Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128401
emSheB, mechanical. havoc seriously mix up Supennoto standings 5ToRY AND PHcnos BY MuJo MARINI t seems the closer we get to the e World 5upermoto Championship, the of that may have come at the Plsta Anum In Jesolo, Italy, where both close up the SI Intense battles for victory, after which the prcwIllR;lllIP_ were silllillcantly chlnged. Before this round, former 5 I World Champion Eddy $eel German l3Ient Bernd Hlemer were leadlns the 52 and 51 dlYlslons, Iy, but both men saw their leads taken away - SeeI's by French specialist Ad Chareyre In 52, and Hlemer's by BelgIan GerakI "Speederman" Deleplne In 51 The Mediterranean GP started with a wonderful sunny and dry day on Saturday, only to _ the weather tum completely opposite on 5unday as rain totally changed the radng conditions. But there was already drama on Saturday after some top riders suffered with poor results In the timed practices. Rell1llns 5I World Champion Thierry van den Bosch and his Red Bull KTM teammate Hlemer both suffered grip problems with their tires and _ came close to the top of the order In the timed sessions. In fact, while Delepine took pole ahead of three locals - Ivan Lauarini, Max Manzo and lorenzo Mariani - "VDB" was only sixth and Hiemer 12thl In the 52 class, well-known privateer and 2004 class runner-up Max Verderosa laid down the best lap time, ahead of provisional standings leader Seel, followed by Aprilla's Fredric Bolley and Red Bull KTM's Boris Chambon. The rain didn't show up before 5uperpole on 5unday, and Mariani prevailed In the 5 I dlYlslon, while Verderosa kept the pole position In 52. Then the rain started, and the racing became a lottery, with lots of crashes and wild battles for thewln. I SI For KTM, the Mediterranean GP was one of the most awful races ever In World Supermoto. Both its top riders suffered breakdowns that substantially affected their respective positions In the standings. After the grip problems they had to deal with over the entire Saturday program, they were never able to put together a competitive drive on 5unday, either. 5tarting from behind sure didn't help them much, espeda/ly with the rain and a really slippery drcult. It turned out to be an Ideal race for Husqvarna's Deleplne, who was visibly the fastest at Jesoio. In the nrst moto he started In third place, right behind Manzo and Mariani, but In Just. couple of laps, he was up front, putting ground behind himself and the rest of the pack, performing an extraordinary and solid race, as If he was pretending the track wasn't that slippery at all. Deleplne made one or two mistakes while lead1ns, but each time he was able to recover gain a rea/Iy weII-d~ win. Manzo finished I8COnd In the nrat mota. The AprIIIa rider ~ place, but he was s1ldlna excessively when exiting some ~-c ..... nera, Lauarlnl MMled to be In better control, but he !!~II.l;,;WO~rk hard to up to third Lazzarini might have passed Manzo. Mariani was fourth, and VDB came up fifth after also charging from well down in the field. Series leader H iemer was a disappointing eighth after also crashing. The second moto featured a great battle that lasted into the final laps of the race. Manzo got the holeshot again. only this time around, he kept the lead for most of the race, followed by Mariani and then Lazzarini. Delepine came up strong from fifth place, though, and once he passed Lazzarini, he went hunting for Manzo. Delepine ultimately passed Manzo, who tried to match Delepine's pace but crashed in the off-road section. Lazzarini, who was about to attack him anyway, passed his colleague pretty easily. Delepine then went down in the last corner of the motocross segment with a couple of laps remaining, and Lazzarini, who wasn't far behind him, almost