FIM Europe News

Under cloudy and cold but dry weather conditions, the first round of the 2018 Supermoto European Championship season has started in Ottobiano in the region of Pavia, Italy. The Ottobiano Motorsport park is one of best well equipped venues in Europe for Supermoto races. With fast straights, tight corners and a challenging off-road section there is plenty of action for the spectators and riders. At the opening round it was TM Factory Racing rider Thomas Chareyre who took first pole position in 2018. Free practice On Saturday morning all 40 entered riders were divided into two groups via a ballot system. The first group of riders started their free practice session in the morning. With most riders having a lot of racing time on the track of Ottobiano, it didn’t take long before everyone had a fast pace in this session. In group one it was TM Factory Racing rider

The General Assembly of MACEC (Motorcycle Association of Central European Countries) was held today in Lublin in the hotel of the Polish Federation PZM (Polski Zwiazek Motorowy). The following member Federations, of seven affiliated, were present: BFMS - Belarus, LMSF - Lithuania, PZM - Poland, FRM - Romania, SMF - Slovakia and FMU - Ukraine. ACCR - Czech Republic attended as a guest. The group of participants and, below, the PZM hotel which hosted the event MACEC President Andrzej Grodzki opened the meeting and expressed his satisfaction that the General Assembly was held for the third time in Poland. PZM President Michal Sikora welcomed all the participants - among them FIM Europe President Dr. Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe 1st Deputy President Martin de Graaff and FIM Vice President (as well as PZM Honorary President) Andrzej Witkowski. President Grodzki underlined that MACEC was founded 2003 on the occasion of the UEM

The Spring meeting of the Working Group between FIM Europe and the Federation of European Motorcyclist’s Associations (FEMA) was held in Rome (Italy) on March 21st and 22nd. The Group, with the intention of carrying forward the requests of motorcycle users, has focused on some topics of common interest to bring them to the attention of the European institutions and to raise awareness among as many motorcyclists as possible. From left, Rolf Frieling (FEMA), John Chatterton Ross (FIM Europe), Silvio Manicardi (FIM Europe Second Deputy President) Francesca Marozza (Working Group Chairman), Ian Churchlow (FEMA), FMI President Giovanni Copioli, Maria Nordqvist (FEMA), Dolf Willigers (FEMA General Secretary), Jesper Christensen (FIM Europe) The work took place in the offices of the Italian Motorcycling Federation, where its President Giovanni Copioli and the Secretary General Alberto Rinaldelli welcomed the delegation, while the following day the working group moved to the offices of FIM Europe.

The FIM Europe President Dr Wolfgang Srb and the Secretary General Alessandro Sambuco, attended on 22nd and 23rd March the EU Sport Forum 2018 held in Sofia on the occasion of the EU Council presidency semester of Bulgaria. Above, from left, FIM Europe President Dr Wolfgang Srb and FIM Europe Secretary General Alessandro Sambuco As declared by the European Commissioner for the Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Mr. Tibor Navracsics “The EU Sport Forum is an opportunity to promote sport as a means of building a better Europe – but also as an instrument to forge strong relationships with our partners across the globe. I look forward to learning about fresh ideas on how we can take our joint work forward.” The EU Sport Forum is the main platform for structured dialogue between the European Commissions and sport stakeholders. The Forum’s main objective is to take stock of progress achieved in implementing the

In the weekend from Saturday 24th to Sunday 25h March, the follow­ing European races will be held: 24-25 March - European Moto2 and European Talent Cup at Estoril/Portugal 24-25 March - EMX250 and EMX300 at Redsand/Spain 24-25 March - Supermoto S1 European Championship at Ottobiano/Italy 24-25 March - EMX Quad European Championship at Oss/The Netherlands Eric Granado, 2017 European Moto2 Champion

The 20th edition oft he prestigious ‘Bal de Printemps’ event was held on 19th of March at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland where both Youthstream Group and FIM Europe took part. Organized by IRP (International Foundation for Research in Paraplegia), the charity evening is an annual event to collect funds for the research of Paraplegia. Youthstream has partnered with IRP since 2016 and continue to help raise funds for their important work. From left, Eric Eggens (Yamaha MX Racing Manager), Patrick Steinvoorte (Tiffany’s), Stefano Avandero (MXGP Italy Organizer), Dacio Castillo (HE Ambassador Honduras WTO), Dr Wolfgang Srb (FIM Europe President), Philippe Boissonnas (IRP General Secretary), David Luongo (Youthstream Vice-President), Giuseppe Luongo (Youthstream President) The mission of IRP is to provide funds for basic and clinical research in the field of paraplegia in order to contribute to improve the lives of people affected by injuries to the spinal cord.

The FIM Europe Management Council meeting was held today in Fiumicino, near Rome (Italy). Many important topics have been discussed, like the report of the President, the report of the Secretary General, the report of the Chairman of the Sporting Council, the report of the Chairman of the Non-Sporting Council, as well as various reports from the other Vice-Presidents. During the FIM Europe Management Council meeting, special attention was given to the report of the Treasurer, as well as the report of the Auditors. The 2017 Balance-Sheet was unanimously approved and so was the 2018 Budget. From the left, Silvio Manicardi, Jean-Marc Desnues, Jan Stovicek, Nina Birjukova, Tapio Nevala, Michal Sikora, Dr. Wolfgang Srb, FIM Europe President, Juhani Halme, Alessandro Sambuco, Andrea Diamantini, Silvia Monatti, Laurent Delbroek, Martin de Graaff and Rodolfo Romeo The preparation of the FIM Europe Congress in Nantes, France (June 29th-July 1st 2018) is proceeding according to

In the weekend from Saturday 17th to Sunday 18th March, the follow­ing European races will be held: 17-18 March - EMX65 and EMX85 South West Zone at Bosisio Parini/Italy 17-18 March - EMX125 and EMX300 at Valkenswaard/The Netherlands EMX125 ©Youthstream

The three-times world champion Freddie Spencer was the protagonist of a FIM Europe event during the Roma Motodays Motorcycle Show, in Italy. On the stage with Silvio Manicardi, FIM Europe second vice-president, the American champion’s speech dealt with moto-touring and safety. “In 29 years of racing on track I have been learnt to understand and even anticipate situations, feelings that I always try to transfer to young motorcyclists both for track use and to ride in a safer and more careful way on the road”, stated Freddie Spencer. "I was particularly pleased with the presence of Freddie Spencer at the FIM Europe speech on touring and safety”, stated Silvio Manicardi. “For this great American champion teaching safe riding has become a real mission and during our meeting he shared his experience and showed great interest in the programs that FIM Europe presented at Roma Motodays, both for the recommended hotels

The first round of GIANT Snowmobile Enduro FIM European Cup was held at Kemijärvi, in Finland, with 29 participants, in front of around 200 spectators in the first day and 500 in the second day. The weather was cloudy, with temperatures from -3 to -8 C° degrees and about 1 meter of snow. Day 1 - Nice and long special tests were challeanging for the riders. Three special tests were more than 50 km long and one was shorter for spectators near the city. In the Veteran class among the participants there were Tapio Nevala President of Finnish Motorcycle Federation (photo1) and Kurt Ljungqvist General Secretary (photo2). The winners in day one were Tuula Havumäki in Women, Saku Niskanen in the Junior, Teppo Käkelä in the Senior, Jukka Nyberg in the Veteran. Day 2 - During the night and morning about 5 cm of snow fell down so conditions were