Hiemer maintains championship lead after Austrian Supermoto GP

KTM factory rider Bernd Hiemer of Germany managed to extend his S1 championship lead on Sunday at the Austrian Supermoto GP in Greinbach but an accident that stopped the second moto deprived him of even more valuable points.

Riding on the circuit where there were few opportunities to overtake, Hiemer had been engaged in a royal battle with Ivan Lazzarini in the first moto. He recovered well from a bad start, quickly worked his way up to second place and caught up to the Italian. Just as he was about to pass he made a small mistake and crashed, allowing Lazzarini to extend his lead and take victor in the first moto. Hiemer finished second for 22 championship points, enhanced by the fact that it was an unlucky day for Thierry van den Bosch, his biggest challenger for the title. The Frenchman only finished in tenth place for 11 points and Hiemer had already moved ahead by a margin of 18 points.
 
Accident in second moto; race annulled
All was going well for Hiemer in race two and he was hot on Lazzarini's tailpipe looking for just the right moment to overtake. He had just slipped past him, Van den Bosch was again back in the field and all indications were that Hiemer would cruise to first place and extend his lead by another 25 points. Unfortunately it was not to be. Spanish rider Nestor Jorge crashed and his bike slid across onto the next part of the track, taking with it a part of the tyre barrier and bringing down two more riders. The race was stopped to attend to the injured riders and ultimately the second race was annulled. Hiemer was disappointed but philosophical.
 
"It was bad luck for me because I could have won the GP but the safety and health of my riding colleagues must always be the first consideration," Hiemer said.
 
Bernd, who has been ill recently ith a virus, will spend the time between this and the next GP at the beginning of October training and working on his physical fitness levels. He will also compete in the Italian Championships in the coming weeks.
 
Overall GP Result (First moto only; second moto annulled because of track accident)
1. Ivan Lazzarini Italy, Aprilia
2. Bernd Hiemer, Germany, KTM
3. Sylvain Bidart, France, Husqvarna
4. Fabio Balducci, Italy, Suzuki
5. Jerome Giraudo, France, Honda
 
Overall championship standings (after 5 of 8 GPs)
1. Bernd Hiemer, Germany, KTM 198
2. Thierry van den Bosch, France, 180
3. Ivan Lazzarini, Italy, 158
4. Thomas Chareyre, France, 146
5. Matthew Winstanley, Britain, KTM UK, 126