Supermoto S2: second seasonal victory for Thomas Chareyre
After an absence of two years the S2 Supermoto European Championship was back at the circuit of KartPlanet in Busca, Italy, for the second round of the season. With rain falling from the skies 21 riders took part to this one-day round.
At Race1 start it was TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre who took the hole shot into the first long left corner of the KartPlanet track. Chareyre was followed by Phoenix Racing riders Markus Class and Elia Sammartin who was in his turn followed by the teammate of Chareyre, Diego Monticelli. In fifth position it was Nicolas Cousin also from Phoenix. TMS Racing rider Milan Sitnianky had to start the race from sixth and he was followed by Giovanni Bussie, Jannik Hintz and Birba Racing rider Gioele Filippetti. In the first laps Markus Class was close behind Thomas Chareyre but then the Frenchman decided to push the throttle open and after another few laps the gap was a few seconds. Behind Class, Elia Sammartin had managed the free himself from Diego Monticelli and Nicolas Cousin but Sammartin couldn’t follow his teammate Class and had to settle for third place already soon in the race. Monticelli and Cousin had a good fight and chased each other from corner to corner. The young French rider Cousin gave all he got and with only two laps to go he managed to overtake Monticelli for fourth position in the race. Behind Monticelli it was still Milan Sitniansky in sixth position who couldn’t afford any mistakes as a small group of three riders were not so far behind. Giovanni Bussei was the leader of this group in front of Hintz and Filippetti. Bussie however made an mistake halfway the race and fell back to thirteenth place, making the way free for Jannik Hintz and Gioele Filippetti. The leader in the Junior Cup, Hintz had a good fast pace but he couldn’t keep off Filippetti. With a few laps to go the Birba Racing rider passed Hintz in one of the long corners and took over seventh place in the race. When the finish flag dropped it was Thomas Chareyre who took the victory with a lead of 9.201 seconds on Markus Class who finished second. Elia Sammartin completed the top three of the first race. Behind Sammartin, Nicolas Cousin managed to stay in front of Monticelli but the battle went on until the finish. Cousin finished in fourth and Monticelli completed the top five of race one.
Race2 was wet too. Once more TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre took the lead into the first corner, before Phoenix Racing riders Markus Class, Elia Sammartin and Nicolas Cousin. The teammate of Chareyre, Diego Monticelli was fifth position just in front of Birba Racing rider Gioele Filippetti. Behind Filippetti it was TMS Racing riders Milan Sitniansky and Rafael Fonseca who both had a good start. TM Racing Andorra rider Raoul Tschupp pushed his TM in ninth place through the first few corners. Leading the race was still Thomas Chareyre and like in the first race, the Frenchman was too fast for the rest of the riders. Markus Class tried to follow Chareyre in the first laps but the German rider had to push too hard. Class didn’t any risk and took his own rhythm to take valuable points for the championship. Behind the top two riders, Sammartin and Cousin had a very close battle. Lap by lap Nicolas Cousin closed in on his Italian teammate and in the last half of the race, the young Frenchman was all over the back of the Honda of Sammartin. In some corners Cousin pushed his bike next to his teammate bike, but Sammartin kept the door closed making no mistakes. Behind this fight it was Diego Monticelli still in fifth position. The Italian TM riders had a few second towards the rider behind him but the conditions were difficult and a mistake was easily made. The battle for sixth was between Milan Sitnianky and Gioele Filippetti. For the last three positions in the top ten, three riders were having their own fight. Rafael Fonseca was in eight position until halfway the race he was passed by Raoul Tschupp. Fonseca was able to keep Vertemati Racing rider behind him, making Michael Vertemati tenth in the second race. After fourteen laps Thomas Chareyre took the victory again before Markus Class who finished 13:474 seconds behind the leader in the S2 Supermoto European Championship. The fight for third place was still going until the very last corner. Cousin did a last attempt to pass Sammartin but he went too hard into the wet corner and crashed. Cousin quickly picked up his bike and managed to still finish in fourth before Diego Monticelli who completed the top five. With his two victories Thomas Chareyre offcourse took the overall win before Markus Class and Elia Sammartin.
The next round of the S2 Supermoto European Championship is scheduled on 29th-30th June in Poznan, Poland.
Overall classification:
1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM)
2. Markus Class (GER, Husqvarna)
3. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda)
4. Nicolas Cousin (FRA, Honda)
5. Diego Monticelli (ITA, TM)
