The Supermoto world came out of hibernation from 16 to 18 March for the Indoor Tours event which hosted the first round of the Open Championship and a Prestige race. Frédéric Guérin, of team Triple 5, to which Motul provides its technical assistance, was back on the track for the first time since his ankle injury.
Champion of France 2010 and 2011 in category S3 (125-350 cc), he is upping his game this year, at the early age of 19, in the Prestige category (350-750 cc) on a Suzuki 450. This highly spectacular discipline, which originated in the United States, combines hard packed and asphalt sections, which makes it a ‘sliding’ festival.
This year, even rain joined in because, although the Tours track is the only indoor supermoto one in France, it includes an outdoor straight line. And Fred, who clinched excellent times in the first tests, experienced a tyre problem: ‘I had rain tyres but the track dried in the meanwhile and, as I didn’t have my spare wheels ready, I couldn’t change tyres’, he explained. He was put on the second line but managed to finish a brilliant third. In the second final (with a start in reverse order to the arrivals of the first race), he came 6th at the end of the first lap, but ‘I wanted to speed a bit too much and pass the 5th and, in a little collision, my ankle scraped the ground and I hurt myself...’.
This first run in this category remains very positive given the times achieved. It’s definitely promising for the first round of the Prestige Championship on 29 April at Villars-sous-Ecot.
