30 Jan. 2024

Husqvarna Takes On Supermoto Des Nations with Loïc Barbot

Every year the world titles of Supermoto are held in a different location , this year was the very first year that Australia would have a team to compete and fly the Aussie flag amongst the best riders in the world. The location was Casteletto Di branduzzo about an hours drive south from Milan in Italy

With the help of sponsors such as Husqvarna Motorcycles and Avion international and with assistance from Motorcycling Australia we managed to travel over 16,000 kms to arrive and depart on team Australia’s maiden journey for the 2023 SMDN.

The team consisted of myself, Loïc Barbot , Joshua McLean and Dominic fletcher. All experienced riders and winners in the Supermoto Australia scene who all hold a passion for Supermoto deep in our hearts .

Upon arrival the team was greeted with a lot of suprise by the Europeans for they could not believe how far we had travelled to be a part of the event. We all know that Motorsport is a community in which we all seem to understand each other and even with a slight language barrier. People from all over the world pitched in and helped team Australia regardless of the competition that was to ensue. We were humbled by the kindness of all the teams around us , inviting the team for meals, mechanical help and also local track knowledge

The track itself was insane with a tar section that leads into a tar jump (sky section) and then a dirt section before rejoining the tar. Us Aussie’s had never encountered anything like this before and had a lot to learn in a very short time .

Husqvarna had given us an extremely solid package that was the 2024 FS 450 to compete on and let me tell you, the bike itself was completely stock and it managed to keep up with the factory race bikes that were offered up at the race.

We each went out into our qualifying sessions with no expectation at all as we had no reference to go off as this was a world first for Australia. After a few mistakes and a couple of crashes we found ourselves qualifying in the 12th position amongst the world.

We finally found our footing and had some help from s1gp champ Max Verderosa in figuring out the track and also settings for the bikes.

The race format for the SMDN is three races long. Each rider for each country is categorised into group A,B or C then the first race of the day consists of riders A and B then the following race, B and C and the final having A and C together. This gives us all two races each to do our best in and represent our country.

Wow the starts. Holy heck a field of 30 riders all headed for a 3m wide first turn. There was some carnage and hearts were definitely pumping, I know mine was. In one start I managed to get into top 10 for the first corner thinking I have the inside line, I’m sweet. Well I was wrong another rider from behind me saw a gap of about 10cm and decided that that was enough of a window to make a pass for the inside line.

The spirit and emotion of this event is something I’ve never experienced in the racing community, the stands were full of spectators with air horns and giant flags representing their countries team. The opening ceremony was just as cool with us all walking out together team by team being introduced to the crowd and being greeted by all the FIM officials and we were all awarded a medallion as thanks for our commitment to the event.

One Italian fan I can across stopped me and said, “you guys are the winners”

I said, “mate we haven’t even raced yet what do you mean?”

He replied, “you guys have travelled so far to be here, in my eyes you have won “

As I said earlier, the kindness from everyone was really humbling and you can feel the passion for the sport not only from the riders but from the manufacturers, the fans and especially all the kids. At the end of the day we managed to bring Australia in at 12th place missing out on 11th by one point . It may not have been a podium result but we were so happy with not only how we rode but also how much we learnt and were treated by everyone that was there.

Dominic, Josh and I are spreading the experience to everyone and trying our best to support and grow the Supermoto scene back in Aus .

This is all because of the help and assistance we have received from

Husqvarna Motorcycles

Avion international

Well sprung suspension

SGR Grau racing

Mototech motorcycle repairs

Tf moto

Apex bikes

Holeshot graphics

Action sports anchor

Rdx goggles

Axle armour tracksliders

And so many personal sponsors that helped aswell.

From team Australia, we express our deepest gratitude for helping us get to and compete in this event.

It truly was the time of our lives .