After the SuperTest in the late afternoon on Friday, the numerous starters gathered in Sicily both from all over Italy and from other European countries made their way through the landscapes that frame the city of Caltanissetta with two very specific purposes: healthy fun and, above all, the coveted victory.
Gas, roar of engines, lots of competitive spirit, a beautiful sun and an enormous and warm participation of the local public, nothing was missing in this highly anticipated third round of the incredible national championship which bears the name of Assoluti d’Italia 24MX. The Moto Club Fuorigiri created the 46 km figure-eight route, together with the three special tests that the riders faced for four laps: the Red Moto Cross Test, a long 5 and a half minute track divided into flat sections and on a hill; then followed by the Enduro Test, where the starters had to deal with more clayey and dusty terrain for almost nine minutes; and the Extreme Test to close, very technical and dominated by rocky terrain, ups and downs and a viewpoint over the surrounding landscapes and vegetation.
Today was a heart-pounding first day, full of totally unpredictable twists and turns. Competing for the title of fastest rider of the day is the protagonist trio of the Cavaglià stage: Steve Holcombe (Honda – HONDA RACING RED MOTO ENDURO TEAM), Andrea Verona (Gas Gas – GAS GAS FACTORY RACING) and Nathan Watson (Beta – TEAM BETA FACTORY).
In the midst of this threesome, Brad Freeman (Beta – TEAM BETA FACTORY) appears to give them a hard time, trying to redeem himself from the retirement of the previous stage and yesterday’s prologue in second position. 8.30 am, departure. Verona is already in first position after the first special test but here comes Freeman who, with the first Extreme Test, takes the lead. Verona attacks again, but has to deal with the other two English drivers. Meanwhile, Freeman defends his conquest tooth and nail. The battle for the second and third laps lasts the entire race, a continuous back-and-forth between the riders who create a sensational spectacle. Last lap: Freeman is still in the lead followed by Holcombe, Verona and Watson. The latter makes a decisive move in the Enduro Test and dives back into second position while the Italian rider is overtaken once again by Holcombe, who leaves him no breathing room. Last special test, here everything is decided. Freeman finally finishes with the gold in hand, followed by Watson, too far away for a further turn in his favor. The challenge between Verona and Holcombe ends in favor of the Gas Gas driver, who thus conquers the third step of the podium for the overall race.
The first half of the race was quite competitive also for the 125 class riders: Manuel Verzeroli (KTM – TEAM KTM PRO RACING SPORT) immediately launched an attack on Alberto Elgari (TM – COSTA LIGURE TM YOUTH TEAM), first in the category in the prologue of the on Friday, but the TM driver manages to distance himself with the following test, defending the first position. Meanwhile, Verzeroli relegates and Pietro Scardina (Fantic – FANTIC RACING JUNIOR ENDURO TEAM SPECIA) and Luca Piersigilli (Beta – BETA JUNIOR TEAM ENTROPHY MOTOR BIKE) rise to second and third position respectively. Verzeroli goes on the attack again, returning to the top 3 against Piersigilli, but here comes Luca Colorio (Husqvarna – HUSQVARNA JET ZANARDO) who out of nowhere gets the advantage over the KTM rider. The positions remain unchanged until the end: Alberto Elgari triumphs, followed by Pietro Scardina and Luca Colorio.
Alberto Elgari maintains his lead in the championship. Behind him are Manuel Verzeroli and Luca Colorio who, in tomorrow’s test, will battle for second place.
The day’s ranking of the 250 2T is clear: Lorenzo Macoritto (TM – TM BOANO FACTORY TEAM) immediately takes position while, behind him, Davide Mei (Beta – BETA JUNIOR TEAM ENTROPHY MOTOR BIKE) and Gian Luca Martini follow him distantly. (Gas Gas – MC SEBINO-CAMUNO). The class seems to remain stable, but the Gas Gas driver silently takes advantage of the opportunity and pressures Mei, who is relegated. Day one therefore ends with Macoritto at the top of the podium, Martini on the middle step and Mei finishing.
