THE COUNTDOWN FOR THE FIM SUPERMOTO WORLD AND EUROPEAN SEASON HAS STARTED
Castelletto di Branduzzo (Italy) 26 August 2020 – The waiting is over. The countdown of the 2020 FIM SuperMoto World and European Championhip has finally begun. After a long pause due to the international health situation, the teams, riders and officials are ready to breathe new life into exciting championships which will be more fierce than ever. The choice of XIEM as Promoter to reduce the number of races, postpone the Grand Prix till the end of August and in September and all in the same country (solution also adopted by other disciplines), an indispensable choice to try to minimize the problems of traveling between various Countries at this moment, turned out to be the best solution for a great restart of an beautiful and uncertain championship that will take place over nine heats in 2020. Also a big thanks to FIM, FIM Europe, the Federations involved and the organizers for their flexibility and collaboration.
The first race of the 2020 season will be held at the Motodromo of Castelletto di Branduzzo, Pavia, Italy. The racetrack hosted the FIM SuperMoto World and European Championship already many times in the past and is one of the best equipped venues in the country. This year the circuit has been renewed with new asphalt and an extra off-road section next to the skyzone. An combination of fast corners and technical section will demand the best of the riders and bikes.
This year the fight for the S1GP World championship will be more intens than ever with the strongest riders in Europe back in the Championship. The mean competitors for TM Factory Racing rider and multiple champion Thomas Chareyre will be Finnish rider Mauno Hermunen, who is riding for Team Degasoline on TM and was already World champion in 2013. Another strong contender for the title will be German rider Marc-Reiner Schmidt on the Phoenix Racing Honda. Schmidt was the European champion in 2015 and is stronger than ever before, also back in the World championship is Austrian rider Lukas Hollbacher on the MTR KTM from Franco Mollo. Next to these top riders, the strong field of riders counts numerous outsiders for the podium and title. TM Factory Racing will have Patrick Pals as second rider next to Thomas Chareyre. Another strong team in the paddock this year is Phoenix Racing Team. Next to Marc-Reiner Schmidt, the team will have Elia Sammartin, Nicolas Cousin and fast Czech rider Milan Sitniansky as riders. Gazza Honda Racing from Max Gazzarata will have one rider in the S1GP class with Emerick Bunod. The young fast rider is also one of the outsiders for good results. Vertemati Racing is also back with their rider Michael Vertemati. Also back is SBD Union Bike rider Giovanni Bussei. The strong field of riders is completed by Portugese rider Hugo Silva, French rider Maxime Lacour and Italian riders Max Verderosa and Daniele DiCicco.
The S2 European championship will not be less interessting with 21 young strong riders at the start in 2020. TM Factory Racing will have one of title contenders at the start with Italian rider Diego Monticelli who will have one goal this season and that is the title. Monticelli will have to batlle hard as L30 Honda Racing is back in the championship with the strong Swiss rider Jannik Hintz who won the Junior Cup in 2019. Hintz will be joined at L30 by Belgium riders Romain Kaivers and Loucas Capone. At TM Racing, young French rider Steve Bonnal will be the teammate of Monticelli. Gazza Honda Racing will also have two strong riders at the start. French rider Youri Catherine and Italian rider Kevin Negri both will be contenders for the podium in 2020. All-in all a great field of riders who will battle for every corner of the track.
Next to the S2 riders, the field will be completed with the riders of the Open Cup, who will battle for their own Championship.
The race weekend will start on Saturday 29 August 2020 at 10:10 hours the first free practices of the season for all clases. First race of the S2 class will be also held on Saturday at 16:50 hours followed by the first race of the SuperMoto World Championship.
In the photo: Castelletto Circuit
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