fim europe for young talents focus on: european motocross

Nr 2/2015 - March/April
FIM EUROPE FOR YOUNG TALENTS
FOCUS ON: EUROPEAN MOTOCROSS
TECHNOLOGY FOR ROAD SAFETY
INDEX
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FIM Europe for Road Safety
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FIM Europe Training Camp
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Focus on: Motocross
Inter view to Eddie Herd
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F re e ri de
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d e rrs
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EMX Breaking Records
FIM EUROPE MAG
Chief Editor: Fiammetta La Guidara
Photos: Dorna, Youthstream, R. Pairan, M. Zanzani
FIM EUROPE
Via Giulio Romano, 18
00196 - Rome Italy
E-mail: fimeuropepress@gmail.com
FIM Europe MAG #2 March-April 2015
The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of FIM Europe.
The content of this publication is based on the best
knowledge and information available at the time the
articles were written.
The copyring of articles and photos even partially is
forbidden unless permission has been requested from
FIM Europe in advance and reference is made to the
source (©FIM Europe)
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
A new arrival in
FIM Europe family:
The FIM Europe Management
Council, in the meeting held in
Fiumicino last April, gave life to
a new aggregation tool: the FIM
Europe Club. Through the organization of Touring events, the Club
wants to do more about people
co-operating in the FIM Europe,
creating relationships, increasing
collaboration, increasing the
level of trust in colleagues, motivating the group and creating cohesion and integration.
Addressed to all its officials and
members, the FIM Europe Club in
fact will represent an excellent
motivational tool, creating opportunities for brainstorming and
problem solving, through the
charme of its experiences on the
motorcycle, the emotions that
will be generated and shared, the
multi-sensorial involvement, the
climate of interaction and exchange with others. And, last but
not least, fun on the two wheels.
All Officials and Honorary Members (present in FIM Europe Yearbook) and all the Presidents and
Secretaries General of the FMNs
of the FIM Europe will be automatically members of the FIM Europe Club.
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
The FIM Europe Club will organize
two Touring events one on the
road and one off-road each year.
So, it will split into two sections:
“On The Road Experiences” and
“Off Road Experiences”.
Applications to organize the Experiences will be collected at the
Annual FIM Europe Congress in
the meeting of the General Secretaries.
No membership fee envisaged
and expenses of participation will
be borne by the participants in
the events. It is the responsibility
of the organizer of the Experien-
ces to research benefits or favorable conditions for all participants.
The organizer can count on the
support of the Travel and Logistics Department and the Marketing and Communication Department of the General Secretariat.
For the term 2015-2018 the FIM
Europe Club will be coordinated
by the FIM Europe Vice President
Martin de Graaff and the FIM Europe Secretary General Alessandro Sambuco.
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Executive­Board­
Meeting­in­Assen
On 6th and 7th March the FIM
Europe Executive Board meeting was held in Assen, The
Netherlands.
The primary objective of the
meeting, as well as considering matters of ordinary management and all the activities
planned for the start of the
2015 sporting season, was the
preparation of the next Management Council Meeting to be
held in Fiumicino next April
11th, immediately after the internal audit to be held in Rome
on Friday 10th.
Among the main topics discussed
during the two days of work:
• relationship of full coopera4
tion with the FIM;
• new European Championships;
• meetings of the Commissions
of the FIM Europe of late 2014
and the new dates for the
meetings in 2015;
• projects in 2015;
• situation of Promoters for
2015;
• organization of the 2015
Congress in Malta;
• creation of the Strategic
Plan Working Group.
In particular for the latter
Working Group it is assumed
that the following composition, following the acceptance
by the candidates, has been
scheduled for 28.05 in Fiumicino:
Chairman:
4
Mr Roy Wetterstadt,
NMF
Members:
Mr Jos Driessen,FMB;
Mr Manuel Marineiro, FMP
Mr Danijel Vastag, AMSS-MSS
Ms Ingrida Visockiene, LMSF
The FIM Europe President dr
Wolfgang Srb, the Secretary
General Alessandro Sambuco
and the Legal Advisor Rodolfo
Romeo will also attend the
meetings of the Working
Group.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of being in Assen, a
meeting was also held with the
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
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Director of the TT Circuit of
Assen Mr Peter Oosterbaan
and the Manager of the
Events Department Mr Jeroen
Steenhuis to get to know the
structures that will host the
2015 European Championship
events for Minimoto and Motocross.
«I am very happy with the
preparations of the 2015 season as well as with the results of the meeting of the
Executive Board in Assen»,
stated Dr Wolfgang Srb, FIM
Europe President. «FIM Europe
is stronger than ever and has
a clear agenda for the future.
The European Federations
work very hard to achieve
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
their goals, and the management of FIM Europe supports
these activities in the best
possible way. We are on the
right way and united in our
desire to manage the best season ever!»
From the left Jeroen Steenhuis, Manager Events Department Circuit Assen,
Michal Sikora, FIM Europe Treasurer, Dr
Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President,
Martin de Graaff, President of FIM Europe Sporting Council, Peter Oosterbaan, Director of the Circuit of Assen,
Alessandro Sambuco, FIM Europe Secretary General
5
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Management­activities­
Following the natural succession of the management activities planned during the year
for the FIM Europe, this is a
period full of commitments.
The annual meeting of the
Board of the Auditors for the
usual internal auditing took
place on 10th April at the premises of the General Secretariat in Rome. The meeting was
preceded by the election of
the Chairman Mr Laurent Delbroek (FMB).
The day, the 11th April, at the
Tiber Hotel in Fiumicino, also
the Management Council Meeting was held. A long and challenging meeting, given the
amount of topics to be discussed but, at the same time, satisfactory as held in a very
positive and constructive atmosphere, where every member has offered his personal
contribution.
Among the most significant issues covered topics from the
agenda we can find political,
sporting, non-sporting, organizational, financial, Marketing,
Merchandising and Communication issues.
The preparation of the FIM Europe Congress in Malta (2 – 5
July 2015) is proceeding according to plans.
The Members of the Management Council used the occasion to attend on Sunday, April
12th, the European Enduro
Championship event held in
Rieti, located 80 km from
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Rome. Fine weather in a wonderful natural frame and a
massive participation of riders
coming from 17 Countries offered a great sporting event.
From the left Silvio Manicardi,
Gianfranco d’Orazi, Alessandro
Sambuco, Dr Wolfgang Srb, Rodolfo
Romeo, Nina Birjukova, Martin de
Graaff, Michal Sikora, Jean-Marc
Desnues
From the left, Silvio Manicardi, Jean-Marc Desnues, Silvia Monatti, Alessandro Sambuco, Martin de Graaff, Dr Wolfgang
Srb, FIM Europe President, Juhani Halme, Nina Birjukova, Michal Sikora, Laurent Delbroek, Rodolfo Romeo, Michel
Turk, Paola Bianchetti
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FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE­­­­
F I M E u ro p e fo r
R o a d S afet y
Mr John Chatterton-Ross, Director of Public Affairs in FIM Europe and in FIM
The themes of road incidentality, of industry responses and initiatives,
of the systems to improve Road Safety, of 2wheeler behaviour and
safety have been of
prior importance for FIM
Europe since its foundation and every year during the FIM Europe
Congress a Road Safety
Conference is organized
with the aim to focus on
these important themes.