Lorenzo Macoritto is still in the lead in the championship. Second and third place will be decided tomorrow between Davide Mei and Maurizio Micheluz (Husqvarna – GS FIAMME ORO MILANO), both with 28 points.
The 300 class is also very stable: Matteo Cavallo (TM – GS FIAMME ORO MILANO), in first position, immediately acquires a clear advantage over the other riders. An initial duel between Giulio Nava (KTM – TEAM KTM PRO RACING SPORT) and Morgan Leasiardo (Sherco – HUSQVARNA JET ZANARDO) ends with the overtaking in favor of the latter. From here all three keep their distance from each other until the end of the race.
Matteo Cavallo leads the championship standings ahead of Lesiardo Morgan, second place, and Giulio Nava, who moved into third position.
The situation is very different in the 250 4T, where unpredictability reigns supreme. First Cross Test, Jacopo Traini (Husqvarna) is in the lead, Rudy Moroni (Honda) is behind him: 13 tenths of a second separate them. With the next test, Thomas Oldrati (Honda – GS FIAMME ORO MILANO) dives into first place, Moroni follows him and Traini relegates to fourth. The Husqvarna rider grits his teeth and gets back into the top 3: first in the rear, then in second place, but Oldrati seems elusive. Davide Soreca (Kawasaki – MGR KAWASAKY), who in the meantime has been battling for second position again with Traini, snatches the podium away from Oldrati with an exceptional time who is constantly trying to catch up. The day ends with Soreca’s gold ahead of Oldrati and Moroni.
Davide Soreca and Thomas Oldrati are currently competing on equal points for first place on the class podium in the championship. Rudy Moroni to follow.
Andrea Verona (Gas Gas – GAS GAS FACTORY RACING) also dominates the 450 class in this third heat. Behind him finished Samuele Bernardini (Honda – HONDA RACING RED MOTO ENDURO TEAM) and Matteo Pavoni (Husqvarna – HUSQVARNA JET ZANARDO), too distant from each other for any type of challenge.
The championship standings are the same, with Andrea Verona (40) ahead of Samuele Bernardini (34) and Matteo Pavoni (30).
Junior class very sweaty and with great twists that lasted until the final moments. Kevin Cristino (Fantic – FANTIC FACTORY RACING ENDURO) takes home the prologue, but with the first Cross Test Manolo Morettini (Honda – HONDA RACING RED MOTO ENDURO TEAM) takes the lead. Cristino, looking for victory, isn’t up for it and the duel starts between the two. We are halfway through the race, Cristino returns to the top of the standings and distances himself from the other riders in the race; Morettini, however, is forced to retire and the focus shifts to the battle between Enrico Rinaldi (Gas Gas – GTG MOTOGAMMA LUNIGIANA TEAM) and Riccardo Fabris (Husqvarna – OSELLINI MOTO) for second place. In the end it was Rinaldi who took home the silver, also redeeming himself from his retirement in the first stage. The bronze therefore goes to Fabris.
Kevin Cristino leads the standings with 40 points. Behind him are Riccardo Fabris, who moved into second position, and Vittorio Bellucci (Beta – BETA JUNIOR TEAM ENTROPHY MOTOR BIKE) in third.
The protagonists of the Foreigners class were the three English riders who battled for the overall race: Steve Holcombe (Honda – HONDA RACING RED MOTO ENDURO TEAM), also thanks to the victory in the prologue, immediately started off on the right foot but Brad Freeman ( Beta – TEAM BETA FACTORY) does not want to settle for second place and starts attacking the Honda rider: he first takes the lead in the Enduro Test on the first lap, then tries to distance himself as much as possible with the excellent time in the following test. Holcombe tries to recover but has to deal with Nathan Watson (Beta – TEAM BETA FACTORY) who manages to turn the tables in his favor in the third lap: the two begin to alternate the silver medal, no one wants to give up their place to the other. The final blow comes in the final stages, where Watson takes the reins of the situation and defeats Holcombe behind him but the gap with his teammate, Freeman, is now unbridgeable with only one special stage left. The race therefore ends with Freeman on top of the podium, followed by Watson and Holcombe.
