FAENZA (ITALY), 5th July 2009 – Pierre Alexandre Renet (Suzuki Bodo Schmidt) took the Italian victory in Faenza in front of two Husqvarna riders, home favourite Alex Salvini and Christophe Martin (both Husqvarna Tecno B)
The weekend in Faenza was very hot. Everybody was expecting first place of Italian rider Alex Salvini, but French Pierre Alexandre Renet conquered his second victory this season. First race was a real drama. The begining was actually nothing special. Julien Vanni (Honda, Team MB) was riding in front of Honda rider Antti Pyrhonen (Finland) and Christophe Martin (Husqvarna, France). Alex Salvini was not in the top ten.
The race started to be more interesting after first ten minutes, when Vanni crashed and his Honda stopped. Many riders passed him and he lost too much time to return on the top. As this would not be enough, Vanni crased one more time when the race was almost over, so he lost some more positions and finished only eighteenth. Renet was riding smooth, he was making progress through the first half of the race and at the end he was the winner.
Christophe Martin started fast. He was riding without fail and finished second. Salvini was nervous because he had a bad start, but progressed to the third place.
In the second race home spectators finally saw the Italian win. Antti Pyrhonen took the holeshot, that was lasting only two laps. Matevz Irt (Honda, Slovenia) passed him and took the big advantage of others. Salvini and Renet were very fast. They progressed in every lap. It was only a question of time, when Salvini will come on the top. Renet was behind him and in last minutes they both passed Irt. Salvini won, Renet was second, Irt finished third. Also the second race was not the race of Vanni, who finished fifth.
The big winner of the Italian event was Pierre Alexandre Renet, who won for two points in front of home rider Alex Salvini. Renet was testing bike’s settings during the free weekend and obviously the work of his team Bodo Schmidt was well done. Christophe Martin was third. Matevz Irt was fourth and Antti Pyrhonen finished top five. Although Salvini did not win, the Sunday was very successful for Italian team Husqvarna Tecno B. Both their riders Salvini and Martin finished on podium and made the biggest team success this year.
The MX3 World Championsip top five Classification is still the same, but there are some interesting changes in points. Julien Vanni is a holder of the red plate. His advantage before this event was big, but because of his mistakes in Faenza, Alex Salvini is now sixteen points behind. Pierre Alexandre Renet is third. He is only six points from Salvini.
Ninth event for the FIM MX3 World Championship will be next weekend in Orehova vas, Slovenia.
RIDER’S COMMENTS
1st – PIERRE ALEXANDRE RENET (FRANCE): »I had problems with both starts and I was working hard for this result. I tried to ride smooth so that I did not loose too much of energy in this hot weather conditions. I wished to win also the second race but Alex Salvini was too fast. He also knows the track very well.«
2nd – ALEX SALVINI (ITALY): »This was my home race and I am happy to get the podium. The only pity is that I did not win here in Faenza. Yesterday I made the first time in the Qualifying Practice. Today my first start was not really fast and I was nervous because of that. There are very good conditions in our team, many fans came to support me so it was really nice to compete this weekend. Next event will be in Slovenia, where I got my first MX3 win last year and I am looking forward for it.«
3rd – CHRISTOPHE MARTIN (FRANCE): »Finally I made two good races and I took my first podium this year. I finished second and fourth. Now I have bigger motivation for the rest of the season. When I was riding fourth in the second race, I tried to follow riders in front of me. I am happy for this podium and I hope this is the begining of better results.«
RESULTS
First Race Top ten: 1. Pierre Alexandre Renet, Suzuki (France), 2. Christophe Martin, Husqvarna (France), 3. Alex Salvini, Husqvarna (Italy), 4. Antti Pyrhonen, Honda (Finland), 5. Alvaro Lozano, Yamaha (Spain), 6. Joacquim Rodrigues, Aprilia (Portugal), 7. Gregory Wicht, Honda (Switzerland), 8. Matevz Irt, Honda (Slovenia), 9. Nicolai Marcher Hansen, Suzuki (Denmark), 10. Michal Kadlecek, TM (Czech Republic)
Second Race Top ten: 1. Alex Salvini, Husqvarna (Italy), 2. Pierre Alexandre Renet, Suzuki (France), 3. Matevz Irt, Honda (Slovenia), 4. Christophe Martin, Husqvarna (France), 5. Julien Vanni, Honda (France), 6. Antti Pyrhonen, Honda (Finland), 7. Alvaro Lozano, Yamaha (Spain), 8. Joacquim Rodrigues, Aprilia (Portugal), 9. Saso Kragelj, Yamaha (Slovenia), 10. Nicolai Marcher Hansen, Suzuki (Denmark)
Overall: 1. Pierre Alexandre Renet, Suzuki (France), 2. Alex Salvini, Husqvarna (Italy), 3. Christophe Martin, Husqvarna (France), 4. Matevz Irt, Honda (Slovenia), 5. Antti Pyrhonen, Honda (Finland), 6. Alvaro Lozano, Yamaha (Spain), 7. Joacquim Rodrigues, Aprilia (Portugal), 8. Nicolai Marcher Hansen, Suzuki (Denmark), 9. Saso Kragelj, Yamaha (Slovenia), 10. Julien Vanni, Honda (France)