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FIM Supermoto World Championship Series Round 5: GP of Czech Republic Seel is back, and he brings Lazzarini with him Signed, Seeled, elivered seemed to opt for a safe and lucrative second place, Lazzarini was never forced all the way to the limit. The two ran away from the pack, with Lazzarini keeping Seel at bay. The rest of the group was really incapable of sustaining the same rhythm. Factory KTM-backed Kunze! finished where he started, in third place, some four seconds behind See!. In general there were no major battles, and the top five positions were set after the first corner. Chambon had good reflexes from the second row and gained a couple of spots, followed by Beltrami, the two finishing fourth and fifth. Young German star Bernd Hiemer lost the sixth spot in midrace, but he was able to take it back from Gerard Delepine before the finish. Chandler was the last rider to complete all] 0 laps of this race. MOTOTWO Eddy Seel (abovel and Ivan Lazzarini (right) had a battle royal for supremacy at the Czech Supermoto GP. Lazzarini won both preliminary motos, but See! prevailed in the Super Final to take the GP win. SOSNOVA, CZECH REPBUUC, JULY 26-27 ftnly one rider wins, but an excepUtion to that rule might have been fair for the fifth round of the FIM World Supermoto Championship. In fact, on the technical Sosnova Autodrom north of country's capital city of Prague, two names dominated the weekend: those of actual race winner Eddy See I and of his main rival Ivan Lazzarini. The experienced Belgian on his Husky and the young Italian on the Husaberg were head and shoulders above the other 24 riders participating the event, and both arguably deserved to win it. Everything started with fantastic timing laps taken by the Belgian rocket, Seel, on Saturday; he got the pole, and Lazzarini put himself right behind Seel, with German Jurgen Kunzel and Husqvarna's Massimo Beltrami following. Standings leader Boris Chambon faced a nervous Saturday, as, while performing his usual excellent lines on the asphalt, he showed a lot less class over the huge (and for him difficult to digest) dirt section. He didn't do better than sixth, which meant starting the first heat from row number two. The race was entered by American star Doug Chandler in order for the Californian to collect as much experience as possible before approaching the second round of the AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship at the end of August in South Boston, Virginia. For Chandler it was a com- 36 AUGUST 13, 2003' cue I pressed but precious lesson. From getting adjusted to a totally new bike (he actually tested a couple of machines and then chose the 610cc after having clutch problems on the 660cc) to studying the top Supermoto specialists in the world as well as the best lines of a circuit widely recognized for offering the maximum excitement that modern Supermoto racing can offer, it was a worthwhile weekend of hard work for the KTM USA's Chandler. He got just 24th in Saturday's time session, and even though his times were actually pretty e n e vv s distant (from 5 to 6 seconds) from the ones of Seel and colleagues representing some disappointment for the American, his mission of recording data was accomplished. MOTO ONE Seel's speed didn't scare Lazzarini, and from the second spot of the grid, he performed a perfect start in moto one. Approaching the first corner, he took the inside line before the Belgian and moved into the lead. He spent the first few laps figuring out how hard he would have to push, but since Seel By winning the first heat, Lazzarini became the new polesitter for moto two, and he made another great start, taking the lead. A more determined See I ran second, and this race was much different from the first, as the Belgian really took the battle to Lazzarini, forcing him to endure a constant barrage of attack. Seel's strategy was to put pressure on Lazzarini and cause him to make a mistake. But their pace was even, and Lazzarini appeared to have more room left to his limits than did See!. The only mistake from the Italian came on the final lap while cruising the penultimate double jump at high speed. He accidently hit the tire barrier and went feet-off while in the air. He would regain bike control and land safely to take the win. Kunzel got another third after overtaking Beltrami, who got a better start and ran right behind the bikes of Lazzarini and Seel for much of the race, only to finish fourth. Chambon later said that he knew sooner or later he might fall victim to the dirt, and that's what happened. He ran in fifth place for half of the race before going down in the off-road section. All he could do was remount and cruise in eighth for the remainder of the race. Hiemer, on his Zupin-Husqvarna, showed a lot of aggressive riding and was rewarded by finishing fifth in moto two, ahead of local rider Petr Vorlicek. Chandler improved a little bit and finished ] 8th, second to last among the riders on the lead lap. SUPER POLE! SUPER FINAL Without Super Pole Lazzarini would have started from the first spot again, but on a clean track and with no contenders disturbing his lines, Seel