With four to five weeks between each rounds, the first part of the Championship let time to the teams and riders to get use to their new bikes as they’ve a lot of time to test, practice and develop between the races. But most of the riders will probably be happier in one month, when the gap between each event will be reduced to two or three weeks.
Leader of the Championships for the first time in their life, Italians Ivan Lazzarini and Davide Gozzini are waiting this weekend with impatience as both want to confirm their brilliant results. Ivan, former 125 MX rider, made strong debut last year on a Husaberg and confirmed on a factory KTM his ability, beating his experimented team-mates Thierry Van Den Bosch (only ninth in Spa after technical problems) and Boris Chambon, who secured a strong second position in Belgium. Former S1 Champion, and coming back to Supermoto after a disappointed season in Supersport, VDB lost many points and hopes to be luckier in the following rounds! Most impressive rider in Spa, Eddy Seel lost the race with a crash in the super finale but proved that the new Husqvarna has a great potential. Third in the rankings, only seven points behind Lazzarini, Eddy won last year the GP of Romania (the race was organized in Bucarest) and will try to get his ninth GP win. Gerald Delepine (factory Husqvarna), Massimo Beltrami and Fred Fiorentino (factory Husaberg) will be once more their main rivals, while surprising Bernd Hiemer (Husqvarna) and Marcel Goetz (KTM) will try to stay in the “top ten” of the Championship. But some factory riders are expecting strong results in Arad; Massimo Manzo (Aprilia), Fabrice Guyot and Lorenzo Mariani (on the TM), Valter Bartolini and Graziano Rispoli (VOR) had a disappointing day in Belgium and move to Romania with high goals.
The new S2 class offered a great show in Spa, even if Gozzini had a perfect day and won all the three races. He will be the man to beat on his factory Husqvarna! After promising debuts in Belgium the Aprilia riders continue to develop their new bike and will be stronger every week; Frederic Bolley and Jerome Giraudo both got heat podiums in Belgium, they are now expecting an overall one. Fabrice Lecoanet, the factory KTM rider in this class is third in the rankings but expect better results this weekend. On private Honda’s, Massimo Verderosa, Simone Girolami, Laurent Gery and Jean Marc Gaillard got excellent results in Spa and proves that a private team can race with the factory in this new and promotional class. Attilio Pignotti (factory VOR), Fabio Balducci and Jorge Nestor (factory TM), Alexandre Thiebault and Michele Lavetti (factory Terra Modena) all expect revenge this weekend on the hot Romanian asphalt.
Info and results on the official website of the championship: www.supermotoS1.com
Photo (C) J. Barte – Info MediaPresse
French 