KTM's Supermoto factory rider, Bernd Hiemer was in peak form last weekend to demoralise some of his toughest rivals and to snatch the Italian title in the S1 class for the 2007 season.
Winning the Italian title is a great confidence booster for the German rider going into the final world championship event this weekend in Athens, Greece. While the first three championship places seem to be secured, the injury of fourth placed Jerome Giraudo now puts Hiemer in the box seat to move up the standings ladder. Hiemer is lying fourth but has strong competition from Kevin Berthome who is only one point behind him in the championship standings.
Reflecting on a great weekend in Italy, Hiemer said he could already feel a positive rush on Saturday when in training be managed to put more than 0.5 seconds between himself and arch rival Thierry Van Den Bosch. Testing and training from the previous week had obviously paid off.
Bernd got away well in both the first and the second races. The tussle between him and Van Den Bosch came to a head in the second race when just before the end of the race the Frenchman mounted a serious attack with the clear intention of bumping him out of contention. He touched the rear wheel of Bernd's KTM machine but came unstuck himself in the process, leaving the way clear for KTM's "Asphalt Surfer" to clinch victory in the race and to take home the Italian Championship title.
Bernd therefore goes to the World Championship finale at the Megara circuit in Greece with the desire to complete the season in style. "I hope that we will be able to make some good points this coming weekend at the world championship in Greece," he said.