Royal Automobile Club developed by car manuof Catalunya on the the- factuers to be made
mes of Road Safety.
compatible with the
needs of other road
«This covers the major users, especially motorissues facing road sa- cycle riders. It needs
fety for riders», states manufacturers who are
Mr John Chatterton in both the car and moRoss. «The need for fair torcycle industries (for
enforcement of the traf- example Honda and
fic rules on all road BMW) to take the lead
users. The importance on this».
of the road infrastructure, as this is often not All these matters are
safe for riders, being dealt with in Mr Chatterdesigned for cars. How ton-Ross’s
interview,
Mr John Chatterton- emerging technologies with the invite to spread
Ross, Director of Public can help improve sa- to the world of motorcyAffairs in FIM Europe fety. FIM Europe stres- cling safety the techonoand in FIM, was recently ses the urgent need for logy which we is already
interviewed by RACC - new technology being in car industry.
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
On the occasion of the start of
2015 Motocross World Championship, its promoter Youthstream and FIM have launched
a new campaign entitled “Ride
Quiet!” in order to create awareness of the need to reduce
sound levels.
A video clip has also been produced, with the participation of
several top riders, to encourage
off-road riding and help to preserve it for future generations
to enjoy.
The message of "Ride Quiet!"
campaign is to ensure that offroad sport does not antagonise
the local community, which
might lead to the closing of circuits.
«FIM Europe gives full support
to this important campaign»,
stated Dr Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President. «In fact, we
have to assume responsibility:
FIM Europe is the biggest Continental Union of FIM; comprising 47 National Motorcycle
Federations and organizing approximately 75% of all FIM acti-
vities. The riders are well
aware of the fact that extreme
sound can create discomfort
and problems for people living
close to circuits and racetracks.
«Measures to reduce the sound
have already been taken, in
close cooperation with Federations, manufacturers, teams
and riders as well as with our
promotion partner Youthstream», Dr Srb added. «'Ride
Quiet' has to be on top of the
agenda, today and also tomorrow».
FIM Europe
gives full support to
“Ride Quiet!” campaign
for Off-Road
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V i si
s itt to
t o SV E MO
fo
forr oone
ne
ooff th
e sstt pprac
e ss
t hee bbe
r acttiicce
The handshake between FIM Europe Secretary
General Alessandro Sambuco and SVEMO Secretary
General Per Westling
A modern administration must research constantly means to improve its own procedures for
increasing efficiency and for
granting a better supply of the
offered services.
Definitely with this purpose, on
the 24th and 25th February, a FIM
Europe delegation, made up of
the Secretary General Alessandro
Sambuco and the Administration
Department manager Silvia Monatti, has visited SVEMO headquarters in Norrköping (Sweden).
The main topic of the meeting
has been the presentation by the
SVEMO staff, directed by their
Secretary General Per Westling,
of the "SVEMO Race Administration System". In fact, already
from 2009, the Swedish Federation has progressively developed
and improved this administration
system based on a software endowed with a user interface adapted for smartphones and enabling
each kind of economic transaction, including licences and calendar inscriptions (the software
is already at disposal for the
FMNs interested, contacting for
further information Mr Stefan
Lang: stefan.lang@svemo.se).
Even if it will be necessary a feasibility study and to adapt it to
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
the specific FIM Europe exigencies, this system could support
the optimization of several activities, among them the following
ones:
- each kind of economic transaction with FMNs (rider licences
and calendar inscription fees,
sanctions, circuit and official licences, credit notes for Commission meetings, subsidies, etc);
- calendar inscriptions;
- supplementary regulations;
- Jury President reports;
- results.
At the end of the visit which has
shown, among the other things, a
SVEMO perfectly organised and
endowed with an enviable atmosphere among its whole staff, as
well as projected to a continuous
improvement, the FIM Europe Secretary General Alessandro Sam-
buco declared: «I definitely believe on the necessity to research
an interconnection among all
Executive Staffs of the FMNs affiliated to FIM Europe, letting
the ones with the best administrative practices represent a
driving puller for the others.
«With this aim, my specific task
for the next months will be to
support any occasion of meeting
among the colleagues Secretaries
General, in order to research
such best practices and to spread
them», added Alessandro Sambuco. «This will grant an amazing
impulse to the effectiveness and
efficiency of the Administrations
and will favour a constructive
and, why not, pleasant atmosphere of cooperation, among
who share not only a mission but
also and mostly a passion: Motorcycling».
Norrköping (Sweden) - A moment of the SVEMO Race Administration System
presentation
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
MACEC
celebrates 10th anniversary
gional associations for
development
of
motorcycle
sports and
tourism in
Europe.
During the
The General Assembly of MACEC (Motorcycle Association of Central
MACEC
GeEuropean Countries) in Kaunas (Lithuania)
neral
Ass e m b l y
meeting the results of 2014
The General Assembly of MACEC
MACEC Cup in the disciplines spe(Motorcycle Association of Cenedway, motocross, enduro, extral European Countries) was held
treme enduro and trial were
on 7th March 2015 in Kaunas (Liapproved. The MACEC Cup calenthuania).
dar for 2015 was approved. The
participants highly evaluated the
It had particular character as it
cooperation of their federations
was 10th jubilee meeting in the
during the 2014 FIM Europe Genehistory of MACEC.
ral Assembly in Cracow and 2014
FIM Europe President Dr Wolfgang
FIM General Assembly in Jerez de
Srb addressed a letter to all parla Frontera. They decided to adticipants of the Congress. He
dress FIM Europe to take into acstressed the important role of re12
count the regional associations in
the process of applying for FIM
grants.
During the meeting the elections
for MACEC President and Vice
Presidents were held. Andrzej
Grodzki (PZM) was elected
MACEC President. The title of Honorary MACEC Vice President was
conferred to Serghiy Lyatosinsky
(FMU) who has performed the duties of MACEC Vice President
since the beginning of the association. Aleksandra Knyszewska
(PZM) was appointed MACEC Secretary General.
The special thanks were extended to Virginijus Visockis, LMSF
President, for the very good organization of the Congress and
warm atmosphere.
The next meeting of the MACEC
General Assembly will be held in
March 2016 in Brest (Belarus).
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Green Education Strategy
by FIM Europe Environment Commission
On March 22nd in Warsaw, Poland, during FIM CIE Seminar,
the Green Education Strategy
was presented.
Mr Peter Gregory from FIM and
Environmental Stewards from
12 FIM Europe Federations
were present.
The Green Education Strategy
is a project that includes several activities: online check-list,
brandbook and Facebook page.
The intention of the Commission is to educate, promote,
advise Environmental Stewards, Organizers and Federations. The brandbook will be
available on the website of FIM
Europe.
On 31st March 2015 Honorary
FIM Vice President Colin Moram
was honoured for his fifty years
of service to motorcycle sport
in the ACU South Midland centre.
The meeting included a talk
about the work of FIM Europe
and FIM by John ChattertonRoss.
«I was delighted to be asked to
join this presentation to Colin
who I have known since I was
first involved in FIM work
twenty five years ago», added
John Chatterton-Ross, FIM Europe Director of Public Affairs.
«He is a motorcyclist who has
served at the very highest levels of our sport. He still keeps
working today. I also passed to
all at the meeting the best wishes and congratulations of FIM
Europe President Dr Wolfgang
Srb».
