Epic battle for French GP and Championship victory

It is a bit difficult for people understanding the real meaning of winning a Championship, but riders know it very well. It is not only a matter of coming back home with a trophy or a medal, despite its value is priceless, it is something more: the passion, the commitment, the efforts done throughout an entire racing season can be finally awarded.


Only riders and teams know the big job and how many things have been going on behind the scenes; for sure French GP winner Adrien Chareyre, second and third classified Mauno Hermunen and Ivan Lazzarini will have a smile on their face for being the three top racers of the seasonal final Grand Prix which awarded Adrien with his fourth World Title, Thomas Chareyre – ending his GP at Race 2 with a shoulder injury - with the runner up spot and Ivan Lazzarini with the third place.


In the Open, Teo Monticelli’s one was a really good way to end the season and put the perfect basis for 2012 with the round victory, joined by Pavel Kejmar and Alessandro Tognaccini. Teo Monticelli was crowned European Champion and was followed in the standings by the other two protagonists of the French round.

S1


For sure the Chareyre name is going to be well remembered in the years in the SuperMoto world as it does not happen often that two brothers have such a high level of preparation and today they showed it one more time.


After taking the best time of 1:06.377 in yesterday’s qualifying session, TM Factory Racing Thomas Chareyre did not secure the Superpole for today’s opening race as it went to Fast Wheels ASD Adrien Chareyre. The latter was really impressive in the first moto as he immediately opened up a gap over rivals and triumphed after being the solitary leader of the race.


While the French racer was pulling away, Husqvarna Factory Mauno Hermunen tried to run in second chased by HM Honda Racing Ivan Lazzarini but while the two were on the gas seeking the runner up spot, 2010 World Champ Thomas Chareyre overcame both of them in the main straight eventually taking the chequered flag in second and the top three was rounded off by the Finnish on board his Husqvarna.



The intermediate race was featured by two bad crashes, one in the opening laps when Suzuki Valenti Lux Performance Christian Ravaglia fell and broke his shoulder blade and one right before the end, whose protagonist was Thomas Chareyre, but let’s take a look at the whole Race 2. As the red lights went off Adrien Chareyre lead his factory Aprilia at the front and initially the gap over his main pursuer, Thomas Chareyre, was not too big.



Adrien started increasing his speed and managed to go away from his younger brother but lap by lap the TM Factory Racing challenger was getting closer and closer until when he grasped the lead of the race. Fast Wheels ASD racer had no intention of missing the victory so he tried to overcome once again his main rival for the title; unfortunately the duo got a contact and Thomas crashed injuring his left shoulder and soon after the session went to the hospital.



So that Race 2 was won by Fast Wheels ASD Adrien Chareyre, who was really sorry for what happened to his brother, Thomas Chareyre finished in second and the third spot went once again to Husqvarna Factory Mauno Hermunen.

 

The final race of the weekend was a funny finale. Finnish Mauno Hermunen was the favorite to take the victory as he imposed his pace over rivals at the start of the race but Adrien Chareyre immediately took back the lead to pass it back to the Finnish some laps later. With just one lap to go Mauno Hermunen was passing under the Golden Tyre bridge thinking the session was over so his winning stand up cost him the victory which went to an astonished Ivan Lazzarini, Hermunen was second and Adrien Chareyre third.



The podium of the Grand Prix of France saw winning home hero Adrien Chareyre joined by Mauno Hermunen and Ivan Lazzarini while other racers who drew the attention today were TDS Faor Uros Nastran and KTM 747 Motorsport Alexis Marie Luce taking the fourth and fifth place, Thomas Chareyre was sixth followed by SHR Racing Matthew Winstanley, local rider  Romain Faivre, Rigo Racing Andrea Occhini and Pergetti Racing Elia Sammartin completing the top ten.


Eventually the 2011 FIM SuperMoto World Championship was won by Fast Wheels ASD Adrien Chareyre, who took his fourth World Title, Thomas Chareyre was second and could not confirm himself World Champ for the second consecutive year, Ivan Lazzarini came back home with a solid third place. Mauno Hermunen, Alexis Marie Luce, Uros Nastran and Matthew Winstanley ended the season with the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place while Christian Ravaglia, Massimo Beltrami and Elia Sammartin rounded off the top ten.


S1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 19:01.009; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:02.112; 3. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:06.636; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:10.047; 5. Sylvain Bidart (FRA, Honda), +0:18.791; 6. Romain Faivre (FRA, KTM), +0:19.054; 7. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), +0:19.352; 8. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), +0:20.550; 9. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:23.869; 10. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), +0:26.034.


S1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 19:01.483; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:04.142; 3. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:12.317; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:14.659; 5. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), +0:15.362; 6. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), +0:24.705; 7. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), +0:30.760; 8. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), +0:32.216; 9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), +0:40.561; 10. Romain Faivre (FRA, KTM), +0:43.978.


S1 Race 3 top ten: 1. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 19:05.090; 2. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:01.326; 3. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), +0:02.732; 4. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), +0:03.916; 5. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), +0:05.975; 6. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), +0:07.332; 7. Romain Faivre (FRA, KTM), +0:12.766; 8. Sylvain Bidart (FRA, Honda), +0:14.444; 9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), +0:19.427; 10. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), +0:21.389.


S1 Overall top ten: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 70 points; 2. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 62 p.; 3. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 61 p.; 4. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), 48 p.; 5. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), 44 p.; 6. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 44 p.; 7. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), 40 p.; 8. Romain Faivre (FRA, KTM), 40 p.; 9. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), 31 p.; 10. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), 30 p.


S1 Championship top ten: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 378 points; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 362 p.; 3. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 341 p.; 4. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 326 p.; 5. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), 240 p.; 6. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), 222 p.; 7. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), 206 p.; 8. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 185 p.; 9. Massimo Beltrami (ITA, Honda), 167 p.; 10. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), 158 p.


S1 Manufacturers: 1. Aprilia, 386 points; 2. TM, 368 p.; 3. Honda, 356 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 326 p.; 5. KTM, 271 p.; 6. Suzuki, 236 p.; 7. Yamaha, 61 p.


Complete results available at: http://www.youthstream.org/reslists.aspx?ct=4&c=10





Open


The successful race number six of the 2011 calendar secured Freccia Team Teo Monticelli with a well deserved victory of the UEM European Series which came after collecting many triumphs at the previous races: Bulgaria, Andorra and Sicily.


The Italian racer grew up a lot since last season. Hard work joined to devotion and consistency were the key elements which awarded him such a success after the young leader of the Open category ended the French race in first. The top three of the French round saw Pavel Kejmar ending in second and KTM 747 Motorsport Alessandro Tognaccini one step behind him.


It was a phenomenal year also for all of them: Monticelli won the European Title, Kejmar grasped the runner up spot and Tognaccini was third in the standings.


Complete results available at: http://www.youthstream.org/reslists.aspx?ct=4&c=10





GP OF FRANCE - QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1.550 mt (1.380 mt slide, 170 mt off road).
Temperature: 18°
Weather conditions: sunny
Crowd attendance: 6.500

As the whole 2011 FIM SuperMoto World Championship, this Grand Prix will be broadcasted delayed.



        

-  Giulia Rizzi