Yamaha riders played their part in the annual ‘Superbiker’ race in Mettet, Belgium. The legendary Superbiker is one of the world’s most important non-championship supermoto races. A 25.000 strong crowd witnessed the clash of styles with stars invited from supermoto, motocross and racing categories.
Stefan Everts, fresh from a dominant supermoto win in the Belgian championship last weekend, showed probably his best speed ever at Mettet. Unfortunately Everts had bad starting positions in both finals and finished ninth overall. However the Belgian was the best placed motocross rider, young German supermoto star Bernd Hiemer won the event ahead of S2 world champ Jerome Giraudo.
Sunny weather and dry conditions provided excellent conditions for both the seasoned supermoto stars and the occasional riders. French Supersport star Stephane Chambon won the Starbiker, the qualifying race between road racing and motocross stars. MX1 runner-up Josh Coppins finished fifth behind Superbike world champion Troy Corser.Both Superbiker finals saw many interesting battles within the race, where the supermoto regulars were leading the pack and a mixed bag of riders was trying has hard as they could. Newly crowned Superstock champion Didier Van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany) even rode his first supermoto race in Mettet: “Every race I was getting faster and I made a lot of progress during the weekend. My lap times would have dropped drastically by the end of the day, but because the track was getting rougher it did not show as much in the end. It certainly was a great experience!”
Broc Parkes
Stefan Everts – Yamaha L&M Motocross Team
“I really enjoyed the racing this weekend and I was pretty dialed in here. I had to start from the 10th line in the finals after we encountered a small problem during the Starbiker race, but in each final race I easily worked my way up. My bad starting position was a bit frustrating, because with a normal result during the qualifying race I would have been on the front row. Anyway I think I have proved to be the best allround rider here, because all the guys in front of me are fulltime supermoto riders.”
Broc Parkes – Yamaha Motor Germany
“In the first final I was lying around sixth when some guys crashed in front of me in the second corner! That was a real shame, because my speed was quite good. I tried to use my dirt track experience as much as I could, but for now I miss the motocross skills to hang with the best riders. It’s definitely been a cool weekend and a great way to end the season, on Wednesday I go back to Australia to enjoy my holiday.”
Overall result Superbiker
1. Bernd Hiemer (Ger-KTM), 2. Jerome Giraudo (Fra-Aprilia), 3. Jurgen Kûnzel (Ger-KTM), 4. Eddy Seel (Bel-Husqvarna), 5. Gerald Delepine (Bel-Husqvarna), 6. Stephane Chambon (Fra-KTM), 7. Christian Ravaglia (Ita-Suzuki), 8. Marc Fraikin (Bel-KTM), 9. Stefan Everts (Bel-Yamaha), 10. Wilfried Reiter (Aut-KTM)
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