Bernd Hiemer and Adrien Chareyre took the S1 and S2 titles respectively with dominant performances as the two won today’s Grand Prix.
With each of the four moto containing lots of drama and action Hiemer and Chareyre eventually came out on top of the overall to consolidate their authority in the Championship.
Hiemer clinched another crown since his maiden title in 2006 as Chareyre collected his second consecutive title after last year’s success in the S1 class.
Thierry Van Den Bosch and Ivan Lazzarini rounded off today’s S1 podium and finished second and third in the Championship respectively.
In the S2 class the Greek round marked a podium comeback for Attilio Pignotti and Lorenzo Mariani as Davide Gozzini and Gerald Delepine completed the top three in the Championship.
Despite missing out the overall victory Oliver Pope became European Champion in the S3 class as Luca D’Addato took the Open class Title after winning both heats.
S1
What an eventful Greek Grand Prix it was for KTM Italia Miglio’s Bernd Hiemer who sealed his second World Title with gallantry. The German had not yet won a GP this season and took the chance to collect an overall victory this weekend after becoming World Champion at the end of the first heat.
DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory Team mates Thierry Van Den Bosch and Ivan Lazzarini completed both today’s and the Championship’s podium finishing second and third respectively.
Matthew Winstanley brought the bike home in fourth to secure the fifth place in the Championship as first heat winner Thomas Chareyre missed a chance of another Chareyre one-one by crashing in the final heat and then suffering a mechanical problem. He was fifth eventually.
Top five overall: 1. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 45 points; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 42 p.; 3. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), 40 p.; 4. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 28 p.;
S1 RACE 1
Chareyre led the pack into turn one with Hiemer, VDB and Lazzarini following. As Hiemer stopped the Aprilia duo for a while Chareyre pulled away from the rest of the field to take a comfortable win. VDB eventually got rid of Hiemer but he could just settle into second behind a too distant Chareyre. Hiemer cruised in third until he sealed the Title crossing the chequered flag ahead of Lazzarini. Bidart was fifth ahead of Winstanley putting some threat on the Brit’s position in the Championship.
Top five: 1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 19:05.941; ; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:05.179; 3. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:10.922; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), +0:15.565; 5. Sylvain Bidart (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:24.817
S1 RACE 2
VDB went first into turn one but lost the lead from Hiemer two laps later because of a mistake allowing the German in the inside. Misfortune hit VDB again when Chareyre crashed at the sky section and the duo went down. Chareyre stormed back into the race but crashed another couple of times before retiring due to a technical problem. On the other hand VDB did a steady recovery from fifth to an eventual third.
With two laps to go the Frenchman moved past Seel for fourth and entered the final lap in third after passing Winstanley. That was a hot ultimate lap for Lazzarini who saw his team mate extremely close until the chequered flag. Lazzarini held on for a solid second with VDB third followed by Winstanley and Seel.
Top five: 1. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 19:15.875; ; 2. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), +0:02.970; 3. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:03.117; 4. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), +0:05.353; 5. Eddy Seel (BEL, Suzuki), +0:06.375
S2
A smart ride by Husqvarna CH Racing’s Adrien Chareyre secured him the second consecutive title and also the fourth GP win of the 2008 season. Going one-two in the heats Chareyre topped the podium from KTM Italia Miglio’s Attilio Pignotti and other Italian Lorenzo Mariani of MRC Racing.
The duo exploited TM Factory Racing Davide Gozzini’s misfortune as the Italian dropped down to fourth in the overall and was left with no chance of improving his second place in the Championship. After a dramatic Superpole crash Gozzini was second in heat one and a flat tyre saw him lose vital time in the final heat.
Final moto winner Christian Iddon of DRC SuperMoto Aprilia Factory rounded off the top five.
Top five overall: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 47 points; 2. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Lorenzo Mariani (ITA, TM), 31 p.; 4. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 31 p.; 5. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), 30 p.
S2 RACE 1
Chareyre took the holeshot followed by a hungry Gozzini with the duo pulling away from the rest of the field. A mistake by Gozzini handed Chareyre the victory and the Italian brought the bike home in second. Experienced Pignotti steered his KTM to a solid third after battling it out with young gun Occhini who took fourth. Minutilli was fifth ahead of Mariani with Delepine twelfth after a crash.
