Today’s rain turned the Motodromo’s track conditions upside down for the Grand Prix of Europe, the second of the 2008 season.

Thierry Van Den Bosch won the S1 class to retain the red plate while home rider Davide Gozzini took the honours in the S2 class at the end of an eventful day.

Oliver Pope took his first European Championship win in the S3 class with Heino Meusburger winning the Open class.

Aprilia Off Road’s Thierry Van Den Bosch was his impressive self again and collected his second consecutive win from arch rival Bernd Hiemer. The KTM Italia Miglio’s German won the opening moto but lost the final heat and the overall result from a superb VDB. Robinsons KTM UK’s Matthew Winstanley made his podium comeback after his first and only appearance in Spain 2004 (Finestrat).

TM Factory Racing’s Boris Chambon and Yamaha Evolution’s Christian Ravaglia rounded off the top five as Thomas Chareyre finished right behind in sixth. On the other hand it was a tough day for home rider Ivan Lazzarini, who crashed twice in the opening heat and damaged his bike in the second heat, ending the event with no points to his credit.

Top five overall: 1. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 47 points; 2. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Boris Chambon (FRA, TM), 31 p.; 5. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Yamaha), 30 p.

Hiemer took the first moto once he got rid of a superb Jerome Giraudo; the latter took the lead after a harsh pass on the German but eventually his bike stopped and Hiemer found himself back on the lead. Winstanley and Hiemer started to pull away while Van Den Bosch lost ground in the first half of the heat. The Frenchman came back stronger in the final laps to move past Winstanley and take second ahead of the Brit. Chambon and Nestor rounded off the top five and Chareyre ended twelfth fastest at the end of an impressive recovery from the back of the pack.

Top five: 1. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 21:09.512; ; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:03.882; 3. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), +0:05.205; 4. Boris Chambon (FRA, TM), +0:08.443; 5. Nestor Jorge Cabrera (ESP, Yamaha), +0:22.293

Once again Hiemer took off after the start with VDB following from close. Right behind them Lazzarini and Giraudo fought for third with the Frenchman moving past Lazzarini then stalling the bike. Winstanley was handed third as both Lazzarini and Giraudo slipped out of the top five. With moto two coming close to the end, Van Den Bosch made his move on Hiemer who did not fight back and settle for the runner up position. In the remaining three laps Winstanley and Chareyre came extremely close to Hiemer, with Chareyre trying a last lap manoeuvre on Winstanley which did not work eventually. Ravaglia rounded off the top five ahead of Giraudo.

Top five: 1. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 20:52.804; ; 2. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:02.449; 3. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), +0:02.937; 4. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:03.182; 5. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Yamaha), +0:16.615

TM Factory Racing’s Davide Gozzini took victory number two of 2008 and topped the podium from Husqvarna CH Racing’s team mates Adrien Chareyre and Gerald Delepine. After yesterday’s extremely difficult qualifying –on the grid Adrien was eighth and Gerald 11th- the wet weather brought Husqvarna luck, with Chareyre winning heat one. Aprilia Off Road’s Christian Iddon and PMR H2O Aprilia Off Road’s Luca Minutilli rounded off the top five as both had problems with their goggles in the opening moto. A surprising Mauno Hermunen of Zupin Husqvarna finished sixth ahead of Attilio Pignotti, who rode with an injured left wrist after a crash in yesterday’s qualifying.

Top five overall: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 45 points; 2. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 43 p.; 3. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), 42 p.; 4. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), 40 p.; 5. Luca Minutilli (ITA, Aprilia), 29 p.

Mariani took the holeshot and remained at the lead until he stalled the bike at the sky section; Hermunen found himself first and carried on showing superb riding skills on the wet. The Finn slipped at lap eight, with the lead passing in Chareyre’s hands. While Adrien cruised in first, team mate Delepine, who rode with no goggles due to a roll-off problem, worked his way up to second courtesy of a final move on Gozzini. The latter ended third from Iddon and Minutilli. Beltrami ended sixth after he crashed trying to pass Gozzini for third.

Top five: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 21:13.572; ; 2. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.903; 3. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:05.542; 4. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), +0:07.797; 5. Luca Minutilli (ITA, Aprilia), +0:09.121

Gozzini took a great start and decided to pull away from the rest of the field, staying out of troubles as Minutilli and Gaspardone crashed at corner two. Iddon rode a solid second moto to reach Gozzini in the final laps; the Brit tried several overtaking moves but the Italian shut all doors to wrap up the eventual win. Delepine worked his way up in the first two laps to cruise in third place for the rest of the heat, while team mate Chareyre had a tough time to pass Mariani for fourth. Also Pignotti moved past Mariani to take fifth ahead of the TM rider.

Top five: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 21:27.346; ; 2. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), +0:00.669; 3. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:06.900; 4. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:08.276; 5. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), +0:11.437

VDB and Hiemer are going hand in hand in the Championship standings as both continue to be level in points. Winstanley has moved up to third as Chareyre slipped in fourth. Chambon now rounds off the top five as Lazzarini dropped down to tenth.

Top ten: 1. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 94 points; 2. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 94 p.; 3. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), 76 p.; 4. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 63 p.; 5. Boris Chambon (FRA, TM), 57 p.; 6. Fabio Balducci (ITA, Suzuki), 52 p.; 7. Sylvain Bidart (FRA, Husqvarna), 42 p.; 8. Maxime Testu (FRA, Kawasaki), 42 p.; 9. Nestor Jorge Cabrera (ESP, Yamaha), 40 p.; 10. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), 36 p.

Top ten: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 92 points; 2. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 90 p.; 3. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), 67 p.; 4. Luca Minutilli (ITA, Aprilia), 65 p.; 5. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), 63 p.; 6. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), 61 p.; 7. Massimo Beltrami (ITA, Aprilia), 57 p.; 8. Lorenzo Mariani (ITA, TM), 48 p.; 9. Michael Paul (BEL, Yamaha), 41 p.; 10. Emanuele Giovanelli (ITA, Husaberg), 40 p.

Oliver Pope took his first European Championship win today in the S3 class, courtesy of two superb heat wins. Poleman Olivier Scheen collected two second places but he could not close in on leader Pope. Italian Alessandro Asnicar completed the podium to be the best placed home rider, courtesy of a third and a fourth place finishes. Kenneth Dekindt and Romain Titone rounded off the top five as Janina Wuerterle finished sixth.

Heino Meusburger took victory in the Open class, dominating the second moto after a third place in heat one. Alessandro Tognaccini was second overall as he finished both heats in the runner up position; third placed Viktor Bolsek won the opening heat but dropped down in the overall as he finished seventh in heat two-he crashed at lap two. Alberto Dall’Era and Luca D’Addato rounded off the top five.

WHAT’S NEXT Round three of the FIM and UEM SuperMoto series will take place in Valladolid, Spain, on June 22.

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 May 25, S1 Race 2 at 18:00; Monday May 26, S1 Race 2 at 09:00 and at 22:15 GMT

- Daniele RIZZI, Youthstream -