Greece gives Aprilia its fifth title in the Supermotard World Championship. The title became Aprilia’s at the end of the first heat of the Greek GP in Thessaloniki, when Thierry Van Den Bosch (Aprilia SXV 4.5/Team DRC Supermoto) finished second to give Aprilia mathematical certainty of victory in the S1 (450) Constructors battle. The 2008 season has seen an Aprilia SXV 4.5 winning five out of eight GPs and eight out of fifteen heats.

After the first historic Riders’ title in 2004 won by Jerome Giraudo in his debut year, a Riders and Constructors’ double in 2006 with Thierry Van Den Bosch, and an S2 (550) Constructors title in 2007, Aprilia’s trophy cabinet is destined to receive a new addition with the 2008 S1 Constructors’ trophy. Aprilia’s Thierry Van den Bosch battled on to the last for the Riders title, and despite a much debated disqualification in race 1 at Busca, finished second in the S1 riders’ table ahead of Ivan Lazzarini, the other Aprilia SXV rider who overtook Thomas Chareyre in Greece to move up into the top three.

Ennio Marchesin, Aprilia Off Road racing manager elaborated on the win. “Five years and five titles! Our aim is to win wherever we go. Last year we took the 550 Constructors’ title and this year we’ve repeated the feat in the 450 class. This fantastic achievement is due to the tremendous work of all involved – riders, engineers and mechanics. That is why, though this S1 Constructors title is obviously a great honour, we actually feel a bit hard done by after the disqualification of Van Den Bosch in Busca. That decision was totally incomprehensible to so many of us. Unfortunately it has made it impossible for him to win the Riders’ title. Bad luck, in the form of accidents to our top S2 riders, has also affected our entire season.”
In Thessaloniki, in the last heat in S2, British rider Christian Iddon (Aprilia SXV 5.5/Team PMR-H20) who withdrawn with a puncture in race 1, returned to record his first win of the season and confirm his regained form. The Greek GP also marked the return to racing of Massimo Beltrami (Aprilia SXV 5.5/Team DRC Supermoto) after a broken hand. The rider from Bologna recorded the ninth fastest time in qualifying, and finished race 1 in seventh place, but pulled out of race 2 towards the end to avoid unnecessary strain.
Luca Minutilli (Aprilia SXV 5.5/Team PMR-H20), though still suffering from a painful wrist, managed to finish fifth in race 1. This result allowed Minutilli to hang on to his overall fifth place in the S1 Riders’ Championship ahead of team mate Iddon, and to consolidate Aprilia’s third place in the S2 constructors’ championship with the SXV 5.5.

 

Greek GP - Thessaloniki - 8th round of the Supermotard World Championship
Class S1
Race 1: 1st Thomas Chareyre (Husqvarna); 2nd Thierry Van Den Bosch (Aprilia SXV 4.5); 3rd Bernd Hiemer (KTM); 3rd Jerome Giraudo (Honda); 4th Ivan Lazzarini (Aprilia SXV 4.5); 5th Sylvain Bidart (Husqvarna).
Race 2: 1st Bernd Hiemer (KTM); 2nd Ivan Lazzarini (Aprilia SXV 4.5); 3rd Thierry Van Den Bosch (Aprilia SXV 4.5); 4th Matthew Winstanley (KTM); 5th Eddy Seel (Suzuki).
The S1 Riders' table after 8 legs: 1st Hiemer 319; 2nd Van Den Bosch 287; 3rd Lazzarini 278.
The S1 Constructors table after 8 legs: 1st Aprilia 348 points and WORLD CHAMPION; 2nd KTM 323; 3rd Husqvarna 291; 4th Suzuki 204; 5th Honda 199.
Class S2
Race 1: 1st Adrien Chareyre (Husqvarna); 2nd Davide Gozzini (TM); 3rd Attilio Pignotti (KTM); 4th Andrea Occhini (Husaberg); 5th Luca Minutilli (Aprilia SXV 5.5); 7th Massimo Beltrami (Aprilia SXV 5.5). Withdrew: Christian Iddon (Aprilia SXV 5.5).
Race 2: 1st Christian Iddon (Aprilia SXV 5.5); 2nd Adrien Chareyre (Husqvarna); 3rd Attilio Pignotti (KTM); 4th Gerald Delepine (Husqvarna); 5th Lorenzo Mariani (TM); 14th Luca Minutilli (Aprilia SXV 5.5). Withdrew: Massimo Beltrami (Aprilia SXV 5.5).
The S2 Riders table after 8 legs: 1st A. Chareyre 367 points; 2nd Gozzini 340; 3rd Delepine 276; 4th Pignotti 265; 5th Minutilli 229; 6th Iddon 202; 9th Beltrami 167.
The S2 Constructors points table after 8 legs: 1st Husqvarna 372 points; 2nd TM 354; 3rd Aprilia 305; 4th KTM 274; 5th Husaberg 229.