With the sun out and some light clouds in the region of Valencia, Albaida was ready for the race day of the second round of the Supermoto European Championship. Spectators already found their way early to the track to enjoy the action. With the big jumps in the off-road section and the great overview from the grandstands the crowd loved every minute of the event. In the S1 class it was TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre to take his second victory of the season, while in the Lites category the victory went to Phoenix Racing rider Elia Sammartin.
Race 1
The first race in Albaida started at 12:00 with 27 riders on the grid. At the start it was TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre to take the hole-shot into the first long fast corner of the circuit, followed by Phoenix Racing rider Markus and Degasoline rider Pavel Kejmar. Right behind the top three it was Honda Tuning Motorsport rider Milan Sitniansky to take the fourth position. Sitniansky on his turn was followed by the teammate of Chareyre in TM Factory Racing, Diego Monticelli. Phoenix Racing rider Elia Sammartin had a good start and took the sixth position after the first corners right before SBD Union Bike rider Giovanni Bussei, TM Factory Racing rider Joan Llados and KTM MTR rider Romain Kaivers. SWM Factory rider Edgardo Borella had a crash in the first lap and restarted his race from the back of the field.
In front Chareyre kept the speed high and already early in the race the Frenchman was able to create a gap towards the rest of the field. Behind Chareyre, Kejmar and Class were fighting for every meter of asphalt. In lap three the Czech TM rider managed to pass Class and took over second position. In fourth place it was still Sitniansky to show good speed ahead of Monticelli. Both riders managed to get away from Sammartin who couldn’t keep the pace of the riders in front of him. The battle for seventh position was very close with five riders fighting for every corner of the circuit. Leader of this group was Bussei, but the Italian couldn’t make any mistake as Llados, Kaivers and Suzuki Grau rider David Gimenez were not far behind. Edgardo Borella managed to get to sixteenth place after his crash. Meanwhile Thomas Chareyre was extending his lead lap by lap, giving the others no chance to get closer.
Behind Chareyre, Class kept trying to pass Kejmar but Kejmar knew it is difficult to overtake in Albadia and kept the door closed for the fast Husqvarna rider. In front TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre didn’t make any mistake and finished the first race in first place. At 3.827 seconds from the winner, Degasoline rider Pavel Kejmar finished in second place followed by Phoenix Racing rider Markus Class who completed the top three.
In place four it was still Tuning Motorsport rider Milan Sitniasky before Diego Monticelli and Elia Sammartin. Sitniansky managed to pull away from Monticelli making him fourth in the race and TM Factory Racing rider Diego Monticelli fifth. Phoenix Racing rider Elia Sammartin had a solid race and finished in sixth position before Giovanni Bussei who completed the top seven.
Race 2
At the start of race two, TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre took again the hole-shot like in race one, in front of Phoenix Racing rider Markus Class and Degasoline rider Pavel Kejmar. In fourth position iTM Factory Racing rider Diego Monticelli had a good start followed by SWM Factory rider Edgardo Borella and Tuning Motorsport rider Milan Sitniansky. The teammates of Markus Class at Phoenix Racing, Elia Sammartin and Nicolas Cousin started the race from seventh and eighth.
In the middle of the field there was a crash in the first corner with several riders. SBD Union Bike rider Giovanni Bussei, Werk64 rider Raoul Tschupp, Suzuki Grau rider David Gimenez and TM Factory Racing rider Joan Llados had to restart the race from the back of the field. In front Thomas Chareyre had no problems and started his way to the victory leaving his opponents behind. Markus Class was not so lucky. The German rider crashed in the off-road section of the circuit which threw him back to eight position in the race.
Pavel Kejmar took over second place and tried to get closer to Chareyre in front of him. Behind Kejmar, Diego Monticelli and Edgardo Borella were having their own race for third position in the race. The two Italian riders couldn’t afford any mistakes as Milan Sitniansky was not far behind. In the back of the field the crashed riders Tschupp and Gimenez made up some positions back to seventeenth and fourteenth position. Giovanni Bussei needed some more time to get back in his rhythm making him twenty-first halfway the race.
In the lead Thomas Chareyre had the same strategy as in race one making it impossible for the others to come closer to him. By the end of the race his lead on Pavel Kejmar, who was still in second position, was more than eight seconds. Pavel Kejmar on his turn managed to create a gap on Diego Monticelli and Edgardo Borella, who were challenging each other at every corner. After his crash in the first lap Markus Class got back the right pace and in lap eight Class overtook his teammates Sammartin and Cousin taking back the sixth position in this second race. The gap with Sitniansky was too big and the German had to settle for sixth place.
TM Factory Racing Thomas Chareyre kept the speed high and gave the spectators on the grandstands a great show when he finished in first place. At 8.590 seconds Pavel Kejmar took his second place of the day. For third position all was open until the end of the race but Diego Monticelli didn’t make any mistakes and completed the top three in race two, followed by Edgardo Borella. Milan Sitniansky crossed the finish line in fifth position. Behind Phoenix Racing rider Markus Class, his teammates Elia Sammartin and Nicolas Cousin completed the top eight.
With his two victories Thomas Chareyre was also the overall winner in Albaida. Pavel Kejmar gained the second place on the podium and Diego Monticelli completed the top three.
In the Lites category the victory went to Elia Sammartin, at his second victory in the season.