Steve Holcombe maintains his championship lead with 35 points, but behind him is Nathan Watson, just one point behind him. Albin Wilmer Kar Norrbin (Fantic – FANTIC FACTORY RACING ENDURO) follows them with 24 points.
As for the Italian Cup classes:
A Cadetti dominated by the duel between Damiano Cannata (Sherco) and Sunny Marconato (Sherco), resolved in favor of the second halfway through the race. Meanwhile Gabriele Faganel (KTM) makes his way among the riders and places himself behind the two duelists, without being affected. In the end Sunny Marconato takes home first place and maintains first place in the championship. Behind him are Damiano Cannata, second place in the championship, and Gabriele Faganel. Third place in the championship, however, is occupied by Lorenzo Nicolò Moretti (Gas Gas) and Ludovico Bugatti (Fantic).
The Women’s classification is much clearer, with Francesca Nocera (Honda – GS FIAMME ORO MILANO) also triumphing in this race and consequently maintaining her leadership in the championship. Followed by Sara Traini (Beta) and Asia Volpi (Beta – MC SEBINO-CAMUNO), who occupy the same positions in the championship.
Elia Zucconi (Husqvarna) takes the victory in the Junior class well behind Francesco Giusti (Beta) and Mattia Rabito (Sherco) who challenged each other in the first half of the race for second position. In the end the silver goes to Giusti while Rabito takes home the bronze. Tomorrow’s match will decide who between Elia Zucconi and Francesco Giusti will take the lead in the championship. In third place for the moment Lorenzo Cometta (Honda).
The twist in the Major came from Paolo Demichelis (Beta) who, after a first half of the race in third place, silently snatched the victory from Roberto Popolo (KTM), who was relegated to the second step of the podium. Bronze for Mirko Colombo (KTM). At the moment Demichelis is at the top of the championship podium, followed by Mirko Colombo and Antonello Meli (Honda).
The situation is not dissimilar in the Veteran: Luigi Carmelo Puglisi (Gas Gas) battles for first place with Andrea Traini (Beta) in the first two laps but, at the end of the second, it is the latter who takes the lead with a decisive thrust. Puglisi, however, does not give up and tries to stay behind him until the third Enduro Test, after which he definitively returns to the throne. Traini finishes in second position ahead of Andrea Fesani (Gas Gas) who, in the championship, will have to compete for first place with Edoardo Ferrari (Beta – MC SEBINO-CAMUNO), also in the lead with 30 points. Third place in the championship currently occupied by Traini.
Triumphing in the Senior class is Antonino Arcuri (Husqvarna) who fully defends himself from the attacks of Alessandro Radice (KTM) and Giorgio Junior I Pizzone (KTM), second and third place of the day respectively. Alessandro Radice maintains first position in the championship ahead of Giorgio Junior I Pizzone and Marco Menichini (Husqvarna), just one point behind the second.
Dominating the scene in the FMI 2 Stroke Cup is Gabriele Melchiorri (TM) with the fastest time in the category in each special stage. Behind him were Matteo Ferrari (Beta – MC SEBINO-CAMUNO) and Manuel Savi (Beta – BETA JUNIOR TEAM ENTROPHY MOTOR BIKE).
With the second consecutive victory, Melchiorri is currently at the top of the championship standings. Behind him Matteo Ferrari and Davide Accomo (Beta), in second and third place respectively.
The 4T class was also clear with the protagonist Alessio Bigiarini (Husqvarna) triumphant in first position ahead of Alessio Merelli (Honda) and Edoardo Dovetta (KTM).
Alessio Merelli is currently still ahead with 37 points over Alessio Bigiarini, 33 points. Behind him is Edoardo Dovetta with 32 points.
As for the teams, Gaerne made up of Luca Colorio, Lorenzo Marcoritto, Davide Soreca and Andrea Verona triumphed with 60 points. Behind, the Lake Iseo riders appear with 54 points: Samuele Bernardini, Kevin Cristino, Morgan Lesiardo and Rudy Moroni. Closing the podium is GS Fiamme Oro Milano with Thomas Oldrati, Maurizio Micheluz and Matteo Cavallo.
Photo news credit: OffRadProRacing
