GOZZINI ON TOP | Bikesportnz

It was an excellent weekend for Italy’s Davide Gozzini after winning his first GP of the season and becoming the new FIM SuperMoto World Championship leader at the GP of Sicily on Sunday.

Gozzini is well remembered by race fans in New Zealand after making many friends during his visit to the country last summer. Fellow Italian Ivan Lazzarini, who also made the trip to New Zealand last summer, did not have such a bright weekend in Sicily, finishing fifth overall at his home GP.

Second to Gozzini at the weekend was Thierry Van Den Bosch and third was Andrea Occhini, who was on the podium for the first time in his professional career. Thomas Chareyre took the Superpole, but was just fourth due to a DNF in the first race.

Teo Monticelli was first overall in the UEM European Championship Open class, while current championship leader Uros Nastran was second and Fabrizio Bartolini was third. Lukas Höllbacher dominated the S3 class and was proclaimed the 2010 UEM S3 European Champion.

S1 CLASS

747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory’s Gozzini gave the perfect present to TM’s owner Mr. Gastone Serafini – celebrating his 50th birthday – by clinching the top of the podium and becoming the new red plate holder of the FIM SuperMoto World Championship. The Italian achieved an eventual victory in race one after his team-mate Thomas Chareyre experienced an electric problem on his TM machine while he was leading the race. Gozzini obtained a consistent victory in the second race after overtaking VDB in lap six and he was second in the last heat of the weekend. Gozzini expressed his satisfaction for his GP victory in front of his Italian fans as well as for his ex team-mate and compatriot Occhini’s podium.

PMR H2O Aprilia Racing’s Van Den Bosch was on the second step of the podium after missing the rostrum in Sankt Wendel and is now third in the Championship – 18 points behind Thomas Chareyre and 23 points behind Championship leader Gozzini. VDB was involved in a tangle with Hermunen in race one and dropped back to eight position, but the French managed to finish an eventual second. In race two and three VDB took the holeshot but his speed was not good enough to keep the leadership and finished second and third respectively.

For the first time in his career as a professional Superider, Rigo Racing Suzuki’s Occhini was on the podium completing the top three. The Italian felt really confident on his Suzuki machine and rode among the top five riders the whole weekend. Occhini was one of the most consistent Superiders during the three races in the Sicilian GP. His fifth position in race one and his double fourth places in the last two motos made him go up on the third step of the rostrum. Occhini is now eighth on the points standings of the Championship, only eleven points away from seventh classified Adrien Chareyre.

Instead, for 747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory’s Thomas Chareyre was not a good weekend at all. The French lost the red plate in Triscina and could only be fourth overall. Chareyre was leading race one with superb authority when his TM machine stopped in the last lap, with the dnf meaning the French would start heat two from the last row of the grid. The French, who took the Superpole and was the fastest in yesterday’s time practice, managed to recover to third in race two and clinch the victory in race three. Thomas Chareyre is no longer the red plate holder but he is second, just five points behind this weekend’s GP winner Gozzini.

HM Honda Racing’s Lazzarini could not repeat the podium obtained in Sankt Wendel and was just fifth in his home GP in Sicily. The Italian arrived in Triscina suffering from a pulmonary bronchitis and could not ride with the top Superiders this weekend. Lazzarini achieved a solid fourth place in race one, but could only be sixth in the last two races, though he kept his fourth position in the point standings of the Championship.

Hermunen was third and fifth in the two first races, but a mistake in race three in the sky section made him lose several positions and could only finish ninth for sixth overall.

Italian Ravaglia was seventh overall in front of Hiemer, who could not find a good rhythm on the Sicilian track this weekend, and ninth was Italian Bussei. Completing the top ten was his compatriot Gaspardone.

Adrien Chareyre experienced an unfortunate weekend and was twelfth overall. The French had problems with the settings of his bike during the time practice and crashed twice during the races.

Sicilian Pirri finished 18th overall and received a special award given by DBO President, Mr. Danilo Boccadolce, for being the best local rider.

American Thompson took part in his first GP in Triscina and was just 19th after Sicilian Pirri. The American found really difficult to follow the rhythm of the World Championship Superiders and hopes to be back in better shape for the last two rounds of the Championship.

S1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 19:32.271; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:09.302; 3. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:11.926; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:13.298; 5. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), +0:13.636; 6. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:16.716; 7. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:18.121; 8. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:19.620; 9. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:22.922; 10. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda), +0:32.335;

S1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 19:28.080; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:04.966; 3. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:09.011; 4. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), +0:09.843; 5. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:11.803; 6. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:13.478; 7. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:13.685; 8. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:17.781; 9. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:18.056;

S1 Race 3 top ten: 1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 19:22.984; 2. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:07.882; 3. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:10.927; 4. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), +0:14.226; 5. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:15.177; 6. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:17.017; 7. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:17.047; 8. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:22.461; 9. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:23.939; 10. Paolo Gaspardone (ITA, Honda), +0:33.968;

S1 Overall top ten: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 72 points; 2. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 64 p.; 3. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), 52 p.; 4. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 50 p.; 5. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 48 p.; 6. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 48 p.; 7. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 42 p.; 8. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 41 p.; 9. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), 39 p.; 10. Paolo Gaspardone (ITA, Honda), 30 p.;

S1 Championship top ten: 1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 190 points; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 185 p.; 3. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 167 p.; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 150 p.; 5. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 139 p.; 6. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 138 p.; 7. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 103 p.; 8. Andrea Occhini (ITA, Suzuki), 92 p.; 9. Gérald Delepine (BEL, Kawasaki), 89 p.; 10. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 89 p.

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