Mr Moram was presented with
a carriage clock inscribed to
mark the occasion.
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
All environmental matters, including Manuals and Rules for
Environmental Stewards, can
be found in FIM Europe website, in the “Social” area.
FIM Europe Environment Commission launched online-check
list system, which will be tested during 2015 season.
solve issues and share experience, pictures, new ideas, innovations
or
suggestions
directly from the race-tracks.
The presentation was followed
by discussion and positive feedback from the participants.
Since nowadays a big
role is played by social media, Environment
Commission
created its Facebook
pageto be constantly
in touch with Environmental Stewards
and to assist, help,
Colin Moram honoured
for lifetime of service
to ACU’s South Midland centre
From the left,
Terry Golds and
John Coles, respectively Secretary and
Chairman of the
ACU centre,
Colin Moram and
John Chatterton-Ross, FIM
Europe Director
of Public Affairs
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
H o n d a 1 5 0 E u ro p e a n C h a m p i o
Tr a i n i n g C a m p i n A l b a i d a
The weekend of 14-15 March,
has seen youngsters from across
Europe head to the Training
Camp for the Honda 150 European Championship, where they
met their 2015 rivals for the
first time, spent time getting to
know the Honda CRF150Rs and
received expert guidance at this
crucial point in their formative
careers.
Also this year, and for the third
time, the FIM Europe has collaborated with Honda for the evaluation and training of the
young riders of the MX 150 4S.
The Training Camp saw the participation of 33 young riders coming
from
15
different
Countries.
Across the two days the riders
were able to get to grips with
the four-stroke CRF150R with
track time alongside series
coach Gordon Crockard and
Honda World Supersport rider
Kyle Smith. The two trainers
took the riders round the track
in small groups to help them improve their riding style, lap
time and bike position.
Team HRC sporting manager
Jean-Michel Bayle and Team
HRC MXGP rider Gautier Paulin
also joined Crockard and Smith
on the track to help guide and
advise the youngsters. Spanish
motocross rider Jorge Zaragoza
was also present on the Saturday to share his experience
with the riders.
To ensure that the riders received a complete training package, a fitness assessment and
sports psychology session was
given by the FIM Europe: accompanied by the FIM Europe
President Wolfgang Srb and coordinated by the Secretary General Alessandro Sambuco, the
staff consisted of the Trainers
Fabrizio Bernardini and Marco
Infusino from Italy and the
Sports Psychologist Anders Wahlström from Sweden.
The physical assessment saw
the riders engaged in two tests:
- the first test was on strength
and keeping the correct position on the bike and wanted to
assess the endurance of the
quadriceps femoris in keeping
the correct position of bent legs
on the bike. The rider was requested to assume this position
with a vertical controller applied to the torso. The time in
keeping the position has been
measured, until the controller
signaled that the torso started
to oscillate, or moved forward;
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
onship
- the second test was to assess
the core stability of the rider or
his ability to manage the imbalance in the “Planck position”.
A bad management of the imbalance could adversely affect the
performance of the rider.
After the assessment the riders
were provided with a training
plan with the exercises which
had been demonstrated by the
Trainer and tested by the riders
thmselves.
Also from the psychological side
some tests have been proposed
to the young riders with the aim
to evaluate their competitive
behaviour. During the week-end
the Sports Psychologist carried
out also some meetings with the
parents of the riders to give
them explanations and tools to
prevent dropout from the children's physical, mental and social development perspective.
These youngsters rode their
CRF150Rs together the following month at the first Euro-
pean round of the MXGP World
Championship in Trentino, Italy.
The winner of the 2015 Honda
From the left Dr Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President, Davy Dousselaere, Honda
Europe Off Road Manager, Motorsports Division, and Alessandro Sambuco, FIM Europe Secretary General
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
150 European Championship
will receive a Honda-supported
ride aboard a Honda CRF250R in
the EMX250 championship in
2016, providing a unique and valuable springboard to their careers.
«Compliments to Honda for arranging such a great opportunity
for young riders to attend the
training camp in Albaida», commented Dr Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President. «Our part was
the fitness assessment and the
sports psychology session. Together with the riding skills Honda
got a clear picture of the performance and abilities of the various participants. I was also
happy about the fact that many
parents were present and that
the Sports Psychologist could
share his experience with them.
All in all, a very good weekend
and an excellent job carried out
by the FIM Europe staff».
The Honda 150 European Motocross Championship is designed to
FIM Europe President Dr Wolfgang Srb
provide young riders between the
ages of 11 and 14 with fourstroke experience and prepare
them for riding in European
championships and World championships. The winner of the
championship will receive a 2016
Honda supported ride in the European 250 championship. The
first round will be at the first European event in the MXGP calendar at Pietramurata, Italy, on the
18th and 19th of April.
Last weekend saw youth riders
from throughout Europe, and as
far afield as the United States,
descend on Albaida, Spain for the
Honda 150 -FIM Europe training
camp. While the primary purpose
of the training camp was to allow
the riders to familiarise themselves
with
the
four-stroke
CRF150R, undergo physical assessment and benefit from the tutelage from stars from the Honda
Racing Family, a selection process
was also in place to decide who
would join the pre-selected riders at the start gates in Pietramurata for the first round.
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
To ensure that the riders received
a complete training package, a
fitness assessment and sports
psychology session was given by
the FIM Europe: accompanied by
the FIM Europe President Wolfgang Srb and coordinated by the
Secretary General Alessandro
Sambuco, the staff consisted of
the Trainers Fabrizio Bernardini
and Marco Infusino from Italy and
the Sports Psychologist Anders
Wahlström from Sweden.
Throughout the weekend, series
coach Gordon Crockard and
Honda Europe’s Off-Road manager Davy Dousselaere observed
the 13 riders who had not been
pre-selected and assessed them
based on their riding potential,
riding position and style, general
attitude and fitness. The young
hopefuls were also watched closely by Team HRC MXGP rider
Gautier Paulin and Team HRC
Sporting Manager Jean-Michel
Bayle who were on hand to offer
guidance to the riders and assist
Crockard and Dousselaere in making their selection.
A video of the event in Albaida,
with an interview to FIM Europe
President Dr Wolfgang Srb, was
realized.
The video looks at the new aspiring racers and how the Honda
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
Racing Family come together to
encourage the next generation.
Although there were only six places available in the championship, the other seven riders still
have a chance to ride at one of
the rounds. Three of the riders
were chosen as reserves, to be
called upon if someone is unable
to attend an event or suffers an
injury. Throughout the year,
there is also the possibility to be
called up as a wildcard rider for
an event.
