Cairoli and Melandri duo win charity race at Franciacorta
Yesterday at Franciacorta, the race track hosting the 2009 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations, the duo made of 2009 MX1 World Champion Tony Cairoli and MotoGP star Marco Melandri won a charity race raising funds for injured Luca Pellegrini.
The race was organized by Melandri himself and Alberto Martinelli with the aim of raising funds for Luca Pellegrini, Italian rider Angelo Pellegrini’s brother injuring his spine last August. The race format mixing road racers and off road racers was made of four heats. Two heats (first and third) lined up the off road specialists and the other two were reserved for the road racers. After a free practice session, which was the only occasion to see former World Champion Puzar on track for the day (he had to quit due to a severe flu), the duos made of one road racer and one off road racer were selected through a ballot.
Onboard a Yamaha 250cc 2 stroke Cairoli won both his heats to make up for the bad luck of the MXoN when he was hit at the start of the final moto. The Sicilian, who is due to steer the factory MX1 KTM in 2010, raced for the fun and delighted the crowd with his flamboyant style.
The other two moto’s saw Gozzini on top of one, with the SuperMoto racer onboard a 250cc 2 stroke TM which he mastered on the Franciacorta track. The other heat was topped by Zeni while the road racers with the best off road riding skills unveiled to be Dovizioso and Melandri.
Eventually Cairoli and Melandri topped the podium in front of Gozzini and Thain, with the TM duo having been a positive surprise. Third were Pellegrini and Muratori finishing right ahead of Guarneri and Bussei.
Among the other riders taking part in this fun charity day were WMX star Fontanesi –this time onboard a four stroke Yamaha machine- former Motocross World Champion Chiodi, MotoGP racers Simoncelli and Capirossi, SuperMoto racers Lazzarini, Beltrami and Ravaglia.
The day hosted also a Wings for Life race for KTM riders as the prize giving saw the participation of Heinz Kinigadner himself.
More info at www.unagaraxluca.com.
(Photo by Mirko Lazzari)
