Press Release

2008 FIM Off-Road Awards - A Night to Remember 1

MONACO (MONTE CARLO), 07 December 2008 – Yesterday it was a great Saturday night celebrating the FIM Off Road Awards at the Salle Des Etoiles where all the 2008 Champions received their prize during a fantastic celebration.


Vito Ippolito, the FIM President, commented: “I am very satisfied about the FIM Off Road Awards because it is an occasion to celebrate all the people involved in the World Championships. I think everybody was very positive about the event because gathering together in such a nice occasion it is very satisfactory especially when the season is finished. The celebration of Giuseppe Luongo’s 25th Anniversary was a big surprise for him but I knew already. I wish him all the best because his career has been very long and he has overcome so many difficulties bringing the sports to excellent levels.”


Giuseppe Luongo, the Youthstream President, added: “As usual it has been a great success for the sport. It has been a great show and it was an honour to have all the World Champions and special guests such as David Bailey, the FIM President Vito Ippolito, the Honorary President Francesco Zerbi, the Vice Presidents altogether in the same place. We had fantastic weather and I am sure our guests were able to enjoy a great weekend in Monte Carlo. There is some time to rest now and we will come back in 2009 with more success in racing hopefully.”


Dr. Wolfgang Srb, the FIM/CMS President, ended: “It was an outstanding evening, it was the proper celebration for the best riders in the World. This is also a top location in the world, lots of people gathered together in a nice atmosphere. Moreover the 25th Anniversary of Giuseppe Luongo was another celebration in the celebration making this experience even more memorable. All in all it was a wonderful evening in a wonderful location to finish a wonderful season.”





The Awarded personalities at this fourth FIM Off Road Awards

Starting off at 20.30 the fourth edition of the FIM Off Road Awards hosting more than 400 guests was filled with exciting moments such as the unexpected celebration of Youthstream President Giuseppe Luongo’s 25th Anniversary in the promotion of Motocross and the presence of special guests such as Motocross legends David Bailey, Sebastien Tortelli, Alex Puzar, Michele Rinaldi and Senator of the Italian Parliament Giovanni Torri – the latter received also the “Friend of Youthstream and Motocross Award” as well as Mr. Rumen Petkov, the Bulgarian Minister of Interior.







An overall view of the crowded Salle Des Etoiles


This fourth edition of the FIM Off Road Awards saw the Motocross, SuperMoto, Snowcross, Sidecar Cross, Freestyle Motocross World Champions collect their awards together with some other key personalities in the sport such as organizers MAC Lierop (MX1/MX2), Pleven (S1/S2), Santiago de Chile (MX3) being the best in their specialty, the winning manufacturers and teams, KTM’s Pit Beirer for the great cooperation in Motocross, Wim Smits of MAC Lierop and former World Champion Eric Geboers for their great careers.  







Giuseppe Luongo surrounded by special guests such as FIM President Vito Ippolito, FIM/CMS President Wolfgang Srb, FIM Honorary President Francesco Zerbi, David Bailey, Pit Beirer, Alex Puzar, Michele Rinaldi, Eric Geboers, Sebastien Tortelli

With the Luongo’s 25th Anniversary celebration coming as an unexpected change in the usual program the Youthstream President received a message of congratulations from Prince Albert II of Monaco and was handed a special branded KTM Duke 690 by his colleagues and friends of Youthstream as a present for his successful career. The bike was featuring funny “training wheels” representing a further proof of the friendly atmosphere  characterizing Youthstream as much as the professionalism shown by the company in the organization of the Grand Prix’s.


The FIM Awards marked the very end of the 2008 racing season and it was the chance to hand spinal cord research foundation Wings For Life –a solid partner of Youthstream’s which was represented by Pit Beirer in this occasion- a special award helping their cause.







Pit Beirer receiving the Youthstream Award For Contribution To Spinal Cord Research from Giuseppe Luongo

The FIM Off Road Awards will be broadcast on TV by channels such as Motors TV (Pan Europe), Moto TV (Italy), Sport TV Portugal, Sport TV Slovenia, Five (UK), ART (Pan Middle East), FOX Sports (Pan Middle East and Africa), America One Sports (USA), FOX Sports (Australia), Freecaster.tv (Worldwide). More info is online on www.youthstream.org.