The six riders who were selected are:
Marc Antolin (ESP)
Andrea Bonifacio (ITA)
Luis Outeiro (PRT)
Alex Pettersson (SWE)
David Robson (GBR)
Jana Sanchez (ESP)
The three reserves are:
1st reserve: Jonas Bjerrum (DEN)
2nd reserve: Romain Delbrassine
(BEL)
3rd reserve: Lorenzo Bernini (ITA)
Final entry list
Marc Antolin (ESP)
Jack Bintcliffe (GBR)
Alexandre Bours (FRA)
Alexis Collingnon (FRA)
Max Erlandsson (SWE)
Raffaele Giuzio (ITA)
Tatu Junnola (FIN)
Viking Lindstrom (SWE)
Yago Martinez (ESP)
Archie Osmaston (GBR)
Alex Petterson (SWE)
David Robson (GBR)
Jana Sanchez (ESP)
Slade Tressler (USA)
Emil Weckman (FIN)
Timothe Berry (FRA)
Andrea Bonifacio (ITA)
Mack Bouwense (NLD)
Tim Edberg (SWE)
Hakon Fredrikson (NOR)
Carl Joergensen (SWE)
Albin Larsen (SWE)
Leandro Luedi (SUI)
Hardy W. Munoz (CHI)
Luis Outeiro (PRT)
Matthew Pocock (GBR)
Frederico Rocha (PRT)
Bennet Schaefer (GER)
Henry Vesilind (EST)
Rick Wenneckes (NLD)
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
European Motocross Champio
Record breaking entries
For the European Motocross
Championships, record-breaking numbers of entries was
registered by the promoter
Youthstream already one
moth before the starting
event of the ason in Pietramurata (Italy).
With the entries for the European Championship EMX250
and EMX125 round of Pietramurata, Italy now officially
closed, Youthstream, the promoter of the European Series,
has just announced that both
classes are full. With a 100-
rider limit, the EMX250 class
has exceeded this number. All
riders entered after the 100th
entry was accepted will be
reserve riders. Should one of
the first 100 entries withdraw
for any reason, the reserve riders will then automatically
be entered.
Meanwhile the EMX125 has
impressively received 95 entries, which along with the
maxed out EMX250 class and
extraordinary depth of talent
in both classes, only attests
that the European Champion-
ship is the ultimate development series for any aspiring
professional motocross rider.
Full grid also for the Honda
EMX 150 class, which will take
its start in Pietramurata, too,
but the entry list will be defined by Honda in the next
days.
With the European Championship becoming a fundamental
series for any aspiring motocross rider, Youthstream stated to be proud of the
stepping-stone that has been
created with entries in the
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
onship:
The statistics of the partecipation of the various Federations
to EMX 125 and 150 series
FIM Motocross World Cham pionship also reflecting the
success of the project.
The huge number of the entries is confirmation that the
European Championship is the
best amateur series in the
world.
«I am very happy about the
biggest number of entries in
the history of the European
Motocross
Championship,
being the stepping stone to
the FIM Motocross World
Championship», comments Dr
Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe Pre-
sident. «The outstanding interest of Federations, teams
and riders shows that the
concept of combined race
weekends works very well.
«This is one of the most fruitful cooperations between
FIM, FIM Europe and a promotional partner», added Dr
Wolfgang Srb. «I am very
happy that young riders can
compete on the same weekend, on the same track, with
the same rules and regulations and officials. There is
no better way to get ready
for the FIM Motocross World
Championship. The riders are
the winners, and so is the
sport».
These results confirm the importance of the European
Championship and the huge
interest of the Federations,
teams and riders in this series, which is the best way to
prepare and move up to the
World Championships MX2
and MXGP. We have made a
statistic of the represented
Countries.
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N e w Wo r k s h o p o n We i g h t Tra i n
From the left, Alessandro Sambuco, Stefan Josipovic, Kristina Josipovic, Tomi Konttinen, Espen Blikstad, Marcin Wojcik, Marco Infusino,
Colin Buckley, Marinos Portantaris, Martin Janzon, Martin Spittank, Mandy Jenker, Mario Berger, Danijel Vastag, Wolfgang Srb
On 21st and 22nd March the 2nd
Workshop on Weight Training
organised in collaboration with
the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF) was held at the
Hotel Paradies -Graz (AUT).
Even in this second Workshop
the 12 Trainers, coming from 7
Countries (Cyprus, Finland,
Germany, Italy, Poland, Serbia,
Sweden), had at their disposal
the experience of the Irish
presenter
Colin Buckley, EWF Executive
20
Board Member in charge of the
European Coaching Framework.
Not only theoretical information, concerning mainly postural analysis, functional
movements, anatomical adaptations, overreaching and overtraining, but also group work
focused on particular aspects
as designing a warm•up program to be used before the
race and how to design sample
gym programs.
At the end of the Workshop
was discussed with the Teacher
and with the Trainers the project to the study of FIM Europe
to create a European Register
of Trainers that, once approved and once found the resources, make it possible to
the same Trainers to take advantage of annual updates
and to be involved in various
activities related to FIM Europe
Academy (Workshops, Training
Camps and Seminars).
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
n i n g i n G ra z
Dr Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President receives
the Gold Sporting Collar
for Sporting Merit from
Mr Colin Buckley, on behalf of the President and
the Board of the European Weightlifting Federation
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
Closing the Workshop Mr Colin
Buckley, on behalf
of the President
and the Board of
the European Weightlifting Federation, has honored
the FIM Europe
President Dr
Wolfgang Srb with
the highest honor
of the EWF: the
Gold Sporting Collar for Sporting
Merit.
The honor was
awarded to Dr Srb
for his devoted
support of European and World
Sport.
«It is of utmost
importance that
young riders get
the best possible
education, carried
out by first class trainers.
When you set a solid basis at
the youth level you have something to step up from in the
years to come, via National
Championships and Continental Championships to the ultimate target, the FIM World
Champion•ships – a dream for
every young rider», stated Dr
Wolfgang Srb, attending the
Workshop.
«I am very pleased with the
results of the weekend», Dr
Srb added. «The trainers, including two female trainers
from Germany and Serbia, are
top professionals and will
carry out a great job. Education is the key to success; FIM
Europe will continue to work
hard in this important area to
offer the best choices for the
Federations and officials».
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Title
Title sponsor
sponsor for
for
European
European
Quadcross
Quadcross
Championship
Championship
FIM Europe has signed a three
years contract with ITP for the
support of the European Quadcross Championship.
ITP is one of the brands of the
global operating company The
Carlstar Group (formerly Carlisle
Transportation Products). The European headquarter of The Carlstar Group is based in Arnhem,
the Netherlands.
The Company is wellknown as a
premier manufacturer of a comprehensive line of performance
products for original equipment
and aftermarket customers with
a strong family of brands including Carlisle® belts, tires and
FIM Europe President Dr Wolfgang Srb (on
the right) and FIM Europe Secretary General
Alessandro Sambuco signing the contract of
partnership for ITP EMX Quad in Geneve
wheels, Ultimax® powersports
belts, ITP® tires and wheels, as
well as Cragar®, Black Rock® and
Unique® wheels. Made in USA,
ITP tires and wheels are realized
pursuing Advanced Traction Te-
chnology, and are wellknown already in many Countries and specialized in Quads and UTVs.
In Europe the use of quads is very
popular. The races of the European Quadcross Championship in
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Ilse Smit and Martin de Graaff with the new ITP logo for the European Quadcross
Championship. Below, the first overall podium of the season, with Edgars Mengelis,
from Latvia, winner in front of Italian Andrea Cesari and French Yoann Gillouin
ITP EMX Quad Calendar
6 different Countries are a good
opportunity for both parties to
reach two goals: more interest in
this very spectacular championship and, for ITP, spreading the
brand in the European market.
