Winstanley splashes Portugal surprise

No doubts about it, the 2011 SuperMoto Grand Prix of Portugal will be well remembered as one of the most thrilling and exciting races in the 2011 campaign. The key player of the 5th seasonal appointment with the FIM SuperMoto World Championship was Matthew Winstanley, the strongest and most surprising racer of the Portuguese GP who opened up the gap enough to relegate Thomas and Adrien Chareyre in 2nd and 3rd position.

This Sunday was a really special day for SHR Racing Matthew Winstanley, who fought his way from the start till the end of the races seeking his well deserved first GP victory. The Grand Prix classification saw the English racer surrounded by the Chareyre family with Thomas occupying the runner up spot at the end of the day and Adrien in 3rd position.

The incredible riding style of the Englishman was absolutely astonishing as he showed such a perfect confidence while facing all the 3 races despite there were not too many reference points being the first time the SuperMoto stars played in this track, so that is why even rivals were stopping to stare at the SHR Racing talent putting in an utterly amazing performance.

In the Opening heat of the GP Fast Wheels ASD Adrien Chareyre lead the way starting from the Superpole. The Frenchman was initially chased by Husqvarna Factory Mauno Hermunen but as the Finnish crashed Matthew Winstanley took his place and opened up the gas. Starting from the 5th lap the layout settled with Adrien Chareyre leader of the pack, Thomas 2nd and Matthew Winstanley completing the top three. The strong trio won Race 1 in the order and with this solid result SHR Racing Winstanley started thinking that he could have truly battled it out for the Portuguese GP title.

Superiders were thrilled for moto number two with Adrien and Thomas Chareyre trying to take possession of the lead. The strong will of the two brothers damaged their start as they got a contact and Fast Wheels ASD French star ran wide obliged to start again from the back of the group. TM Factory Racing French king Thomas Chareyre faced an unhappy moment too crashing, but immediately looked forward his recovery. While the French duo was studying a strategy to reach the front riders, SHR Racing Matthew Winstanley was enjoying Race 2 putting in a brilliant performance. The English challenger was the first to take the chequered flag and finished in front of HM Honda Racing Ivan Lazzarini and TDS Faor Uros Nastran, 2nd and 3rd in the intermediate session.

Race 3 had a completely French taste but different starts for the Chareyre duo. TM Factory Racing Thomas Chareyre perfectly knew there was no time to waste so did not think twice before riding his bike from the 5th place of the starting grid to the 1st spot and stayed focused till when the heat was over. Fast Wheels ASD Adrien Chareyre crashed while he was entering in the off-road section but he was so determined that he brilliantly worked his way up and classified in 2nd position, behind Thomas, while Matthew Winstanley took it easy knowing that even the 3rd spot was going to guarantee him the GP victory.

The day went smoothly also for Italian Ivan Lazzarini who slightly missed the podium finishing in 4th and Mauno Hermunen, who rounded off the top five. The 6th, 7th and 8th places were clinched by Uros Nastran, KTM 747 Motorsport Alexis Marie Luce and Suzuki Valenti Lux Performance Christian Ravaglia. The final two places of the top ten were grasped by Racing Team Pergetti Elia Sammartin and TDS Faor Rafael Fonseca.

It was a tough race at the very end for local racer Nuno Miguel Lopes Pinto of Flor Do Campo Motodreams Team as he finished in 18th but he really appreciated the chance he had to experience the World campaign.

The lead in the Championship standings always belongs to red plate holder Thomas Chareyre. Matthew Winstanley moved from the 12th to the 8th spot entering n the top ten. Uros Nastran stole the 6th position to PMR H20 Thierry Van Den Bosch who is now in 9th, in front of SBD Union Bike Racing Giovanni Bussei who lost one spot too.

S1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 20:23.424; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:05.377; 3. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), +0:11.249; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:14.309; 5. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:23.087; 6. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), +0:24.727; 7. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), +0:26.005; 8. Edgardo Borella (ITA, Suzuki), +0:28.460; 9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), +0:28.708; 10. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:32.116

S1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), 20:23.911; 2. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:05.106; 3. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), +0:08.609; 4. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:12.037; 5. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), +0:18.212; 6. Rafael Fonseca (BRA, Honda), +0:22.107; 7. Edgardo Borella (ITA, Suzuki), +0:23.583; 8. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), +0:23.845; 9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), +0:23.865; 10. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:24.533

S1 Race 3 top ten: 1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 20:20.814; ; 2. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), +0:04.985; 3. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), +0:06.723; 4. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), +0:10.440; 5. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), +0:11.550; 6. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), +0:12.120; 7. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), +0:12.503; 8. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), +0:23.689; 9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), +0:27.217; 10. Max Verderosa (ITA, Honda), +0:30.404

S1 Overall top ten: . Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), 65 points; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 63 p.; 3. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 60 p.; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 56 p.; 5. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 52 p.; 6. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), 50 p.; 7. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), 37 p.; 8. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 36 p.; 9. Elia Sammartin (ITA, Suzuki), 36 p.; 10. Rafael Fonseca (BRA, Honda), 34 p.

S1 Championship top ten: 1. Thomas Chareyre (FRA, TM), 318 points; 2. Adrien Chareyre (FRA, Aprilia), 308 p.; 3. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA, Honda), 280 p.; 4. Mauno Hermunen (FIN, Husqvarna), 264 p.; 5. Alexis Marie Luce (FRA, KTM), 196 p.; 6. Uros Nastran (SLO, Honda), 174 p.; 7. Christian Ravaglia (ITA, Suzuki), 173 p.; 8. Matthew Winstanley (GBR, Honda), 166 p.; 9. Thierry van den Bosch (FRA, Aprilia), 139 p.; 10. Giovanni Bussei (ITA, Honda), 138 p.

S1 Manufacturers: 1. TM, 318 points; 2. Aprilia, 316 p.; 3. Honda, 295 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 264 p.; 5. KTM, 225 p.; 6. Suzuki, 199 p.; 7. Yamaha, 53 p.