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FIM Supermoto World Championship Series Round 4: GP of Italy Boris Chambon makes it two in a row. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARIO MARINI MONZA, ITALY, JULY 12-13 t took Boris Chambon a few races to put things together, but finally KTM's decision to pick the talented Frenchman in substitution of 2002 FIM World Supermoto Champion Thierry Van Den Bosch (who left the specialty in exchange for a promising career in the World Supers port series) was well rewarded. At least that's what it looks like so far, when four of the fourteen GP rounds have been completed. Stop number four of the long World Supermoto season touched the Italian soul in the asphalt temple of Monza for a torrid weekend. High temperatures and a circuit that was difficult to negotiate didn't make the riders' jobs all that easy. Lap times of just 41 seconds well describe how short the circuit was, and in Saturday's qualifying it was Belgian Frederic Fiorentino who cut the fastest lap, with Austrian Klaus Kinigadner, French Fabrice Guyot and Italian Max Manzo behind him, while the other stars had more problems getting comfortable with the course. Gerald Delepine, Jurgen Kunzel, Chambon and Eddy SeeI in fact followed from fifth to eighth place. Ivan Lazzarini experienced some problems with his works Husaberg and could only muster a 12th-fast qualifying time. I "~~ .... " :.~ KTM's Boris " Chambon earned his second World SUpermoto "l!in in'as many rounds at the GP of Italy in " Monza. Chambon had to Pl!SS teammate Jureen Kunzel with 11 laps left to take the win. MOTO ONE Starting from the front row at Monza was more important than it was at any other stop so far this year, and Fiorentino took all the advantage he could at the start of moto one. Kunzel, Manzo and Delepine (who was starting from the second row) went after the race leader with no hesitation out of the first corner. When Fiorentino is out front, it often seems impossible to catch him, and he quickly got into an impressive rhythm. Manzo tried the attack when he was comfortably in second, and he fell victim to excessive generosity and tasted the ground instead of the victory. He eventually got back up and finished seventh. That left the door open to Delepine, who regained second place, and Fiorentino, who had no major obstacles on the way to another heat win (with two of the previous GP at Spa). Chambon finished third ahead of the other KTMs of Kinigadner and Kunze!. Seel, despite starting from the last spot in the second row, had a good start, but he entered the first corner on the inside, and the rest of the front Kunzel led early but admitted that he could not maintain his torrid pace in the extreme Italian heat. His runner-up finish leaves him a close second, behind Chambon, in the series standings. group hung him out there. as result of growing confidence on the Italian track, felt that he could start thinking big. Kunzel came from fourth place in lap one and put himself right behind the Belgian in short order. It took five laps, but the German finally was able to make a pass on Fiorentino, and from there nobody could stop his run to the moto two win. Chambon didn't have the magic touch off the gate, and he was fifth when the group was completing the first circuit. Hard worker that he is, Cham bon managed another third place. Behind him this time was Delepine. Another crash was the price Manzo had to pay to go through this heat. Lazzarini rode an impressive race as he came up from 25th place up to 11th. Seel had a similar performance, his 14th spot on lap one turning into an eighth by the finish. SUPER POLE! SUPER FINAL He couldn't do any better than 15th. Lazzarini experienced the painful accident of stopping a rock shot from another rider with his face and finished 16th, after Seel, with the pain of a completely broken tooth. MOTOTWO The second race was much more of a battle as Fiorentino got off the line first again, but factory KTM's Kunzel, Fiorentino, Kunzel, Chambon and Delepine, being the top four after the two motos, had two laps each to try to redraw the Super Final's first row, and it was Kunzel who prevailed over Chambon, Fiorentino and Delepine. Due to the short length of the race track, the total number of laps for the preliminary heats were extended up to 16 (instead of the usual 12); for the main event the riders had to complete as many as 32 laps (traditionally it's 24). BRIEFLY••• "This wasn't a easy one at all,' Boris Chambon said after winning the race. "At the beginning Kunzel was like a rocket. and I had to work really hard to keep a decent distance and then gain ground on him. Luckily I counted on my confidence, and I could catch him, then he couldn't keep it, and I think he had no energy left, so it was easy to pass him. But it was hard because the temperature was terrible. I'm still here leading the championship, which is good, but the season is so iong and the others are right here behind me, so I'm not gonna relax and give it more importance than it has. " "I'm happy I finished second today.' Jurgen Kunzel said. "I felt great at the beginning of the Super Final. and I could keep a pretty excellent speed. but I forced too much, and when Chambon attacked me, I had no way to defend myself. Uke I said. I'm really happy bec.ause I'm not used to race under such temperatures. In Germany this Isn't the usual weather condition. so for me it was a bigger sacrifice. " "I know I didn't collect spectacular results in the preliminary heats, but I'm really satisfied with my Super Final race here in Monza,' said third.placed Max Manzo. "I was really disappointed with the bad day I had in Belgium because the bike wasn't helping me, but in two weeks the Vertemati brothers solved 85 percent of the problems we had. and I was finally capable to ride the bike the way I like. Plus, Michelin helped a lot to improve our tires, and I'm so happy because after all I'm still close to the top of the standings, and there are plenty of races to fight for the title. " While so'!'e GP stars showed clear interest in experiencing what the AMA Supermoto is like, others like factory's Husqvarna Eddy Seel don't seem to be particularly interested: "The world championship is my priority," Seel said. "I have no time to think on something else. We already have 14 rounds here. " Eddy Seel, as were mO,st of his colleagues, was pretty unhappy with the Monza circuit. "I know it's important to be here, as Monza's name really helps, but we shouldn't accept to ride in too many places where the circuits are not at World Championship rate," Seel said. "I think it would be a good idea just select 10 good GPs instead of having a 14-round calendar with bad tracks." Series promoter Giuseppe Luongo agreed with the fact that the circuit needs to be improved, "We have to understand that being welcomed by facilities as Monza represents a unique boost ' to the World Supermoto popularity," he said. "We are under the process of developing and pushing the series. We are only one year and a half old, and we need time to give the series the shape it deserves. By coming to places like Monza, we can just shorten it. We have great circuits and less great ones but it's not going to be always like this. Next year in Monza we'll have a much better situation." The local promoter and Youthstream originally wanted to lay tire track in the big parking lot behind the Formula 1 boxes, but the local authorities gave no permission, and the Supermoto track had to be built using part of the Formula 1 course, a difficult task. One of the problems was the design of the dirt section, which was compressed to preserve the asphalt integrity of the Formula 1 circuit for the upcoming Fl Grand Prix. 48 JULY 30, 2003' eye I e n e vv !IS