«In the Olympic Sportcentrum Papendal the promotional materials
were showed. ITP developed a
special logo for this EMX Quad
competition, which is visible on
the website», stated Ilse Smit,
Exhibition & Events Coordinator
of ITP.
«Both parties are satisfied about
this contract: the negotiations
started after the end of the last
season and in a short time ITP
and FIM Europe found an agreement», added Martin de Graaff,
FIM Europe Sporting Council President.
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
11/12 April Castelneau de Levis
(FRA)
2/3 May Gazzana di Preseglie (ITA)
16/17 May Randers (DEN)
6/7 June Stelpe (LAT)
1/2 August Kivioli (EST)
8/9 August Kegums (LAT)
ITP EMX Quad of European
Nations
10/11 October Schwedt (Ger)
Better performances
in sporting and everyday life
Riding a motorcycle there are several aspects involved, which are sometimes
underesteemated. One of these is the perfect vision of what surrounds us
Get the best overview of the track
or the road is crucial in riding. But
are we sure to see really well? To
compose a perfect view many
aspects are involved, which are
often not taken into account, but
which are especially important in
sports but also in everyday riding.
We spoke with Prof. Raffaele Sangiuolo, ophtalmic surgeon who also
has considerable experience of racing, although on four wheels: he
began racing at the end of the Sixties in Tourism and in the last
twenty years he has participated in
numerous endurance races, which
also highlight any visual deficiencies
because in these cases you have to
face extreme conditions, racing at
night and at critical times such as
sunrise and sunset.
«I have always taken care of
ophthalmology and especially binocularity, ie the simultaneous function of the two eyes. I also taught
at the University of Perugia, where I
was professor for several years, until
1989», says Prof. Sangiuolo. «In
2012 I was called by the President of
the Automobile Club of Italy Angelo
Sticchi Damiani in the medical commission of ACI and later as a consultant of the FIA, where I had the task
of preparing the protocol of visual
assessment.
«I have always maintained that it is
not enough to read the lines, there
are many other factors. The first is
the field of view, which narrows
when increasing speed», continues
Prof. Sangiuolo. «Another factor is
stereoscopy, ie the sense of depth:
having the exact perception of distance at a speed of 300 km/h is critical. And then also the contrast
Alessandro Sambuco, Secretary General of
FIM Europe, with Prof Raffaele Sangiuolo
24
sensitivity: for example, at night or
on cloudy days. And then the recovery time from glare: at night the
human eye can remain half-blind
three or four seconds, which is a
long span if you are racing at 300
km/h».
The team of prof. Sangiuolo is able
to evaluate all of these factors simultaneously. «For each factor we give a relative
value, then sum them and give a visual index. At the moment this does
not ‘enable’ the pilots, which belongs only to the sports doctor, but
these protocols can be used for a
quality certification of the visual
index».
Prof. Sangiuolo and the University of
Salerno have designed a special device that allows to make full evaluation of all the parameters with an
economically attractive solution.
«Initially our equipment costed hundreds of thousands of euro. Instead
we are developing a single device
that will not cost more than €
15,000, so all federations might afford it. I presented this work at the
FIM, and is also useful for controls
of doping and blood alcohol, basing
on visual evoked potentials».
Prof. Sangiuolo’s cooperation with
FIM Europe regards especially the
activities addressed to Over 60. «There are many aspects to consider, such as the tears, retinal vascular and crystalline aspects», he
explains. «There exist also therapeutic possibilities, in addition to surgery: cataracts, for example, on
which you can intervene with multifocal crystalline, so as to see well far
objects and right after focus on instrumentation. This is for sports, but
also for everyday life. There are
many improvements for several problems: for example, for those who
have a better vision in one eye, you
may want to consider laser surgery
or orthoptic exercises».
Fiammetta La Guidara
Michel Turk, Vice President of FIM
Europe, joined the 10th edition of
EVER Monaco, which was held
from March 31st to April 2nd at the
Grimaldi Forum, in Monaco. The
event, which featured scientific
lectures, round table sessions,
and international meetings on
Ecological Vehiclesand Renewable
Energies (EVER), also hosted an
exhibition of the main manufacturers of 2 and 4 wheeled vehicles
usingrenewable energies.
FIM-Europe
represented in
EVER Conference
in Monaco
The goal of EVER 2015 was to increaseawareness about the development of renewable energies
and improved energy efficiency.
Many leaders around the world havespurred their countries into a
sustainabledevelopment policy,
particularly in relation to “clean
mobility”, and are targeting carbon neutrality by the middle of
the century. In China, there are
already more than 150 million
electric-powered motorcycles registered.
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco with FIM-Europe Vice President Michel Turk
For FIM Europe, as the shift to
electric power and renewal
energy is increasing worldwide,
and renewable technologies improving fast, this global movement
toward
ecologically
sustainable mobility presents an
opportunity to create in the close
future new “clean” motorcycle
championships, in addition to the
existing championships.
During the EVER 2015, the Groupement Européen de la Moto Elec-
trique/European Group of Electric
Motorcycle (GEME) was founded.
Through this organized efforts of
GEME, the FIM Europe can help
build a better environment for future generations and be a leading
partner in clean motorcycle
sports, so that governments will
no longer stop our sportand close
tracks or hinder the entry of motorcycle world championships because of noise and/or air
pollution.
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Focus on: Motocross Commission
Eddie Herd, Chairman of FIM Europe Motocross Commission,
makes a point on all the specialties
Confirmations and new events for a thrilling sporting season!
Full agenda for the FIM Europe
Motocross Commission: the members, in fact, have to care about
many specialties. Apart from the
European Motocross Series there
are the Motocross of Nations
events Quad, Sidecarcross, Snowcross, Supercross and, from this
year on, Hill Climb Motocross,
which had never been attempted
as a championship, not even at a
world level.
We have met Mr Eddie Herd,
Chairman of FIM Europe Motocross Commission, in Arco di
Trento for the first event of Motocross European Championship.
26
And we have asked him to make
a point on the several disciplines
they are working on.
Motocross European Championship is in constant growth. What
is the secret of its success?
«I think the secret of this growth
is that we've built a structure
over the years between Youthstream and FIM and FIM Europe. We have a pyramid: at the
top there are MXGP and MX2 for
the younger riders - and below
that we have the European
Championship, starting from the
65cc, for the really young guys,
85cc, 125 2 strokes, which is a
very cheap championship, and
then 250 which prepares for MX2.
We also have a new championship
started last year, EMX300 for
older riders on 2stroke machines
keeping the sport as cheap as
possible and the EMX150 4stroke
championship developed by
Honda in conjunction with Youthstream. If you look back over
the last few years and see the development of many of the riders
who are here today in MX2 and
even in MXGP, you can see from
where they started: Max Nagl,
who is second in the world championship with a factory Husqvarna, was European Champion
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
cess of what is being done . All
these talented young riders coming through the various European
championships
which
ensures the future of the world
championship for many years to
come. The success of the European motocross championships is
outstanding but we will go on developing it into even more success. We do not stand still. If you
do that you effectively go backwards. That is something we will
not do».
Any difficulties in making this
dreamy situation happen?
in the 85 cc ten or so years ago,
the phenomenal Jeffrey Herlings
and then there is Gautier Paulin,
Tim Gajser, Jordi Tixier, and so
many others who were European
champions and have now moved
into the world championship with
outstanding success. You can
trace the history of the riders in
the 125 and 250cc championships, because most of them finished in the first positions in the
65 and/or 85cc. So the European
series is a stepping stone to the
world championship and if you
are talented it's the best way to
go. Before it was all down to national championships, but the riders were accustomed to riding
only on their tracks and when
they started racing in the European tracks there was a big gap.
No other continent in the world
can boast of this set-up. There is
an incredible increase in the
number of riders competing in
the European championships,
especially EMX125 and EMX250,
which could not be foreseen even
two years ago and proves the suc-
"Not at all. This is the vision and
dream of Giuseppe Luongo, President of Youthstream, over the
years, with the support of all the
Youthstream staff. None of what
we have achieved in the last few
years could have been done without Giuseppe Luongo and his
promotion
company,
Youthstream».
«Riders have to pay an entry fee
but they get much more than
they can even realize. They have
all the backing of media, with the
press interviews to the winners,
they have the backing of TV
around the world, with coverage
all over the world, they also
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
years and it is held together with
Quadcross of European Nations,
which started about 7 years ago.
It's open to team from all Federations, with three riders and
passengers. The competition is
very much supported from the
various European nations and it's
very fierce. Most of the top world
sidecar riders compete in the European Sidecarcross of Nations.
This year we'll go to Schwedt,
last year we were in Holland, two
years go in Italy. Next year we
will go to France. We have the
next three years already scheduled, which is good for the organization.
Eddie Herd, FIM Europe Motocross Commission Chairman, with Dr Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President
learn to be in front of the media,
because if they want to attract
sponsor, they have to be able to
talk to journalists. Apart from the
fact that, they can race on the
same tracks as the top riders in
the world, and being here they
can see their techniques, see
what they do on jumps, corners,
at the start, etc and learn from
them. It's not like sitting at home
and watching them on television,
they gain much more information. The only difference with top
riders is the distance of the
races, which in European races
are shorter. Also penalties are the
same: if they misbehave or
ignore flags or the rules, they are
penalised the same as the GP
stars. This teaches them the rules
when they are young».
Another big event is the Motocross of European Nations...
«Yes. At the end of the year, always with Youthstream as promoter we have Motocross of
European Nations, combined with
the Women Motocross of European Nations, which is new and it
was born two years ago, when we
modified the rules to focus much
more on the youths. In fact be28
fore the European Nations was a
mirror image of the FIM event,
and there was no point in it, so
we modified it, to focus on 85,
125 and 250 up to 21 years old.
The Women’s event was completely new, and it's a very interesting competition, on 250
motorcycles, and supported by
the top riders in the Women’s
world championship».
Some news in European Snowcross, too.
«European Snowcross is for riders
who are the same age as world
championship riders but only specified modifications to the snowmobiles are allowed. It's a
machine you can buy in the shop
and do limited modifications to
it, but they are very fast all the
same. It's a pro-stock class which
works well. Last year we had just
one event but this year we had
three, two in Norway and one in
Russia, which means the championship is growing».
There is another European of Nations event: it's for Sidecarcross...
«Sidecross European of Nations
has been going on for about 15
“Then we have the European Supercross championship held in
the Autumn of each year, promoted by Off Road Pro-Racing,
which is very professionally organised.”
Last but not least, a completely
new event for the Motocross
Commission: the Motocross Hill
Climb.
«This year will be the first time
ever for the European series: it is
not existing in the world either.
They have it in America, but it is
not a world championship. Mr
Ivar Gynnild, the member of my
commission from Norway who is
a specialist Hillclimb expert, has
worked very hard on technical
and sporting rules, etc., and is
working with different Federations to get some sort of cooperation. For instance, Hillclimbing
is popular in France, in Estonia,
in Norway and in a couple of
other Countries, but they have
different rules, so we are working
very hard towards harmonization.
It took three years, but now, at
the beginning of August, in Kivioli, Estonia, we shall have the
first event, combined with World
Championship Sidecarcross and
European Quadcross. It'll be an
evening event, and it's an interesting new event for FIM-Europe».
Fiammetta La Guidara
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
SPORT­NEWS
Snowmobile Enduro European Cup
Champions crowned in Finland
Finland hosted the last event of
the Snowmobile Enduro European
Cup of the season.
In middle of Finland, in Karstula,
the weather circumstances were
surprisingly good: at the beginning of the week, in fact, it looked like the warm weather would
affect the stages. But on Saturday the weather was pretty good
with 0° Celsius and on
Sunday luckily the rain
that was expected came
out as snow.
On Saturday 63 riders
from three different
Countries
(Finland,
Estonia, Sweden) competed in four different
special stages for a total
of 140 kilometres.
After some retirements
on Sunday it was 50 riders who fought for the
championships at three
stages for a total of 110
kilometres. In the end it
was 42 riders who managed to cross the finish
line.
Heli Takkinen from Finland won the Women series, Niki Nummijoki
the Junior, Jukka Järvenpää was
fastest at the Senior AC class,
Lauri Pellonpää at Senior LC and
Jukka Nyberg got the gold medal
at Veterans class.
«I think it was en excellent race,
weather conditions on Saturday
were a bit wet but track was still
ok», commented Jury president
of the event Robert Svensson.
«On Sunday we got some snow,
which made the course even better. Riders have been very satisfied as well. The organizer is
very experienced and they have
done a brilliant job. So I want to
thank the Finnish federation, the
club and everyone involved with
the race».
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Free
Free riders
riders
Three unsuspectable motorcyclists do off-road
in Sardinia: the President of Lithuanian
Federation, the FIM Europe Secretary General
and a Paris-Dakar rider...
FIM­EUROPE­INSIDE
Looking from the "outside",
sometimes Federations are
considered purely as institutions, which are made up of
people who work for a particular sport, but are not necessarily "involved" into it, or
more simply, do not practice
it. Which sometimes may be
true, but it is not very frequent in FIM Europe. Probably because motorcycling
requires a special passion,
and you can hardly deal with
it if you are not keen on PTW.
FIM Europe and the affiliated
Federations are made up of
riders, too, who do not only
"work" for motorcycling, but
have designed their life-style
around it.
So, no surprise if the President of the Lithuanian Federation Virginijus Visockis and
the Secretary General of FIM
Europe Alessandro Sambuco
met for an off-road ride in
Sardinia with an exceptional
guide: the Dakar rally rider
Maurizio Sanna.
It all happened in February:
even if the weather was cold
and wet, passion cannot be
held in check long and as
soon as they all had a free
weekend, the riding day was
fixed in Sardinia. Three guys
and their bikes: anyone had
come across this group in the
Sardinian gravel roads, would
have never said that it was
three authentic characters in
the "political" and sport
world of PTW.
In a long day ride, they covered ... kms.
To get to know them better,
we have asked them some
questions.
Maurizio Sanna,
Dakar Rally Rider
Maurizio Sanna
Dakar Rally Rider
Maurizio Sanna was the "guide":
he is the one of the group who
knows better Sardinian off-road
tracks, because he has been
there to train countless times.
What emotions gives you offroad?
«Off-road gives me a lot of emotions, ranging from the incredible
feeling of total well-being to the
satisfaction of being able to overcome one's own limitations. Offroad
unleashes
adrenaline,
releases endorphins. It 's my passion».
In many years of competition,
what was your best race and
why?
