Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Round 4 SUPERMOTO June 19,2005 ~ FIM World Supermoto Championship Series Thierry van den Bosch's (1) hopes for a third World 5upermoto title were put in jeopardy when he collided with rival Gerald Delepine (3) in mota two at the Austrian GP. VDB suHered a badly broken leg and is questionable for the series' next round in September. Van den Bosch's title ho come crashing down STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARIO MARINI o doubt that the first few rounds of the 2005 World Supermoto Championship Series have been unusual for reigning S I World Champion Thierry van den Bosch. The two-time champ experienced his share of trouble in the first two rounds, only to rebound with a perfect weekend at the third stop of the series. Even without winning, he had collected a lot of points and was ready to welcome the long summer stop with another good result before entering the second part of the series ready for another major assault on the competition. But at round four in Austria, "VDB" experienced the worst GP result of his career, adding injury to insult. After suffering a painful shoulder injury the previous week while practicing on a motocross bike, VDB crashed again at Melk, with disastrous consequences. He was left with a badly broken leg, and his participation in the remainder of the series is questionable. After falling and then remounting to finish a disappointing 16th in the first moto, VDB's dramatic crash came in moto two. While battling with Husqvarna's Gerald Delepine, he suffered a collision with the Belgian and was left with a broken fibula and tibia. VDB underwent surgery immediately in order to shorten his recovery time, but his status is unclear. N VDB is expected to try to race the next round in Ireland on September 10. The cancellation of the German round (which was supposed to happen on July 10 and has been put back on the schedule for the next year) helps his cause, although the injury will also prevent him from contesting the AMA Supermoto Championship rounds that did not conflict with the World Championship. Unfortunately, he can also forget about being ready for the X Games. Despite VDB's accident, the KTM brand still painted the top of the podium orange, thanks to new S I hero of the day, Germany's Bernd Hiemer, who claimed both moto wins and took over the series lead in the S I class. In the S2 division, the battle for the overall win came down to Red Bull KTM's Boris Chambon, Aprilia's Fred Bolley and Husqvarna France's Adrien Chareyre, with Chambon coming out on top of the fray. SI Hiemer, who has long been waiting for a GP win, couldn't have picked a better event to do it at, as the race was held in Austria, the home of his KTM factory. oris Chambon (is) returned to form in Austria, . her 1-2 mota scores for the 52 . Hiemer appeared to be comfortable from the moment he rolled off the truck. Van den Bosch was the only rider able to beat Hiemer in Austria - and this defeat only came in the form of VDB's fastest practice time on Saturday. Hiemer, however, had everybody, including VDB, covered in Superpole, and he earned first spot on the starting grid for the two motos. Hiemer took advantage of the pole, especially in the first moto, where he took the early lead and kept that for 99 percent of the laps, with Delepine behind him. Delepine passed Hiemer on lap 17, but it didn't last long, as Hiemer attacked back right away and won the heat in front of the Belgian and his Husqvarna teammate Ivan Lazzarini. Apparently there was a misunderstanding between the race director and the riders, because they all thought there was one more lap yet to be completed, and they continued, with Hiemer finishing first, ahead of Lazzarini, who was waiting for what he thought was the real last lap to pass Delepine. But then the race director said that the prior lap was the last one. Max Manzo was fourth and Christian Iddon fifth. Van den Bosch had a good start in moto one, and he kept second place for a few laps before dropping down in the fourth and then making a mistake and stalling his bike. He finished in 16th place. The battle for the win in moto two was pretty heated, with VDB taking the early lead. He was in front for six laps, but his pace wasn't good enough, and Hiemer passed him on lap six and gained enough distance to win comfortably. Delepine also passed VDB, only to make a mistake and let the Frenchman retake second place. Then, a few laps later, VDB collided with Delepine and crashed, suffering a broken leg. The Husqvarna rider also crashed, but he was able to remount and complete the race in seventh place. Despite VDB's exit, Red Bull KTM kept on rolling in the 51 class, as Bernd Hiemer won both motos to clinch the overall Hiemer also took over the class poi SO JULY 13, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS