Mauno Hermunen took his maiden Grand Prix victory on the unique tarmac motocross track of Pleven, Bulgaria, overnight after taking the Superpole ahead of Thomas Chareyre, Thierry Van Den Bosch and Davide Gozzini.
It was an excellent weekend for Husqvarna CH Racing‰Ûªs Hermunen after clinching the Superpole and then finishing on the top of the podium for the first time ever in his career.
The Finnish rider dominated the second and the third race from beginning to end, but he struggled a little bit in the first race ending third after Thomas Chareyre and race winner Davide Gozzini. The opening race was red flagged after Christian Ravaglia crashed heavily and was knocked out.
Hermunen is now fourth in the Championship, just seven points away from Thierry van den Bosch, and is looking forward to the last GP of the season in Salou to try to finish the Championship in the top three.
747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory‰Ûªs Thomas Chareyre finished second overall and he regained the red plate from his team mate Gozzini having the exact amount of points in the Championship standings.
In the first race the Frenchman didn't have a good start and had to work through the field until finishing second, along the way starring in a tight battle with Hermunen and van den Bosch. In the second race, Thomas Chareyre got a solid second position and in the last and crucial heat the Frenchman had to fight tooth and nail with his brother Adrien in order to finish second.
Other 747 Motorsport TM Racing Factory rider David Gozzini completed the Podium. The Italian started by dominating the first heat finishing four seconds in front of Thomas Chareyre and Hermunen, the Italian could only finish fourth in the two following races. Gozzini will go head to head with Thomas Chareyre in the last GP of the season in Salou and try to achieve his maiden FIM S1 World Title.
Husqvarna CH Racing‰Ûªs Adrien Chareyre managed to be fourth overall, which is his best result of the season, but he is still seventh in the Championship 20 points behind Bernd Hiemer. The Frenchman was sixth in the first race, but in the second and third races showed everybody why he has the number one on his Husqvarna machine. Adrien Chareyre finished third in the last two heats after fighting for the second position with his brother Thomas.
Completing the top five was PMR H2O Aprilia Racing‰Ûªs Van Den Bosch, who could not be on the podium as he did in the previous GP in Sicily. van den Bosch finished fourth in the first heat but he had to race the next two motos with the spare bike and it took some time for the Frenchman to adapt his riding to the new settings of his Aprillia machine. van den Bosch ended just fifth and sixth respectively.
Christian Ravaglia also had his best season result ending sixth overall, but his crash in the first heat while he was riding fifth made the race director stop the race immediately. The Italian rider was fortunately not injured and he was able to race the two following motos finishing sixth and fifth respectively.
Bernd Hiemer continues struggling with his bike and was just seventh overall with only one point advantage over Bussei. Ninth was Elia Sammartin and completing the top ten was Ivan Lazzarini, who is still recovering from his pulmonary bronchitis.
Main Photo: round winner Mauno Hermunen
Credit: Youthstream
S1 Race 1 top ten:
1. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 14:15.231
2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:04.310
3. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:04.915
4. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:06.709
5. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:07.351
6. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:07.573
7. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:08.739
8. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:10.729
9. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:12.254
10. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda), +0:18.104
S1 Race 2 top ten:
1. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 19:51.258
2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:03.911
3. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:05.244
4. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:06.687
5. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:07.099
6. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:16.927
7. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:17.465
8. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda), +0:30.982
9. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:31.033
10. Rosen Tonchev (BUL, KTM), +0:32.600
S1 Race 3 top ten:
1. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 19:48.657
2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:02.894
3. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:03.479
4. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), +0:07.622
5. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:12.697
6. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), +0:12.905
7. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), +0:17.858
8. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), +0:20.272
9. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:29.664
10. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda), +0:32.008
S1 Overall top ten:
1. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 70 points
2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 66 p.
3. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 61 p.
4. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 55 p.
5. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 49 p.
6. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 47 p.
7. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 40 p.
8. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), 39 p.
9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda), 35 p.
10. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 34 p.
S1 Championship top ten:
1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 251 points
2. Davide Gozzini (ITA, TM), 251 p.
3. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 216 p.
4. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 209 p.
5. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 184 p.
6. Bernd Hiemer (GER, KTM), 178 p.
7. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Husqvarna), 158 p.
8. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 136 p.
9. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), 124 p.
10. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Honda), 122 p.
S1 Manufacturers:
1. TM, 288 points
2. Husqvarna, 227 p.
3. Aprilia, 223 p.
4. Honda, 197 p.
5. KTM, 178 p.
6. Suzuki, 167 p.
7. Kawasaki, 89 p.
8. Yamaha, 84 p.
