This opening day of the first Grand Prix of 2008 at Torino, Italy, was a demanding test for the Superiders getting back to action on the Oval Lingotto course. With proceedings starting under the rain, the weather slowly changed into dry for the afternoon. Once the qualifying were on, the circuit was dry but the off road section was not used.
Thierry Van Den Bosch took pole in S1 with Davide Gozzini being the fastest in the S2; in the UEM European SuperMoto Championship, Viktor Bolsek and 2007 S3 European Champion Baptiste Rheims won the two Open class qualifying heats while Olivier Scheen took pole in the S3.
S1
DRC Aprilia Off Road’s Thierry Van Den Bosch and KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer made it an exciting qualifying today on the Oval. With VDB having taken the lead by 0.015 seconds, the Frenchman improved his advantage until 0.2 seconds.
Right after Hiemer completed a storming lap to shorten the gap to 0.034 but VDB ended the session with a storming 54.973 lap to be the only rider to lap under the 55 second barrier and collect the first pole of the season.
Hiemer settled for a solid second while Husqvarna CH Racing’s Thomas Chareyre was third fastest after a positive qualifying. DRC Aprilia Off Road’s second rider in S1, Ivan Lazzarini, completed the top four being the fourth and last rider to have access to tomorrow’s Superpole.
Brit Matthew Winstanley of Robinsons KTM UK, who is in his first year in the category, was fifth ahead of SBD Unionbike Racing’s Giovanni Bussei. Sylvain Bidart and Boris Chambon rounded off a close top eight at one second distance.
S2
Having finished 2007 with a bitter fourth in the Championship, TM Racing Factory’s Davide Gozzini came back to be his storming self at Torino, where he clocked the pole at the end of today’s qualifying.
With defending Champion Gerald Delepine of Husqvarna CH Racing ending 11th quickest because of a lack of feeling with the new Husqvarna 530 SMR machine, his team mate and defending S1 World Champion Adrien Chareyre, who just entered the category this year, clocked the second fastest time.
Last year’s runner up in the world Attilio Pignotti of KTM Italia Miglio finished a positive third ahead of PMR H2O Aprilia Off Road’s Christian Iddon. The Brit’s team mate Luca Minutilli rounded off the top five ahead of Bikers Racing’s Paolo Gaspardone and KTM Motoracing’s Ales Hlad.
The latter rode with a left injured foot. In tomorrow morning’s Superpole Gozzini, Chareyre, Pignotti and Iddon will battle it out for the top spot on the grid.
THE UEM EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
The UEM European SuperMoto Championship saw Belgian young gun Olivier Scheen take pole in the S3 class; the S3 Reigning Champion Baptiste Rheims actually took victory in one of the two qualifying heats of the Open class, with Viktor Bolsek winning the other qualifying moto.
Raphael Storning clocked the second quickest time in the S3, with Jonatan Martignoni, Alessandro Asnicar and Oliver Pope ending the top five.
Bolsek won the qualifying heat one from Heino Meusburger, Andreas Rothbauer, Alexander Georgiev and Kevin Gloire.
On the other hand Rheims won a tough second moto as he was followed from really close by Uros Nastran, Alberto Dall’Era, Alex Tognaccini and Tommaso Iacoboni for all the 15 laps.
THE OVAL LINGOTTO AND TORINO
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.
TORINO MOTORFEST
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.
THE EVENT’S SCHEDULE
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.
The Grand Prix will be broadcast live on:
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
The Grand Prix will be broadcast delayed on:
EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday April 13, S1 Race 2 at 22:00 GMT; Tuesday April 15, S1 Race 2 at 8:00 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 -
