After a sunny and dry morning at the Valladolid SuperMoto race track, the afternoon was hit by a heavy wind storm after the beginning of the S2 qualifying session. The situation forced the event management to stop the S2 session after 18 minutes; the remaining part of that session plus the S1, S3 and Open qualifying sessions will take place tomorrow morning in a newly modified race program.
S1
DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory’s Ivan Lazzarini topped both free practice sessions with Aprilia fellow rider and series leader Thierry Van Den Bosch being both times second behind the Italian.
KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer, Husqvarna CH Racing’s Thomas Chareyre and Robinsons KTM UK’s Matthew Winstanley also performed well, rounding off the top five in each practice session.
The qualifying session will take place tomorrow morning and will be followed by the Superpole.
S2
After topping the free practice two, Husqvarna CH Racing’s Adrien Chareyre was sitting on provisional pole when the qualifying session was red flagged.
Adrien Chareyre had grasped the provisional pole by the time the session was red flagged
In the provisional standings TM Factory Racing’s Davide Gozzini was second ahead of countryman Andrea Occhini of Husaberg Factory WP SuperMoto IPA. KTM Italia Miglio’s Attilio Pignotti and DRC Aprilia Factory’s Massimo Beltrami rounded off the top five ahead of Gerald Delepine, the fastest in the first free practice.
Andrea Occhini was a superb third in today’s first part of the qualifying session
The remaining part of the qualifying session will take place tomorrow morning to establish the final starting grid. Superpole will take place right after the qualifying.
UEM EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
S3 runner up Olivier Scheen topped both free practice sessions with red plate holder Oliver Pope being constantly in the top three. At the end of free practice two Raphael Storning was spotted in second place sandwiched in between the series leaders.
In the Open class Luca D’Addato topped the final free practice session ahead of Edgardo Borella and Championship leader Heino Meusburger. Alberto Dall’Era and Matteo Vannini completed the top five.
THE ESTADIO NUEVO ZORRILLA TRACK AND VALLADOLID
The first SuperMoto Grand Prix in Valladolid will be held in the twisty track built in the area of the important football stadium "Estadio Nuevo Zorrilla". The 1400 metre course is divided into about 1250 metres of slide section with the remaining 140 metres reserved to the sky section; it has a very technical and twisty layout, with 17 corners in the slide zone and other four in the sky zone while the longest straight will be less than 300 metres; such characteristics make it a very demanding course for the Dunlop tyres and the bikes’ suspensions which have to be perfectly set up in order to guarantee the endurance.
The Spanish city of Valladolid is located 200 kilometres North West of Madrid, the capital of the country; the city has about 320.000 inhabitants and it is the capital of the autonomous community of Castilla y León. At the beginning of the 16th century Valladolid was the Spanish capital of the Empire of Charles V of Spain. The 20th of May 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid but his body was then transferred for his burial.
The city still features the house where Columbus lived but also the famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (author of the Don Quixote de la Mancha) lived in Valladolid, where his house is still one of the most interesting buildings to see. The University of Valladolid was founded in the 14th century and it is the second oldest in Spain; together with the many other historic buildings, it preserves the ancient side of Valladolid which is now a modern and highly developed city.
THE EVENT’S SCHEDULE-UPDATED
Sunday June 22: EC Open and S3 Time Practice at 8:20 am; S2 continuation of Time Practice (21 minutes and 22 seconds) at 8:55 am with Superpole immediately after; S1 Time Practice at 9:30 am with Superpole immediately after; EC Open and S3 Race 1 at 11:35 am; S2 Race 1 at 12:25 am; S1 Race 1 at 1:25 pm; EC Open and S3 Race 2 at 2:25 pm; S2 Race 2 at 3:25 pm; S1 Race 2 at 4:25 pm
The Grand Prix will be broadcast live on:
ART (Pan Middle East) : S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET
SPORTITALIA 24 (Italy-digital terrestrial): S2 Race 2 at 15:00, 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
TV Castilla y Leon (Spain): S2 Race 2 at 15:00, S1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET
The Grand Prix will be broadcast delayed on:
EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe): Sunday June 22, S1 Race 2 at 19:15 CET
SPORTITALIA (Italy): Sunday June 22, S2 Race 2 at 23:30 and S1 Race 2 at 00:30 CET
EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday June 22, S1 Race 2 at 22:00; Monday June 23, S1 Race 2 twice N/A GMT
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 SuperMoto World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto of Nations, the FIM Snowcross World Championship, the UEM Motocross European Championship and the UEM SuperMoto European Championship.
- Daniele RIZZI -
