The second round of the Supermoto World Championships takes a new turn this weekend with a Friday - Saturday program in the Italian city of Turin - including a night race - and KTM factory rider Bernd Hiemer is raring to try his skills. Organizers have transformed the Oval Lingotto, Turin's 2006 Winter Olympic Games venue, into a Supermoto arena and the German rider anticipates a great atmosphere for riders and crowd. The oval is just 500 meters away from the city centre, which should ensure a great attendance for this spectacular and crowd-pleasing event.
"We have had night races in the German Championships but this is the first time they've been tried for the world championships," Hiemer said. "It should be a great atmosphere, especially for the spectators. If the lighting is good it won't be a problem but it might be a bit tricky if it rains."
Indeed the weather could well be an issue for the second round and if riders are faced with a wet track it will add to their difficulties, Hiemer said. "We will lose grip and it will be more difficult to see."
The circuit will be more than 1200 meters long, including 300 meters of offroad section that will be a key factor in shaping the result. The average width of the course will be eight meters.
Hiemer has been training hard at home in Germany and in Italy since the first round one month ago in Castelletto, also in Italy. There he finished with a slightly disappointing 7-18 result in the two races for an overall seventh place. While riders like Thierry van den Bosch and Adrien and Thomas Chareyre flexed their muscles and picked up the podium places for round one, Hiemer is undeterred. He is well recognized in the sport as a talent to be reckoned with and it's early days yet.
"I realised that I needed to improve in the offroad section so I have been concentrating my training on that in between the races," the "Asphalt Surfer" said on the eve of the race activities. "I expect to do much better this time round. My bike is good and so am I so there is nothing to stop me having a very good result."
Hiemer is also fit and healthy and raring to go into the next round. Despite his slow start in round one, the defending world champion has plenty of time to gain ground and plans to lay down the foundation for the defence of his title this weekend in Italy.
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