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European Supermoto at Sestriere (Italy) - Day 2

Sestriere hosted the final races of the 2018 Supermoto European Championship. Thanks also to sunny weather conditions arrived early at race track to find a perfect spot in the hills with its spectacular views over the races. In the S1 class the overall victory went to Phoenix Racing rider Markus Class, while TM Factory rider Thomas Chareyre gained the 2018 title in the Supermoto European Championship. The victory in the S1 Lites class went to Gazza Racing rider Emerick Bunod while the title was taken by Phoenix Racing rider Elia Sammartin from Italy.

Race1
The first race in Sestriere started with 23 riders. At the start it was runner up in the Championship TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre to take the hole-shot into the fast first left corner of the circuit followed by Markus Class, SWM Factory rider Mauno Hermunen and the teammate of Class Nicolas Cousin. The leader in the championship Degasoline rider Pavel Kejmar started the race from ninth place behind TM Racing rider Diego Monticelli.
In front Thomas Chareyre and Markus Class were pushing to the limit and soon in the race the two managed to create a gap on the rest field. Chareyre tried to get away from Class, but the German did not give in and kept his front wheel in the back of the TM of Chareyre.
Meanwhile Mauno Hermunen was still in third place but the Finnish rider felt the pressure of the Nicolas Cousin. In the third lap Cousin managed to overtake the Finnish riders for third position in the race. For Hermunen the troubles weren’t over. A mistake in the off-road section made him fall back to seventh position.
In the last two laps, Class pushed his Husqvarna to the limit but Chareyre gave Class no room to pass him. Thomas Chareyre took the victory only 00:594 second in front of Markus Class. The top three was completed by Nicolas Cousin who managed to keep Laurent Fath behind him. With only two points of difference in the championship between Kejmar and Chareyre, the battle for the championship was still wide open.
Race 2
At the start it was Thomas Chareyre to sign again the hole-shot. Chareyre was followed by Markus Class, Emerick Bunod and Laurent Fath. Behind Fath, Nicolas Cousin was in fifth place just in front of Mauno Hermunen and Elia Sammartin. Monticelli’s race was soon over as the Italian rider had to retire due technical problems in the second lap. Pavel Kejmar, who was still in the lead of the championship passed the finish line in eleventh position after the first lap. The Czech rider knew that it was going to be a hard race for him. At the sixth lap Thomas Chareyre made a mistake in the off-road section and the Frenchman felt back to fifth position with Markus Class in the lead.
In the same lap Laurent Fath passed Emerick Bunod and gained the second place. The Frenchman didn’t waste any time and closed in on Markus Class. Bunod however didn’t want to give up and was soon back at the back of the KTM in front of him. Also Nicolas Cousin managed to pass Thomas Chareyre making him fourth in the race. The battle for the lead went on among Class, Fath and Bunod, but slowly the German Husqvarna rider managed created a small gap on his competitors. Behind the top three Thomas Chareyre started to find his rhythm again and got closer and closer to his fellow countryman Nicolas Cousin.
With three laps to go, Chareyre took over fourth position in the race.
Markus Class finished in first place, taking the victory in the second race and the overall victory in Sestriere. Second place for Laurent Fath. The top three was completed by Emerick Bunod, his best result ever in the Supermoto European Championship. With his third place, Bunod also took the overall victory in the Lites class. Fourth place for Thomas Chareyre who won the European title.

 

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