Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Van den Bosch wins again, and it's all but over STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARIO MARINI Once again, Boris Cham bon (2) made his way into second place in the Super Final, passing faststarting Husqvarna rider Frederico Brandi (40). t's not done yet , but honestly, at th is point only a miracle could take the 2004 World Supermoto Championship ou t of Thierry van den Bosch's hands. After winn ing his sixth S I Super Final of the season at the Cir cuito Intemazionale Di Latina in Italy only a , very small number of points se parates "VDB" from his confirmation as the best supermoto rider in the world . After sur Viving early season hea lth problems, VDB stayed motivated and put all the pieces together, outdistancing his com petition on a regu lar basis. Now, wit h only a round to go and a 38-point cushion between himse lf and his closest purs uer, Boris Cham bo n, VDB's seco nd World Supe rmo to title is all but guara nteed. Th erefore, a re ally safe race is expec ted from VDB at the series finale in Spain, espe cially in the two mo tos, after which he cou ld posstbly be crowned as the champion - just like Husqvarna's Eddy See I did in 2003 . If that's how it shakes out, it will dou btlessly be because of another so lid round for VDB at Latina, where he won moto one, finished second in moto two and then re bounded to win the Super Final. The games are not over yet for the S2 class, the "drama" class of the series, where anything can happen in every heat, as there are some 10 ride rs capable of w inning each time. Standings leade r Max Verderosa didn't have a really brilliant GP I 20 in Italy, but like VDB he also can face the last round with some optimism. Verderosa's closest competition, Aprilia's Je ro me Giraudo, is 26 points behind him, and while it is not a situat ion as comfortable as VDB's , Verde rosa appears to be a safe bet as the inaugural World Champion in the S2 class. SI The Circu ito Internaziona le Di Latina karting track is already a classic venue in the Italian National Superm oto series, and the facility hosted a successful event in its debut as a World Supermoto venue. The off-road sect io n was initially ke pt quite short to give some more advantage to pre- race hype generator Max Biaggi, but even afte r the popu lar Italian was forced to abandon the event due to a tra ining injury, the race organizers opted not to modify it. Rain be fore the GP weekend forced them to cut away even mo re off-road, resulting in a minimal but very tricky dirt section located right after the first corner. Most of the men tal games were played right there im me diate ly after ea ch start, w he re it was more of a lott e ry than a display of r id ing skills that determined whether a rider safely made it through the section o r cras hed . DECEMBER 8 , 2004 • CYCLE NEWS VDB was never hampered by it. In fact, card ing the second-fastest t ime in Saturday 'S timed sess ion, behind KTM teammate Ivan Lazzarini, VDB really had no problem in putting together a win right away in moto one. Fro m start to finish, the moto was all VDB. It could have been worse, however, after VDB and Seel made serious contact entering the first comer. See I went off the course; VDB somehow saved it and moved into the race lead, never to be headed . VDB had the same problem in rnoto two, only this time the unwanted interfere nce came from Aprilia's Max Manzo. This time VDB 40th Anniversary lost some pos rnons, but he eventually came back in his usual strong manner, and at the end of Latina's long, 10-lap race, he was second. In the Super Final , VDB again got a good start, but not as good as Husqva rna's Frederico Brond i, who got the lead. The experienced VDB simply kept his cool and made an easy pass on Bron di to take over the lead by the start of lap two . VDB pulled away, remaining in Sight of only his teammate, Cha mbon , who couldn't do much to close the gap . VDB's win put him on the edge of his second World title and, combined with the

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