European team wins the 1st FIM Intercontinental Games

The Intercontinental Games was held for the first time in Jerez and there was a great show on the track, some unknowns and a big difference in level, but in any case a good opportunity for the young drivers taking part. Among the Spanish players, Gonzalo Sánchez was the only one to join the European team in the first edition, which was won by the team from the Old Continent after Maria Herrera’s defeat.

This is not the first time a national competition has been held, but in this format. If you don’t take into account off-road competitions like ISDE, MX and Trial of Nations, you have to go all the way back to the 70s when the Transatlantic Trophy was held in England.

The competition between Americans and Brits featured some of the best drivers from each continent, including Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene, Randy Mamola, Dave Aldana and Freddie Spencer. However, only the British and Americans participated with different mechanics. In other words, it has very little to do with this first single brand edition (Yamaha) of the FIM Intercontinental Game.

In Jerez, 24 drivers took part in each category, bringing the total to 48 participants from 19 countries.. a A format that will be expanded in the future to incorporate other specialties such as MX And it is scheduled to be held every two years with different scenarios.

Team testing across 6 continents: Africa, North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Oceaniathere are four pilots in each of the following two categories: Supersport 300 and Supersport.

Each team of four drivers has one woman, and while another member may have international testing experience, the other two have no experience. An exotic combination.

The only Spanish rider selected for the 300 class was Gonzalo Sánchez. ESBK’s SSP 300 champion and Yamaha’s R3 bLU cRU Cup Super Finale winner..

All riders competed in the following categories on the same bike, the Yamaha R-3. SSP300 More electronics and tire restrictions dunlopand Yamaha R-7just like the one for the Women’s World Cup, super sportseven Dunlop.

Scoring is set at 24 points for the winner, 23 points for second place, 22 points for third place, and so on until 15th place is awarded 10 points.

Although motorcycles are an individual sport, the fact that a rider would be lost in an accident was decisive in a competition where the community is more important.

competition

After Mahendra won the first race and Juarez finished 9th, the Asians started to make a difference in the SSP 300, but the Europeans with Alonso in 2nd and Di Perso (5th) were ahead of the Asians. He finished in second place, with a 5-point difference.

After the first Supersport race, Asia became interim leaders, 10 points ahead of Europe and 29 points ahead of Oceania.

As of the end of the third race of the day, the second race of the SSP 300, Latin American team Santa Maria had won and Sanchez was second, giving Europe the interim lead with an 18-point lead over Asia.

The fourth and final race remaining, the second race in the Supersport category, was held on Yamaha R-7s.

Three laps after the start, it started raining and the race was canceled.

A tire change, a new 10-lap race on a gradually drying track, and Elia Bartolini’s victory. With De La Vega in 9th place and Folger in 10th place, Europe won the first edition of the Intercontinental Games with a 14-point lead over Asia.

Main characters in contact

After training in the SSP 300 on Friday and Saturday, Spaniard Gonzalo Sánchez (Europe) set the fastest time ahead of Archie McDonald and Cameron Swain from the Oceania team. MacDonald has FIM Superstock experience and reigning SSP 300 World Champion Mahendra of Indonesia finished sixth.

In the top category, Dino Iozzo (Africa), a South African with an Italian father and resident in Barcelona, ​​has many difficulties progressing towards his goals in Moto2, but he is ahead of Umberto Mayer Neto (Africa). Latin America) and Cellar (Africa).

Elia Bartolini qualified in 4th place and ended up being the driving force behind the European victory. He has experience in the SSP 300 World Cup and European Supersport, finishing the season this year with a third place finish in the FIM Superstock World Cup Endurance Race.

racing

In the first SSP 300 race, McDoland, Mahendra, Mononyane and Sanchez stood out from the start.

In the middle of the race, on lap 7 out of a total of 14 cars, Sanchez, Mononyane, Mahendra, Alonso, Di Perso and Toth stood out, but Mononyane was hit by a trough on his bike.

Failure to complete two penalty laps (long laps) will ultimately result in a black flag for exclusion for not complying with the penalty…

Sanchez suffered a fall on the exit of Turn 7, and with two to go, Mahendra used his experience to take the lead, several tenths of a second clear of the pack, under threat from McDonald, Alonso and Di Perso.

On the final lap, Mahendra withstood the attack from Alonso and then McDonald in a group of seven with a three-second difference.

The first woman was Italian Josephine Bruno.

super sports

The race was shortened by two laps due to a fall by South African Serra.

The race continued with a beautiful battle between Mayer Neto of Brazil, Iozzo of South Africa, and Bartolini of Italy, with a gap of about 3 seconds from the pack.

European options temporarily disappeared when Forgay was eliminated along with Gaolekwe in the first round.

Meyer took the lead in the second run, separating himself from Iozzo, Bartolini and Serra, leaving the rest almost two seconds behind.

Midway through the race, Mayer, Iozzo and Bartolini were still in close contact, and after the red flag, they finished more than three seconds ahead of Frenchman Dela Vega and more than four seconds behind third-placed Jones.

Thus, with two races remaining, one in each category, Asia still leads the team standings, and the loss of a driver to a crash will undoubtedly penalize his team. was obvious.

2nd race

Time-wise, the second race of the SSP 300 was the third race of the day.

World champions Mahedra (Asia), Santamaria (Latin America) and the only representative who had hoped to finish on the podium after a crash in the first race that resulted in a huge penalty for the European team. It was a really exciting race with good competition between Sanchez players. .

Mahedra beat Santamaria by one-thousandth of a second at the same goal line.

However, due to sanctions against the world champion for his irresponsible driving during the collision with Santamaria, he fell two places, leaving Manuel Santamaria the winner, Sanchez second, and Mahendra rounding out the podium.

Youth and inexperience affected Paz (South America) negatively, and Paz ignored orders (sanctions) from the racing directorate, ending in a black flag and exclusion.

And so we arrive at the final and decisive race of this Intercontinental Games, with Europe in the lead and 18 points ahead of Asia. The team was rewarded by completing the race.

final race

African Iozzo, Bartolini (Europe) and Brazilian Mayer led the way, followed by a compact group of nine drivers.

On the third lap, Iozzo took the lead, followed by Jones (Oceania) and Mayer, but before the end of this third lap, rain began to fall in the second sector, resulting in a red flag.

The rain had stopped and tires were changed on the course, which was gradually drying out. Even though the track was dry for the first 10 laps of the race, the Dunlop wet tires would have held up well. Asian team Wongthananon, Kasma and Iozzo took the lead. The Europeans were far away, Folger initially taking 10th place midway through the race, but Mayer crashed in second place. Bartolini turned around and took the lead as the track began to dry, putting the Europeans in the lead with four laps remaining.

In the long run, there is no doubt that Bartolini, who won the race, will be the main player, but the performances of Dela Vega and Folger, who finished in the top 10, also brought victory to the European team.

In the individual category, Bartolini and Maheda were clear winners. For the women, Mallory Dobbs won the SuperSport and Italian Josephine Bruno won the SSP 300.