Torino plays host to FIM Supermoto World Championship curtain raiser

It will surely be a hard fought S1 campaign as Reigning Champion Adrien Chareyre –the youngest ever SuperMoto World Champion having collected the crown last year at the age of 21- left the class to move to the S2. His brother Thomas, Thierry Van Den Bosch, Bernd Hiemer, Jerome Giraudo and lots more will fight tooth and nail for the Championship victory.

The S2 class will be also a hard fought category, with team mates Adrien Chareyre and Reigning S2 Champion Gerald Delepine facing a strong opposition in the likes of last year’s runner up Attilio Pignotti, Davide Gozzini and Christian Iddon.

The UEM SuperMoto series, once again following the entire World Championship, will also start in Torino and will welcome back to action Open class stars Luca De Angelis and Alex Tognaccini, and S3 young guns such as Olivier Scheen and Romain Titone.

With 2007 World Champion Adrien moving to the S2 class, the Husqvarna CH Racing Team will line up third placed in last year’s series Thomas Chareyre. The youngster won his maiden GP at Torino in 2007, in occasion of the first ever floodlit SuperMoto round. One of his major opponents will be three time World Champion Thierry Van Den Bosch in the Aprilia Off Road Team.

The Italian manufacturer will also line up multiple Italian Champion and GP winner Ivan Lazzarini; the DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory Superider is raring to go after his disappointing 2007 season, ended in ninth place. KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer is another one looking for revenge this year; at his debut in the class last season, the German struggled to adapt but finally came back to the podium at Busca, the penultimate round, to collect another second place at the curtain call in Greece.

After the last four years with Aprilia, 2004 World Champion and current HM Honda Racing Monticelli Superider Jerome Giraudo will aim at a strong comeback at Torino, as he was forced off the 2007 GP campaign because of an eye injury. Team Cross2R Husqvarna will be on the grid with a superb line up, with Frenchmen Sylvain Bidart and Kevin Berthome alongside debutant Riccardo Peroni from Italy.

Nestor Jorge, winner of last year’s final S2 GP, will be on the Yamaha Evolution Team’s machinery while 2005 World Champion Boris Chambon will make his TM Racing Factory debut. Suzuki Valenti’s Fabio Balducci, Rigo Racing’s Eddy Seel and SBD Unionbike Racing’s Giovanni Bussei also look forward to Torino, the same as Kawasaki mounted Maxime Testu and Marco Dondi, both in the KL Kawasaki SuperMoto Team by Nastedo.

S2

Taken the last hard fought S2 Grand Prix of 2007 at Megara, Greece, KTM Italia Miglio’s Attilio Pignotti will be surely on fire at home Italy this weekend, as he lost his maiden Title from Husqvarna CH Racing’s Gerald Delepine by just five points.

With the latter to run with the number one plate, Pignotti has taken up the number two and Aprilia Off Road’s Christian Iddon the number three. This trio will be highly motivated as they all entered Greece 2007 with a Title chance. There Delepine took his second World Title while the rest, including also TM Racing Factory’s Davide Gozzini, was left empty handed and is now hungry for success.

Iddon took his maiden success in a wet Torino last year, winning another Grand Prix at Busca later in the year; he will be looking forward to open the season there instead of last year’s opening venue Castelletto di Branduzzo, which carries bittersweet memories for the Brit as he tangled up with another Superider and crashed at the very first moto of ‘07, but won his maiden moto later on. On the other hand Castelletto was a step stone for both Pignotti and Gozzini. The former took his first and only GP victory while the latter made his TM debut by winning one heat straight away.

Two newcomers in the likes of Husqvarna CH Racing’s Adrien Chareyre and DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory’s Massimo Beltrami will join the class this year, with both having been major players in the S1 class.

Young gun Paolo Gaspardone of Bikers’ Racing Team showed to have reached a good speed throughout the winter, though he recently underwent an arm operation and might not be 100% ready with his preparation. GP winner Ales Hlad of KTM Motoracing, MRC Racing’s Lorenzo Mariani, youngster Andrea Occhini of Husaberg Factory WP IPA and PMR H2O Aprilia Off Road’s Luca Minutilli also aim at podium appearances for this forthcoming season of racing.

The European SuperMoto series also starts from Torino. In the S3 class last year’s young gun Olivier Scheen, at his maiden season in the Championship, will try to use the previous experience to put in a strong season which might end with his maiden continental Title. The opposition to the Belgian will be strong though, with UK’s James Moore and Frenchman Romain Titone both ready to give chase right from round one.

Luca De Angelis, Alessandro Tognaccini, Alberto Dall’Era and Heino Meusburger, who rounded off last year’s top six in the Championship, will battle it out for victory in the Open class, with 2007 Champion Petr Vorlicek having left to race the S1 World Championship. Former World Championship Superider Marco Candelori and last year’s S3 European Champion Baptiste Rheims will also join them in the chase for the top spots.

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.

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.

Saturday April 12: EC Open Free Practice 1 at 9:00 am; EC S3 Free Practice 1 at 9:30 am; KTM Italia Trophy Free Practice 10:05 am; EC Open Pre Qualifying Practice at 10:30 am; EC S3 Free Practice 2 at 11:00 am; S2 Free Practice 1 at 12:00 am; S1 Free Practice 1 at 12:40 am; EC Open Qualifying Race 1 at 1:30 pm; S2 Free Practice 2 at 2:00 pm; S1 Free Practice 2 at 2:40 pm; EC Open Qualifying Race 2 at 3:30 pm; S2 Time Practice at 4:00 pm; S1 Time Practice at 4:50 pm; EC S3 Time Practice and EC Open Last Chance Qualifying Practice at 5:40 pm; KTM Italia Trophy Time Practice at 6:15 pm

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.

- Daniele RIZZI -