had the speed and I had two good starts but the track was really cut up and with temperatures around 35 degrees it was difficult to stay concentrated. In the end I decided not to take any risks and go for as many points as possible."
Hiemer who admitted he was better on the asphalt than the offroad section this weekend was second and third in the two races and was rewarded with 42 points, vaulting him into the championship lead. The fact that his closest rival Thierry van de Bosch of France had an eventful two races and only picked up 28 points also gave Hiemer the advantage.
Valladolid, the Spanish city about 200 km north-west of Madrid hosted the Supermoto event for the first time in the 1400 m purpose-built circuit near the "Estadio Nuevo Zorrilla" football stadium. Riders had to tackle 1250 metres of the slide section and 140 in the sky section. The longest straight was around 300m and the course offered many technical and twisty challenges.
Results Round Three S1
1. Ivan Lazzarini, Italy, Aprilia
2. Thomas Charayne, France, Aprilia
3. Bernd Hiemer, Germany, KTM
4. Thierry van den Bosch, France, Aprilia
5. Sylvain Bidart, France, Husqvarna
Championship Standings after Round Three of Eight
1. Bernd Hiemer, Germany, 136 points
2. Thierry van den Bosch, France, 122
3. Thomas Charayne, France, 105
4. Matthew Winstanley Britain, KTM 94
5. Ivan Lazzarini, Italy, 86
Pignotti battles with fractured wrist for second S2 GP place in Spain
Veteran Italian KTM S2 rider Attilio Pignotti on Sunday showed his strength and experience when he was able to secure second place in the Grand Prix of Spain in Valladolid riding through the pain of a fractured wrist.
Pignotti put in an obstinate battle for his podium place despite the micro fracture in his left wrist in a race he described "as the most difficult of my life".
Pignotti was already in the forefront in free time practice and was third in the final official qualifying, split into two stages after a thunderstorm stopped action on Saturday afternoon, and in the super pole.
On a course where it was difficult to overtake Attilio had a good start in race one and was in fifth place but had to concentrate hard on making no mistakes because of the pain in his wrist. In the end he decided to sit out the race in fourth place and concentrate on collecting points.
He was second at the start of race two with only Adrien Chareyre in front but Gozzini made an aggressive attack only to crash out fighting against Mariani. Pignotti was able to finish the race in second place for third overall. Attila is now third in the standings, training leader Adrien Chareyre by 37 points.
Results Round Three
1. Adrien Chareyre, France, Husqvarna
2. Attilio Pignotti, Italy, KTM
3. Gerald Delepine, Belgium, Husqvarna
4. Davide Gozzini, Italy, TM
5. Massimo Beltrami, Italy, Aprilia
Standings after Round Three of Eight
1. Adrien Chareyre, France, 140 points
2. Davide Gozzini, Italy, 127
3. Attilio Pignotti, Italy, KTM, 103
4. Gerald Delepine, Belgium, 97
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- KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG, Mattighofen-