«Undoubtedly the Dakar in 2004
for several reasons: first of all
because it is a difficult race from
the technical and physical point
of view and then because I was
able to finish it in the best way:
always alert and fit. Getting to
the Pink Lake is always an indescribable feeling but in that race
it was even more. Worthy to be
remembered as the best race».
Has there never been a really
hard time in which you regretted
having started that race?
«The really hard time was when I
had to overcome a dune that the
road book described with the
"consistency of water." The sand
was so thin that it constantly seemed to sink into a pool of water.
It took many hours and hard work
pushing and digging to get over
it. At that moment I was regretting I did that race and I wondered "who made me do this?" but
then the satisfaction to succeed
and reach the bivouac repaid me
for all the efforts».
32
What do you
like most of
the races in
the desert?
«The type of
soil, the landscape
and
especially the
real
magic
moments that
you live in
those extreme
conditions where you often are
lonely. In the desert, you must
have the ability to count always
on yourself and this puts you to
the test constantly».
As a kid did you have a favorite
rider?
«Roger De Coster, a strong cross
rider of the 70s. Fantastic guide
and great character».
You've got to know so many riders
who, like you,
have
chosen
the off-road: do
you think you
have all some
common characteristics?
«In my opinion
the main feature that unites
us - off-road riders - is definitely the great
passion for the
use of the bike
on particularly
inaccessible
lands and therefore the constant need to overcome one's
own limitations, feeling strong
emotions in the spirit of the competition».
After racing in Dakar you started
to deal with road-safety. Why?
«Because I think it is right to
make my experience in Dakar and
other races available for those
who want to start with the bike,
to train for a race or simply to
have fun».
What does Maurizio Sanna do
today?
«In addition to a business selling
motorcycles and related assistance with my brother, I run bu-
siness with my partner Gabriella
Fornaro (who is a passionate off
road rider, too). We deal with the
organization of off road motorcycle tours in Sardinia but also on
the sands of Tunisia and Morocco.
Guided tours with twins, off-road
and rally school with specific navigation and road book teaching,
since I am Level II Federal Instructor».
What bike do you have?
«A Yamaha WR 450F for "serious"
off-road and the Super Tenere
XTZ 1200 for soft off-road. And
then all the motorcycles of my latest 20 racing years!»
What are your future goals?
«As for the races, my next goal is
to participate in the next Dakar
in South America in 2016 but
above all to carry on in the best
way my project of off road tour,
training and school, both to make
available all my experience to
everybody and because it is what
I love doing the most ... riding
bikes and teaching it to others».
Virginijus Visockis, President of Lithuanian Federation
Virginijus Visockis
LMSF President
Virginijus Visockis is the President
of Lithuanian Federation, is riding motorcycles since he was 14
and he particularly keen on offroad.
Why off-road?
«Riding off-road now is the best
way to relax after hard works».
Did you ever race?
«When I was a child I was very
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
Alessandro Sambuco,
FIM Europe Secretary
General
agile and I wanted to realize myself, so I tried a lot of different
sports, like rowing and canoe,
horse riding, martial arts, swimming... But I was mostly attracted by machinery, so when I was
14 I subscribed to motorcycle
sport club and I had very good
coach, who prepared me for Lithuanian motocross championships and other races. When I was
17 I became Lithuanian champion
in youth class. And I was candidate to sport masters category».
What is your motorcycle at the
moment?
«Right now I don’t have a motorcycle, because I am installing the
first Technical Sports School in
Lithuania in which young motorcycle sportsman will be prepared:
last year I made
my personal investment and bought
17 different bikes minimoto, quads,
enduro and motocross - for children
and teenagers who
will start their first
trainings in the
new School. Besides, I'm dedicating
a lot of time and care to Lithuania Motorcycles Federation. My
own motorcycle will wait for me.
Right now if I want to ride I just
rent a bike».
How often do you ride?
«Right now I don’t have a lot of
time to ride, so it was amazing to
have wonderful time with my
friends in Sardinia. I will definitely come back over there!»
How important are motorcycles
in your life?
«Motorcycle sport is all my life, it
is my work and my hobbies combined. All my family loves this
sport, and I am very happy that
my wife is supporting me in this
road and is working with me in
Motorcycle Sports Federation,
where she is Secretary General.
After my career as motocross
rider carrier, in my life I had a
very short break from motorcycles when my son born. When he
was 3, I started training him and
one year later he started his first
races. With my son Regimantas,
we have been living 10 years in
competition
and
trainings
rhythm: he participated to Lithuanian and European Motocross
Championships where we reached
very high goals. Regimantas is
multiple Lithuanian champion.
Now, my main job is to establish
and create as many Sports Centres as possible, where young
people can start training and
start reaching their goals».
Is there anything you would like
to do by bike but you haven't
done yet?
«I think every rider's dream is
Dakar Rally. I'd like to take part
to this rally, too. But now I have
to finish to build the School for
young riders in Lithuania. After
that I will think about Dakar».
I suppose that being a motorcyclist is greatly helpful for the President of a Federation… What is
your feeling about it?
«I was elected as Lithuanian Motorcycle Federation president in
2008, so this is the second term I
am running this office, and I am
happy that Lithuanian Motorcycle
Sport representatives trust me
From the left, Virginious Visockis, Alessandro Sambuco and Maurizio Sanna
and we can create motorcycle history together. In my opinion, understanding the specifics of this
sport is much simpler for people
who spend a lot of time in this
sport. I am living and breathing
with sport and I love it».
What about motorcycling in Lithuania? What is the trend?
«Right now we are developing
the disciplines of Motocross, Supermoto, Vintage Motocross, Enduro, Cross Country, Road Racing,
Scooters,
Motoball, Mototourism. We are trying to develop
Trial, too. The most recent project in Lithuania is “Arenacross
Baltic Cup” competition, which
we started to develop in 2014,
and it was very good: spectators
34
loved watching motocross battles
in arena.
«The biggest problem is the lack
of young riders, and this is why
we are creating the Technical
Sports School in Lithuania.
«I believe that we will successfully reach the goal of growing
up new generation of riders. We
have a bad situation with superbikes track, too, because the infrastructure is old and needs
investment.
«In my opinion, my goal is to
unite people who shares the
same ideas of development and
who loves this sports. We can
reach the best results only with
teamwork».
Alessandro Sambuco,
FIM Europe Secretary
General
Which was your first motorcycle?
«Speaking of off-road my first
motorcycle was a 50cc motocross
Benelli bought in 1974 in Rome in
store Luciano Conti, former
Champion of Motocross and Road
Racing».
Why did you start off-road?
«I’ve always had a passion for
off-road and from the age of 14 I
tried to do it with what was available, that is bicycles and mopeds. Of course it was not "the"
true off-road but rather the risk
of getting hurt jumping and throwing myself down steep descents
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
and climbs or venturing on daring
climbs with means which wew
definitely not suitable .
But the passion is independent from everything. The real stroke
of lightning was much
later, in 1982, when I
started coaching the
son of Luciano Conti,
Marco who raced in motocross and enduro.
