Great victory for Fontanesi as Charlier also shines in Italy

The Italian circuit enjoyed a Grand Prix reawakening as it welcomed the FIM series for the first time this century. The steep hills housed a typically hard-pack terrain but the corner ruts were still long, deep and hard and the bumps ensured a degree of technical challenge under high temperatures.

Charlier set the fastest lap in the second moto as he rode similar races; recovering ground from top ten starts to make some effective overtaking moves and registering 5th and 6th positions. The Corsican needs a little more aggression in the vital formative phases of the motos to vie for his second podium of the season but his consistency has become a strength and he now hold fourth in the championship; 24 points from his goal of reaching a top three slot.

Dean Ferris was less than two seconds from a second consecutive pole position on Saturday but was still able to enjoy the second pick in the gate for the 35 minute and 2 lap motos. The Australian had a problem with his front suspension in the first race that prevented him forcing a top five result; ending the distance in 7th. ‘111’ pushed in customary fashion in the next sprint and again breached the top seven with the same ranking. He is sixth in the MX2 table.

Mel Pocock was limping around the paddock with a sore right heel as a consequence of his accident at the French GP last week. The Briton lodged a decent top ten finish with 8th place at the first time of asking but suffered a big ‘one’ in the second moto descending one of the downhills and managed to arrive to the chequered flag in sixteenth and holds eleventh in the MX2 standings. Maxime Desprey was unlucky to suffer a mechanical glitch in the first race and then struggled to cope with the track after a mediocre start and registered just one point for 20th. The French youngster is fifteenth in his rookie GP term.

Maggiora also entertained round three of seven for the women and Kiara Fontanesi faced little opposition in her quest for a perfect first half of her FIM title defence. Maggiora went crazy for their local star and ‘Fonta’ responded in kind with a confident and error-free run to a memorable victory. She leads the standings by 32 points.

The Uddevalla circuit north of Gothenburg will once more host the Grand Prix of Sweden and round ten of the series on July 1st.