The list of the awarded personalities includes:


MOTOCROSS

• MX1 World Champion - David Philippaerts

• MX2 World Champion and Lovemytime MX2 Qualifying Award Winner - Tyla Rattray

• MX3 World Champion - Sven Breugelmans

• Motocross of Nations Winner USA - James Stewart-Ryan Villopoto-Tim Ferry

• Women’s World Champion - Livia Lancelot

• 125cc Junior World Champion - Matiss Karro

• 85cc Junior World Champion - Jeffrey Herlings

• Junior Motocross World Championship Nations - Holland

• Veteran’s World Cup Winner - Peter Iven

• “Jan De Groot” Award - Gert Krestinov

• MX1 Manufacturer World Champion - Suzuki

• MX2 Manufacturer World Champion - KTM

• MX3 Manufacturer World Champion - KTM

• MX1 Winning Team - Team Teka Suzuki WMX1

• MX2 Winning Team - Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

• MX3 Winning Team - Team JM KTM Racing

• Lovemytime MX1 Pole Position Award Winner – Sebastien Pourcel

• Motocross MX1/MX2 Best Organizer - Lierop

• Motocross MX3 Best Organizer – Santiago de Chile

• Motocross Media Development – Donington Park

• Motocross Best Infrastructure – Mallory Park

• Motocross Best Cooperation – Pit Beirer/KTM

• Friend of Youthstream and Motocross – Sen. Giovanni Torri

• Friend of Youthstream and Motocross – Rumen Petkov/Bulgarian Minister of Interior


SUPERMOTO

• S1 World Champion - Bernd Hiemer

• S2 World Champion - Adrien Chareyre

• SuperMoto of Nations Winner Italy - Ivan Lazzarini-Davide Gozzini-Attilio Pignotti

• “Marcel Seurat” Award - Elia Sammartin

• S1 Manufacturer World Champion - Aprilia

• S2 Manufacturer World Champion - Husqvarna

• S1 Winning Team - D.R.C. SuperMoto Aprilia Factory Team

• S2 Winning Team - Team Husqvarna CH Racing

• SuperMoto Best Organizer - Pleven

• SuperMoto Best Cooperation – Jordi Roquer/Mila Events

• SuperMoto Special Award – Grand Prix of Andorra Pas de la Casa Grandvalira


FREESTYLE MOTOCROSS

• FMX World Champion - Rémi Bizouard


SNOWCROSS

• Snowcross World Champion - Emil Öhman


SIDECAR CROSS

• Sidecar Cross driver World Champion - Daniël Willemsen

• Sidecar Cross passenger World Champion - Reto Grütter

• Sidecar Cross Manufacturer World Champion – VMC


SPECIAL AWARDS

• Youthstream Career Award – Wim Smits/MAC Lierop

• Youthstream Career Award – Eric Geboers

• Youthstream Award For The Environment - Giancarlo Pasini/President of the CIE-FIM

• Youthstream Award For Contribution To Spinal Cord Research – Wings For Life

• Website of the Year – Hans Martin Fetzer

• Photographer of the Year – Sarah Gutierrez/Freelance

• Journalist of the Year – Anthony Sutton/Dirt Bike Rider (UK)

• Journalist of the Year – Jeff Perrett/MOTO Magazine (UK)


LINKS
Youthstream

FIM


Information, photos and results are online at http://www.youthstream.org, the official website of Youthstream.

 

 

Freecaster.tv is the prime source of LIVE and On-Demand coverage for action sports on the Internet. Watch the 2009 FIM Snowcross World Championship, the 2009 FIM MX1/MX2/MX3 and Women’s World Championship and the 2009 SuperMoto World Championship races exclusively, LIVE and free on www.freecaster.tv.

 

Youthstream is the company that manages the exclusive television, marketing and promotional world wide rights of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the FIM Motocross of Nations, the FIM Women's Motocross World Championship, the FIM Veteran's Motocross World Cup, the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto of Nations, the FIM Snowcross World Championship, the UEM Motocross European Championship, the UEM Motocross of European Nations and the UEM SuperMoto European Championship.

 
www.MotocrossMX1.com
www.SuperMotoS1.com

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