THE SUPERMOTO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP KICKS OFF APRIL 30TH!
Filed under: MX News
FIM 4/21/2005
The Supermoto World Championship kicks off in ten days
It’s SuperMoto time in Europe! The 4th edition of the Supermoto World Championship will start at the end of this month (April 30th-May 1st) in Italy, on the track of Casteletto di Branduzzo…check it out.
The 4th edition of the Supermoto World Championship will start at the end of this month (April 30th-May 1st) in Italy, on the track of Casteletto di Branduzzo. Home of the opening round of the National Series one month ago, the Italian track (located south of Milano) will host the opening round of the S1-S2 World Championships.
Created in 2001 by Youthstream, the FIM Supermoto is one of the youngest Motorcycle’s World Championship but will provide for sure an amazing show this season during each round of the series. World Champion Thierry Van Den Bosch (KTM, S1 class) crowned last season for his comeback to Supermoto will defend his title against strong opponents such as Gerald Delepine, Bernd Hiemer, Max Manzo, Ivan Lazzarini, Valter Bartolini or Fabrice Lecoanet in the S1 class.
Introduced last year the S2 class will probably become the new “First class” as no less than nine manufacturers (Aprilia, Husqvarna, KTM, Honda, Yamaha, Husaberg, Terra Modena, TM and Suzuki) will be involved. Former S1 riders Eddy Seel and Boris Chambon will join Jerome Giraudo (2004 World Champion), Davide Gozzini, Max Verderosa, Frédéric Bolley, Simone Girolami, Jorge Nestor and Fabio Balducci who all won at least one heat in 2004.
New sporting rules will give more interest to the GP’s, with two heats per class (instead of two finals and one superfinal). The program will now be similar to Motocross, except for the qualifications; after the traditional qualifying sessions on Saturday, the Superpole (the four fastest riders on Saturday will do one fast lap each) held on Sunday morning will define the first row of the grid, and 28 riders will be allowed to race each Grand Prix.
The season will start on 1st of May in Italy (Casteletto di Branduzzo) and will end on November 20th in Spain (Finestrat). Eight countries will met at least one round of the series, and in Namur (May 8th) the event will combined Motocross and Supermoto with two World Championships organized the same day in the same place!
“Namur is really a completely new thing, and we must considerer it in terms of show,” said Giuseppe Luongo, President of Youthstream. “I’m sure it will be great, for the fans it will not coast one euro more and they will have a complete program during the week-end. We really believe it will be a great event, the biggest off-road event and the place to be. Of course it’s the first time and if on the paper it looks really good we must see how it will go; luckily we’ve an experimented organizer behind the event with Eric Geboers, he believed in this project.
For sure if it’s a success we’ll have other requests to make two or three meetings like this one, but as always if it’s a success it will be the success of everybody, and if it’s not a success it will be my fault. But we must try new things to attract new public and new fans to our fantastic sports!”
“Every year we make one more step, and I’ve a good feeling about this season. I think that the S1 will be very good as it has always been, and the S2 will be fantastic with so many manufacturers involved. Last year we had some incredible races in S2, and I’m really pleased to see that the Japanese are now looking carefully to the Supermoto WC, and will organize this year for the first time a national championship. Things are moving everywhere, and I’m optimistic for this season and the followings; we’re already sure to have fourteen events in 2006, it seems that our work and investment since three years will bring us the expected results.
Before the organizers were not so numerous, Supermoto had no history, no specific tracks, no traditional fans… It has been hard but slowly the sport become more famous, the manufacturers are coming and the television is there. We’ve now stabilized the situation, with some regular organizers, and I’m optimistic for the future” added Giuseppe Luongo.
SCHEDULE
1 May - EUROPE (I)
Castelletto di Branduzzo
8 May - BELGIUM (B)
Namur
22 May - CZECH REPUBLIC
Sosnova
19 June - AUSTRIA
Melk
10 July
TBA
TBA
(Sat) 10 September - IRELAND
Stormont Castle
2 October - MEDITERRANEAN (I)
Jesolo
30 October - GREECE
Athens
13 November - ITALY
Latina
20 November - SPAIN
Finestrat
Main teams and riders in the S1 class.
KTM Factory: Thierry Van Den Bosch (Fra) and Bernd Hiemer (Ger)
Husqvarna Factory Cross 2R: Gerald Delepine (Bel) and Ivan Lazzarini (Ita)
Aprilia Factory: Max Manzo (Ita) and Fabrice Lecoanet (Fra)
TM Racing Berloni: Valter Bartolini (Ita)
KTM Fabag: Marcel Goetz (Swi)
KTM Slide Zone: Eric Bougelet (Bel) and Christophe Bertrand (Bel)
Husqvarna Sima: Maxime Testu (Fra)
Husaberg Enduraid: Christian Iddon (Gbr)
Honda SMS: Alexandre Thiebault (Fra)
Main teams and riders in the S2 class.
Aprilia Factory: Jerome Giraudo (Fra) and Frédéric Bolley (Fra)
Husqvarna Factory Cross 2R: Eddy Seel (Bel) and Davide Gozzini (Ita)
KTM Factory: Boris Chambon (Fra)
TM Racing Berloni: Max Verderosa (Ita)
Terra Modena: Robert Baraccani (Ita)
Husqvarna Sima: Adrien Chareyre (Fra) and Thomas Chareyre (Fra)
Yamaha Evolution: Stephane Blot (Fra)
Honda HM Giletti Assomotor: Fabio Balducci (Ita) and Attilio Pignotti (Ita)
Honda Daverio Formula: Trampas Parker (Usa) and Massimo Beltrami (Ita)
Honda X Team: Federico Brondi (Ita) and Paolo Gaspardone (Ita)
Honda JMG: Jean Marc Gaillard (Bel)
Honda Bridgestone: Mark Fraikin (Bel)
KTM H2O: Simone Girolami (Ita)
KTM UK: Matt Winstanley (Gbr)
KTM Tuning Sport: Petr Vorlicek (Cze)
Suzuki Valentini Lux Performance: Fabrice Guyot (Fra) and Christian Ravaglia (Ita)
Suzuki Rigo: Ivan Boano (Ita)
Husaberg Enduraid: Jorge Nestor (Spa), Fred Fiorentino (Bel)