When I saw him doing
things which to me seemed incredible, above
all in enduro, I was curious to see if everything was feasible or
belonged to a selected
range of “elected” riders. It was so that in
1983, at age 24 - late
in life to start a sports
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
career - I applied for my first license with the Motoclub Roma
and started to ride. Well I discovered I could do those ‘incredible’ things but doing them as true
champions was different! Until
1991 I raced both in and Enduro
in Motorally».
What are your best souvenirs of
those years?
«In the enduro events I discovered such lovely places, which
have a special place in my heart
and in one of these I even decided to live.
«But the best thing that Enduro
has given me is the challenge to
yourself, the desire to improve
yourself always, referring only to
your resources».
We know that you use your motorcycle rarely because of your
job, but if you had the time
where would you like to go?
«After organizing schools Motorally Schools in Sardinia for five
years I must say that in my imagination the off-road is there. In
this occasion, in Sardinia I was
back to Enduro after about 20
years. I hope to soon have some
more opportunities to enjoy nature, while respecting it, and the
two wheels on the trails».
How important are motorcycles
in your life?
«I am a lucky man: I’ve been on
a motorcycle since I was 12. Up
to now it’s my passion, my sport
and my job. Recently in FIM Europe I’ve been planning a work
program dedicated to over 60 riders, "extending the riding age",
to give them all the tools and
knowledge that is possible, to
continue ride a bike for many
years without problems. I am
preparing my future, always ain
on two wheels!»
Would you buy again an off road
motorcycle?
«Certainly, if I ever see the opportunity to practice off-road
with some regularity».
What do you think of the real war
against enduro riders through
steel cables positioned in the off
road trails just at the neck
height? Is there anything off road
riders can do to be tolerated
blackberries?
«They have to do what all citizens and all car-drivers have to
do: be civil and respectful of the
rules and the environment. Unfortunately, even among us, as in
every civil societies, there are
uncivilized people. So as thieves
exist but not everybody is a thief,
the same goes for us. But in any
case nobody is allowed to take
the law into one’s own hands ».
Do you think electric enduro motorcycles might help to raise tolerance?
«It can help but I do not think
that it will solve the problem».
I suppose that being a motorcyclist is greatly helpful for the Secretary general of a Continental
Federation. What is your feeling
about it?
«Being a biker certainly helps me
to understand better the world in
which I work, but above all it allows me to do everything with a
precious value added: passion!»
(FLG)
SPORT­NEWS
Eu ropea n Vi ntage Endu ra nce Cha mpionship
The start i n Paul Ricard
After a 2014 season full of twists,
the riders of the European Classic
Series met again at the track of
Paul Ricard in Castellet for the
opening round of the 2015 season. After the qualification sessions we found the title holders,
the Belgian riders Richard Hubin
and Grégory Fastré in pole postion, followed by the English
Team Sweatshop Phase One, with
Hugh Brasher, Stéphane Mertens
and Ian Simpson and the Italians
Giorgio Cantalupo and Cristiano
Ascanio from team Taurus.
When the French flag announced
the start of the four-hour race,
team Taurus signed for the holeshot and took the lead after the
first lap, staying in that position
for 10 laps. Unfortunately, the
young Italian rider was too eager,
causing the GSX 1100 R to blow
up its engine and leaving the
36
team with no other option than
to abandon in the 24th lap. The
same path was set out for the Kawasaki number 2 from Team
Hampe, with Christian Haquin,
Nicolas De Dieuleveult and Bruno
Langlois. The Suzuki of Team
Monex Europe (Nick Edgeley and
Kasey Wyatt) wasn't even able to
leave the stands due to mechanical troubles.
Team 85 Classic had to face some
real misfortune: a crash in the
first laps caused the Kawasaki
rider to return to the box to repair the machine and then he still
had to abandon after 42 laps. The
BSA Rob North P&M from Team
Hercberg Carthago (Andreas Kalmar, George Hogton-Rusling and
Gary Thwaites) also had some
mechanical issues which made
the rider return to the box via the
safety lane after which they also
had to abandon. While most of
the riders returned to their boxes
after 45 minutes for the mandatory pit stop, some teams forgot
about this rule and got a 30 seconds Stop & Go penalty, for instance the German team TT
Racing Black Forest (Bruno Arzner
and Stefan Merkens), who were
at that time in the top three.
In the front, the European champions had some clutch troubles
with their Suzuki Morena and shared the leadership with the Moto
Guzzi from Team Moto Bel’ (Christophe Charles-Artigues and Laurent Sleurs) and Team Sweatshop
Phase One.
As for the Classic 1000, the Kawasaki Segoni Special from the Italian team Scuderia Officine
Toscane (Emiliano Bellucci and
Oreste Zaccarelli), which started
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
SPORT­NEWS
at the end of the start grid, climbed its way up to the 8th position
after 4 laps when mechanical
troubles occurred and they were
forced back to the 22th position.
They then made a beautiful comeback and finished 8th in the general ranking, followed by the AML
Racing Team from Pierre d’Imbleval and Richard Weber and the
German team Autohaus Sellmann
with Erich Sellmann, Gerhard Ludwig and Sebastian Basse. In the
750 TT category, the Germans of
the Team Capelli Belli (Eckhard
Struck, Manfred Sieg and Robert
Bohmhauer) finished 23rd in the
general ranking as the only representatives in their class with their
Ducati Verlicchi TT1.
In the top 5 we saw Armor Classic
Bike (Yannick Le Gaudu and Yannick Mizera) and Roadrunner Team
(Henk van der Mark and Dirk
FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
Brand) ride a very regular race finishing respectively 3rd and 4th in
the general ranking. The 5th place
was for the Swiss riders of the Bolliger Classic Endurance Team
(Marcel Kellenberger and Andy
Stierli) after a very nice battle
with the Italians of Braghi Corse
(Duilio Damiani and Giancarlo
Rossi), who made a mistake in the
last fifteen minutes of the race.
Also note the very nice comeback
of Segale Classic (Walo Bertschinger and Dario Tosolini), who started in the 21st position but
climbed its way up to a 6th place
and the Belgian team Real Dholda
Friends (Gian Mertens and Willy de
Neef) who started last, got a Stop
& Go, and still finished 12th. The
same goes for RPM 83 –GWCRT –
Sun Moto who almost got in the
top 10. The only female team (Patricia Audebert and Karine Sliz),
finished 14th in the general ranking.
After this first successful round, the
teams and riders look forward to
meet again at the track of Spa-Francorchamps on July 3rd, 4th and 5th.
General ranking
1. Team Force; 2. Sweatshop Phase
One; 3. Armor Classic Bike; 4. Roadrunner Team; 5. Bolliger Classic Endurance; 6. Team Segale Classic; 7.
Neate Racing; 8. Scuderia Officine Toscane (Classic 1000); 9.Red Fox Ride
4 Fun; 10. Moto Bel'; 11. GWCRT RPM 83 - Sun Moto; 12. Real Dholda
Friends; 13. Team Classic Suzuki; 14.
RPM 83 - GWCRT; 15. Baloo Racing
Team; 16. AML Racing; 17. Projekt 34;
18. Poweracing - Japauto Club; 19. CB
750 Club; 20. Autohaus Sellmann
(Classic 1000); 21. Team SCERT; 22.
Team Vision Plus; 23. Capelli Belli;
24. DD Moto Team; 25. Nocki
Team; 26. Racer Garage; 27. EosNeate Racing 2.
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FIM Europe Mag 2/2015
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