The third round of the 2004 Supermoto World Championship was a really good one for KTM, as the three factory riders monopolized the S1 podium in Sosnova. Thierry Van Den Bosch won his second GP in a row, followed by Ivan Lazzarini and Boris Chambon who is till leading the championship. The S2 class was much more open, and finally Massimo Verderosa got his first GP win and took the leadership of the championship.

Despite several showers in the night and some clouds in the sky, the weather stays correct on Sunday. There were just some wet lines during the first warm-up in the morning, but hopefully the slippery track was dry for the races!

Second on the grid of the Superfinal, Thierry Van Den Bosch got the holeshot and led the pack (Lazzarini, Manzo, Hiemer, Bartolini, Chambon and Delepine) after two corners. Winner of the second final, VDB took some risks when he chooses a new front tyre for the main event but it was the right choice. Leading the entire race, he got his second win this season and came back strongly in the championship. Not comfortable on his bike, Lazzarini finished second but had during a couple of laps some pressure from Bernd Hiemer, excellent this week-end on his Zupin Husqvarna; second of the first final, the young German crashes in the second race and then twice in the main but he will be for sure a serious contender for the podium in the next races! After a really bad start Boris Chambon came back third, followed by Gerald Delepine, Fabrice Guyot, Eddy Seel and Max Manzo. Eddy retired in the first final (puncture in the front tyre) and then was really far on the grid, while Max got his best result of the season on the Aprilia with three consistent results. Massimo Beltrami had a big crash on the off-road section during the second final (the race was stopped with the red flag), and was taken to the hospital with a concussion.

The S2 race was more exciting than the S1, as expected with fourteen riders in the same second during the qualifications! Winner in Romania Jerome Giraudo got the holeshot in the Superfinal, and lap after lap he increased his lead to 5 seconds! No one seemed able to beat him, but unfortunately the Aprilia failed after nine laps; both Jerome and Fred Bolley (who was twelfth) retired at the same moment with a broken gearbox! Verderosa got the leadership, but British Christian Iddon and Italian Ivan Boano were so close that he couldn’t relax as all wanted this first GP win. Finally they all finished in this order, followed by Fabrice Lecoanet who had a bad start and came back from the eighth position; with Attilio Pignotti in fifth and Fabio Balducci in sixth it’s no less than six different brands (Honda, Husqvarna, Husaberg, KTM, VOR and TM) at the first six ranks! Italian Davide Gozzini was unlucky; the winner of the first round twisted his knee during a crash in the first final, but secured twelve points with a ninth position behind young French brothers Adrien and Thomas Chareyre.

The riders said after the race.

Thierry Van Den Bosch. “It’s a great day for me, and also for team KTM with their three riders on the podium! I had a difficult first final, but I found a better solution for the second final and I felt more comfortable on the bike. I had a good start and a good speed in the Superfinal, I tried to stay focus and to avoid mistakes, it was a good race. My shape is getting better even if I’m not 100%, I felt less tired than in Romania and I hope to be fit soon and to continue like this”.

Ivan Lazzarini. “Saturday everything was OK for me, the bike was perfect and I got good results. In the finals it was good too, even if I made a little mistake in the second one. Thierry passed me, but I was in pole for the last start. I chose a harder tyre for the Superfinal and it was a mistake, I was never confidant and my lap times were not good enough; I also missed my start and Thierry got the holeshot, he was really fast in the Superfinal”.

Boris Chambon. “My starts were not really good today, as well in the finals and Superfinal; I had to push really hard in the first laps, because I saw Thierry and Ivan moving in front of the race. But in the Superfinal it was not really easy because my rear wheel was sliding too much, I don’t know why. I was really close to crash several times, and in fact I was pretty lucky as Hiemer who was third crashes just in front of me in the off-road section. I finished third, I know from last year that it’s really important to be consistent; so even if I’m not happy with a third position I must be satisfied as I keep the red plate”.

Massimo Verderosa. “I’m a little bit lucky, because I was expecting another second place when the leader had technical problems. It’s the first time that I led a Superfinal and that’s not really easy, I tried to stay quiet and keep the good lines. It’s my first win at this level, I come from the European championship and the rhythm of the races is not similar! We are a private team and that’s not always easy with the factories, especially in this class really open; also we don’t have the same support for the tyres than the factory riders, but hopefully the team did a good job on the engine after Bulgaria and I had a good bike this week-end”.

Christian Iddon. “I had two strong finals, and for the first time I was on the first row for the Superfinal. I had a good start and a good first lap, and then focused to keep my position during the entire race. In my head I wanted to go for the win as Verderosa was not far in front, but I knew that if I did a small mistake I would lost my second place with Boano pushing behind me. It’s the first time this season that I use the same bike for the entire week-end, it’s so much better for the confidence! I would like also to thanks Ivan (Lazzarini) who gave me good advices during a German race, he helped me to go faster!”.

Ivan Boano. “I’m really happy with my first World Championship podium, and also for the team Rigomoto as we had a difficult day with the injury of Massimo Beltrami. I had a good speed in the Superfinal and tried to catch the second position, I was closed to succeed but Iddon was strong today. We found the perfect set-up with the bike, and this week-end I was stronger than usual in my head; normally Sachsenring will be a good track for us, our bike is really good in the fast corners”.

Superfinal S1: 1.Van Den Bosch (FRA/KTM); 2.Lazzarini (ITA/KTM); 3.Chambon (FRA/KTM); 4.Hiemer (GER/Husqvarna); 5.Delepine (BEL/Husqvarna); 6.Guyot (FRA/TM); 7.Seel (BEL/Husqvarna); 8.Manzo (ITA/Aprilia); 9.Gotz (SWI/KTM); 10.Brondi (ITA/Husqvarna); etc…

Superfinal S2: 1.Verderosa (ITA/Honda); 2.Iddon (GBR/Husqvarna); 3.Boano (ITA/Husaberg); 4.Lecoanet (FRA/KTM); 5.Pignotti (ITA/VOR); 6.Balducci (ITA/TM); 7.A.Chareyre (FRA/Husqvarna); 8.T.Chareyre (FRA/Husqvarna); 9.Gozzini (ITA/Husqvarna); 10.Baraccani (ITA/Yamaha); etc…

More info and full results on the official website of the championship: www.supermotoS1.com