FSBK – Sebastien Gimbert announces the color to Ledenon! –

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Sebastien Gimbert announces the color to Ledenon !

FSBK - Sebastien Gimbert announces the color to Ledenon! -

By winning the first race of the Superbike championship, Sebastien Gimbert clearly revealed his ambitions: riding the last Yamaha R1 lovingly prepared by the GMT 94, the endurance champion is not there to make up the figure. !

Sebastien Gimbert in dates

1996-1997 : French champion 250 cc

  • 1998-1999 : GP 500 world championship with Tecmas

  • 2000 : GP 250 world championship and first victory at the 24H Moto du Mans

  • 2001 : 2nd at the 24H Moto du Mans and at the Bol d’Or. French 600 Supersport Championship

  • 2002 : victories at the 24H Moto du Mans and at the Bol d’Or

  • 2003 : victories at the 24H de Spa and the Bol d’Or

  • 2004 : World Endurance champion and 4th of the two World Superbike rounds at Magny-Cours

  • 2005 : victory at the 24H Moto du Mans

  • 2006 : 3rd in the 24H Moto du Mans and 19th overall in the World Superbike

  • 2007 : winner of the Bol d’Or and 20th overall in the World Supersport

  • 2008 : 29th overall in the World Superbike

    • At 32, the protege of the charismatic Christophe Guyot has a solid track record (read our box opposite): French 250 champion and multiple endurance winner, Sebastien Gimbert is undoubtedly a fast and determined driver. !

    Author of rather encouraging feats of arms in World Superbike (4th at Magny-Cours in 2004), Seb naturally followed GMT 94 in the WSBK adventure last season despite the lack of resources..

    Landed with death in the soul at the end of a difficult year – so that the team can concentrate all its resources on a single bike in World Superbike this year – Sebastien Gimbert has finally decided to wear the colors of GMT 94. in the French Superbike championship.

    And where some pilots could have apprehended this "reconversion" with bitterness, the native of Puy-en-Velay (43), rather of the tenacious kind, announced himself sincerely "delighted and impatient"to titillate the cadors of French speed with the new 2009 YZF R1 and its engine timing Cross Plane (read our).

    Quick on paper, Sebastien Gimbert however had to convince in his first race against fierce opponents: the defending champion, Guillaume Dietrich, riding the new 2009 GSX-R, but also Vincent Philippe, Arnaud Vincent, the Foray brothers, Denis Bouan, Emeric Jonchière, without forgetting Gwen Giabbani and Lucas de Carolis…

    Superbike Race

    Beautiful people with which the GMT 94 driver rubbed shoulders without complex during the first two rounds of the championship, organized last weekend on the tortuous circuit of Ledenon in front of 6,000 spectators.

    Well placed in the Superpole – all the same six tenths of the best time set by Lucas de Carolis – Sebastien Gimbert hooks up the right car from the start of the first round: in a fight with Freddy Foray, Lucas De Carolis, Emeric Jonchière and Cedric Tangre, the Yamaha rider gradually gains in strength before winning in front of the unexpected Pontissalian rider Julien Millet, who precedes Thomas Metro.

    Back in business, the multiple champion David Muscat places the second Ducati on the grid in 6th position just ahead of a disappointed Guillaume Dietrich: "Arriving in Ledenon for the opening of the French Superbike championship, I expected to live a rather difficult weekend … With only a very small practice session on the machine, I knew that the settings were not not correct", regrets the two-time defending champion, quickly getting into trouble with his tires during the race.

    In the second round, the waltz of red flags following violent falls will get the better of the show: once again started in the right package, Gimbert nevertheless has a lot to do with Metro, Tangre, Millet, Dos Santos and Freddy Foray !

    But Dos Santos and Foray hang on while Lucas De Carolis and Guillaume Dietrich gradually come back to the four leading men! "The team did a great job for the second run and I was able to really let myself go on the track !", breathes Dietrich, who seemed able to come and rub shoulders with the leaders before the red flag and the safety car interrupt the race following the fall of Filleton … whose bike begins to catch fire !

    After a new start, Laurent Brian in turn made a mistake after two laps, forcing the organizers to stop the running of the event for good. This second round will not ultimately be taken into consideration in the general classification, since with only eight laps completed out of twenty, the limit of 50% of the race has not been reached … Only the results of the first round will therefore be counted, propelling Sebastien Gimbert to the top of the championship ahead of the astonishing Julien Millet and Thomas Metro.

    Delighted with his weekend but aware of the value of his opponents, Sebastien Gimbert of course praised the merits of his horse, but also congratulated Julien Millet, brilliant second overall: "this bike is fantastic, it has enormous potential! Of course, we still have experience to gain to go even faster, but let’s not forget that this is our first outing. I am very happy, the Pirelli tires performed well and I would also like to congratulate Julien Millet, who scored a good second place. By anticipating the many favorites expected, it is for me the revelation of this race."

    Supersport Race

    In Supersport, the reigning champion Olivier Four and the swift Matthieu Gines make a good comeback in the first round to finally take first and second place ahead of David Nivière and Gregory Leblanc, both leading the race for several laps. . In the second heat, Four brought the experience to life to extricate himself from the starting line in front of Gines, Nivière and Enjolras. At the cost of taking a lot of risk, Nivière took the lead in the race and maintained a strong pace, before failing to brake on the 14th lap….

    Matthieu Gines then passed Julien Enjolras and headed for his first victory in Supersport in front of Olivier Four, too long held behind Enjolras to hope to return to contact. With 45 points each, Four and Gines set off from Ledenon at the top of the provisional standings while Nivière is third with 32 points. Next stop in Nogaro on April 25 and 26: stay tuned !

    Alexandre BARDIN – Photopress Photos

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