Hiemer third in S1 in Olbia; retains championship lead

Hiemer settled for third place in each race in conditions that were hot and tiring for the riders to retain the coveted red number plate as standings leader going into what is the home GP for Austrian manufacturer KTM in the next round.

Both races were a battle between Hiemer, Thierry can den Bosch of France and Italian Ivan Lazzarini. Hiemer recovered well from fifth in race one to finish in third but got away better out of the gates in race two. He hung onto the two leaders until several laps from the end then settled for a safe third place and enough points to retain the leadership.

"I like the track and although I am very tired after the races it was a very good day for me," Hiemer said after the race. "I am looking forward to the next round in Austria where I know the track and this should be an advantage for me," the German said. He has succeeded in being on the podium for every round of the 2008 series so far.

Riders tackled the new venue at the industrial port of Olbia where 30,000 square metres had been reserved for the course. They faced riding on asphalt and cobbled paving as well as the offroad section made of natural ground, which also featured a three wave section.

1. Thierry van den Bosch, France, Aprilia

2. Ivan Lazzarini, Italy, Aprilia,

3. Bernd Hiemer, Germany, KTM

4. Matthew Winstanley, Britain, KTM UK

5. Boris Chambon, France, TM

Standings

1. Bernd Hiemer, Germany, 175

2. Thierry van den Bosch, France, 169

3. Ivan Lazzarini, Italy, 133

4. Thomas Chareyre, France, 132

5. Matthew Winstanley, Britain, 126

KTM S2 rider Attilio Pignotti came away from two difficult day's riding in the port city of Olbia in Sardinia with a sixth place in S2 to pick up enough championship points to finish fourth in the current standings.

Pignotti struggled with his feeling for the bike and the track, which was a new venue on the Supermoto world championship series. The Italian and his team were unable to arrive at a good setting for the rear suspension and instead he chose to ride a nervous race and rather conservative race for a solid sixth and salvage more points to add to his total for the season.

As well as set-up problems, Pignotti is also still troubled with a fractured wrist injury that is not completely recovered and found it difficult to tackle the offroad section of the course at Olbia. He hopes to be fully recovered to ride in the next round in three weeks time in Austria, essentially a home GP for KTM, the Austrian manufacturer.

1. Davide Gozzini, Italy, TM,

2. Adrien Chareyre, France, Husqvarna

3. Massimo Beltrami, Italy, Aprilia

4. Gerald Delepine, Belgium, Husqvarna

5. Luca Minutilli, Italy, Aprilia

6. Attilio Pignotti, Italy, KTM

1. A. Chareyre, France, 184

2. Davide Gozzini, Italy, 177

3. Gerald Delepine, Belgium, 133

4. Attilio Pignotti, Italy, KTM, 133

5. Luca Minutilli, Italy, 128

- KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG, Mattighofen-