S1GP 2016 - ROUND 1: GP of SPAIN, Jerez - 26mn Magazine - Supermoto

// S1GP // FIM Supermoto World Championship // 2016 // Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) 3 April 2016 – Under cloudy skies and varied circuit conditions defending S1GP World Champion Thomas Chareyre got his 2016 campaign off to the perfect start as he raced to a double moto victory today, while Petr Vorlicek stood on the top step of the podium to lead the European Championship after the first round. S1GP Race 1 When the lights went out it was Thomas Chareyre who grabbed the first holeshot of the season. Following him through was Pavel Kejmar, Marc Reiner-Schmidt and Lukas Hollbacher, but by the time the riders reached turn two, Hollbacher was at the back after falling through turn one. Making moves early was Asseri Kingelin, the former S2 champion took advantage of Hollbacher's fall and then passed Schmidt to end the lap in 3rd place. However, by the end of the following lap, Kingelin had been pushed back to 4th as the German re-gained a position before giving chase to Kejmar. By the end of lap three the quartet of Chareyre, Kejmar, Schmidt and Kingelin were already well clear of 5th placed Spaniard Ivan Romero, but his time inside the top five was limited as his fellow countryman David Gimenez and Lukas Hollbacher were hot on his wheels. By lap 5 Romero was dropped to 7th as Gimenez and Hollbacher stormed by. Up front, Chareyre held a comfortable advantage over Kejmar, but the Czech rider was being hounded by last year's S2 champion, and by lap 7, the German was through on his TM. Despite upping his pace, Schmidt was unable to close the gap to Chareyre and the defending champion went on to cross the line more than nine seconds clear to win Race 1. Schmidt's rookie season got off to a great start with 2nd, with Kejmar coming home 3rd. Kingelin and Hollbacher rounded out the top five with Gimenez the top Spaniard in 6th. S1GP Race 2 After a brief rain shower before the start of Race 2, the circuit conditions were always going to be difficult but that didn't stop Chareyre taking another important holeshot. In fact, the first five riders were in the same order as they left the grid in Race 1; Chareyre, Kejmar, Schmidt, Hollbacher and Gimenez, only this time Hollbacher kept it on two wheels through turn one. As they crossed the line at the end of the first lap though, Schmidt was already up to second, with Hollbacher 3rd as Kejmar got demoted to 4th. On Lap 3 Asseri Kingelin moved past the Spaniard Gimenez to take over 5th spot as Chareyre started to ease clear to the tune of 1.6s over Schmidt. But the 2015 S2 champ started to find traction and within a lap Schmidt was just 0.9s down on Chareyre, stealing a couple more tenths at the end of Lap 5. And then the unthinkable happened; Marc Reiner-Schmidt found himself leading an S1GP for the first time in only his second outing, taking over from Chareyre on Lap 6. At the same time Gimenez took control of fifth as Kingelin crashed out of the race. Schmidt's time at the front though was shortlived as Chareyre regained the lead after just one lap. Two laps later and Schmidt was pushed back to 3rd as the Austrian Hollbacher moved past the German and into 2nd on Lap 9. When the flag went out 7 laps later Chareyre was a comfortable winner over Hollbacher, with Schmidt taking his second top three finish of the afternoon to secure a spot on the podium. Fourth in Race 2 belonged to Kejmar with Gimenez placing one better than he did in Race 1 to take 5th to the delight of his fans. The overall podium at the opening S1GP of the season was Chareyre, Schmidt and Hollbacher. More about race synthesis on http://www.supermotos1gp.com/news.php... Stay connected with FIM Supermoto World Championship: Official website: http://www.supermotos1GP.com facebook: www.facebook.com/supermotoGP twitter: @supermoto_GP