Top five: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 19:16.115; ; 2. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:03.365; 3. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), +0:16.667; 4. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Husaberg), +0:17.092; 5. Luca Minutilli (ITA, Aprilia), +0:19.963
S2 RACE 2
Again Chareyre was the quickest to take to the first corner but this time runner up Gozzini ended up in the pit lane with a flat tyre. As the works TM team did his best to fix the problem Chareyre and Iddon pulled away with Iddon winning eventually.
Chareyre remained in second place to secure the title at the chequered flag while Gozzini tried a desperate recovery to finish 12th. Delepine was fourth in between a strong Pignotti and Mariani, who did not find an open door to move past the Belgian.
Being virtually third on the podium at lap 9 Occhini crashed and missed his chance by finishing an eventual 10th.
Top five: 1. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), 19:24.778; ; 2. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:04.810; 3. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), +0:10.352; 4. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:14.532; 5. Lorenzo Mariani (ITA, TM), +0:16.074
IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
Hiemer was again World Champion after his first crown from 2006. Three time World Champion Van Den Bosch took second for the second consecutive year while Ivan Lazzarini made up for his troubled 2007 season with third. Aprilia wrapped up the manufacturers title.
Top ten: 1. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 319 points; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 287 p.; 3. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Aprilia), 278 p.; 4. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 269 p.; 5. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, KTM), 208 p.; 6. Sylvain Bidart (FRA, Husqvarna), 196 p.; 7. Boris Chambon (FRA, TM), 185 p.; 8. Fabio Balducci (ITA, Suzuki), 159 p.; 9. Eddy Seel (BEL, Suzuki), 157 p.; 10. Maxime Testu (FRA, Kawasaki), 144 p.
Adrien Chareyre took a hard fought title ahead of archrival Gozzini. Delepine secured the third place ahead of Pignotti as Minutilli completed a solid season in fifth place. Husqvarna won the manufacturers title.
Top ten: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 367 points; 2. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 340 p.; 3. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Husqvarna), 276 p.; 4. Attilio Pignotti (ITA, KTM), 265 p.; 5. Luca Minutilli (ITA, Aprilia), 229 p.; 6. Christian Iddon (GBR, Aprilia), 202 p.; 7. Lorenzo Mariani (ITA, TM), 196 p.; 8. Paolo Gaspardone (ITA, Husaberg), 175 p.; 9. Massimo Beltrami (ITA, Aprilia), 167 p.; 10. Emanuele Giovanelli (ITA, Husaberg), 167 p.
THE UEM EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
It was again a dogfight in between Oliver Pope and Olivier Scheen who took one moto each on the Greek soil. Pope was crowned Champion at the end of the first heat which he won courtesy of a final lap move on Scheen. The latter took the overall victory courtesy of his final moto win and also secured the second place in the S3 Championship. Alessandro Asnicar finished third in the Championship.
Luca D’Addato left his mark on the Drive Park as he took victory in both heats; the Italian sealed the title with a 22 point advantage over runner up Heino Meusburger who was second on today’s podium. Courtesy of a third place finish this weekend Edgardo Borella moved up to a final third in the Championship.
WHAT’S NEXT
The World and European Motocross and SuperMoto Champions will be given their awards at the FIM Off Road Awards in Monaco, Montecarlo, on December 6. Moreover on November 29 all the UEM Champions will receive their medals in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The Grand Prix was broadcast live on:
SPORT ITALIA (Italy) : S2 Race 2 at 14:00 and S1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
ART (Pan Middle East) : S1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
Sport TV (Slovenia) : S2 Race 2 at 14:00, S1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
Trans 7 (Indonesia) : S2 Race 2 at 14:00, S1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
Sport TV (Portugal) : S2 Race 2 at 14:00, S1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
Mediazone (Worldwide) : S2 Race 2 at 14:00, S1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
The Grand Prix will be broadcast delayed on:
EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe): Sunday October 19, S1 Race 2 at 17:30 CET
EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday October 19, S1 Race 2 at 18:30. Monday October 20, S1 Race 2 at 22:30 and at 22:30. Tuesday October 21, S1 Race 2 at 04:30 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 Women's Motocross World Championship, the FIM Veteran's Motocross World Cup, the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto of Nations, the FIM Snowcross World Championship, the UEM Motocross European Championship, the UEM Motocross of European Nations and the UEM SuperMoto European Championship.
- Daniele RIZZI, Youthstream -
