The action packed fourth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, held in front of 52,841 enthusiast fans at Imola, saw a total domination by the Pata Honda Team. The Dutch based squad won both World Superbike races courtesy of a superb performance by Jonathan Rea, as well as claiming a one-two finish in the World Supersport encounter, with Lorenzo Zanetti scoring his maiden win in the series ahead of Michael van der Mark.
Rea and van der Mark now lead the World Superbike and Supersport standings respectively, both for the first time ever.
The Ducati Superbike Team was also well represented on the podium in its home round, as Chaz Davies was twice second at the chequered flag. Today’s two WSBK podiums were completed by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), who lie now 4 and 16 points behind the new leader, in second and third.
A one day, official post-race test is scheduled for tomorrow at Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari before round five at the UK’s Donington circuit on May 25..
Jonathan Rea: “It’s been a great weekend for me! I couldn’t have imagined doubling up coming here. But I knew we’d be strong because it’s a circuit I really enjoy and one that the bike goes really well at. We’ll try to make the bike better in tomorrow’s official test and go to Donington hopefully to keep this ball rolling. I’m really enjoying riding right now and I want to thank everyone who’s put the work in. Not just the track staff here but the guys back at base in Nieuwleusen (Netherlands). It’s also the home round for our sponsors, Pata, so a big thanks to them, too.”
Chaz Davies: “These have been the best races of the season and undoubtedly my best race weekend so far, in that we’ve been consistently strong since Friday. It’s great to be on the podium and is the best way to thank Ducati and all of the guys, both in the team and the factory, for all of their hard work. I can almost ride the bike as I would like, we just have a small problem with rear vibration to iron out but tomorrow, during the tests, we will also work on this and I’m sure we’ll be able to improve. I’m very pleased with the double podium of course and it confirms how much work has been done in Ducati over the last months, so I want to dedicate today’s results to Ducati and all the fans.”
Race One : Rea wins Imola race one in dominating fashion
The sun continued to shine at Imola as the first race of the day got underway in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.
From the start it was polesitter Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who took the lead ahead of the Aprilia Racing duo of Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli. Chaz Davies (Ducati Racing Team) moved to second at the end of lap one and as the laps progressed a number of riders in the leading group would run off track in their efforts to keep up with the flying British duo at the front.
By half distance Rea had moved clear of the chasing pack with a lead of almost two seconds. Behind the leader a four rider fight involving Davies, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Sylvain Guintoli who had worked hard to bridge the gap after an off track excursion at the chicane on lap 2, Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team) became more intense with every corner.
Giugliano slid out of contention on the twelfth lap, the Italian clearly annoyed as the front end of his Ducati went away from him.
At the flag and after 19 exciting laps it was Rea who took the win ahead of Davies and Sykes. The Ulsterman now sits second in the standings, with only ten points to make up from the leader Tom Sykes.
In the EVO battle, Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia) came out on top, finishing comfortably ahead of David Salom (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Luca Scassa (Team Pedercini Kawasaki). Ivan Goi (Barni Racing Team) and Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing Ducati) crashed without injury.
World Superbike 2014 – Round Four – Race One Results
- J. REA / GBR / PATA Honda World Superbike / Honda CBR1000RR / 34’14.829
- C. DAVIES / GBR / Ducati Superbike Team / Ducati 1199 Panigale R / 4.511
- T. SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 6.492
- L. BAZ / FRA / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 8.434
- S. GUINTOLI / FRA / Aprilia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 9.134
- M. MELANDRI / ITA / Aprilia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 14.925
- E. LAVERTY / IRL / Voltcom Crescent Suzuki / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 19.973
- A. LOWES / GBR / Voltcom Crescent Suzuki / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 21.582
- T. ELIAS / ESP / Red Devils Roma / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 28.781
- L. HASLAM / GBR / PATA Honda World Superbike / Honda CBR1000RR / 31.245
- L. CAMIER / GBR / BMW Motorrad Italia SBK / BMW S1000 RR EVO / 40.996
- D. SALOM / ESP / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 55.372
- L. SCASSA / ITA / Team Pedercini / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 55.899
- J. GUARNONI / FRA / MRS Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’04.402
- A. ANDREOZZI / ITA / Team Pedercini / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’23.074
- F. FORET / FRA / MAHI Racing Team India / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’23.324
- S. MORAIS / RSA / IRON BRAIN Grillini Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’36.763
- C. CORTI / ITA / MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich M. / MV Agusta F4 RR / 1’36.942
- P. SEBESTYEN / HUN / BMW Team Toth / BMW S1000 RR EVO / 1’43.545
- I. TOTH / HUN / BMW Team Toth / BMW S1000 RR / 1’43.819
Fastest Lap: 6° Jonathan Rea 1’47.532 165,249 Km/h
Lap Record: 2013 T.Sykes 1’47.274 165,650 Km/h
Best Lap: 2013 T.Sykes 1’45.981 167,670 Km/h
Race two: Rea takes double and becomes championship leader
Imola (Italy), Sunday 11 May 2014 – Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) made a great start in race two – but unlike race one, Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and Davide Giuglino (Ducati Superbike Team) made equally impressive starts from the front row to ensure that they were in contention from the beginning.
The race two pace was a lot higher than the earlier encounter as Rea lapped at almost lap record pace on his first flying lap.
Reigning champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) started slowly but was soon up to 4th after displacing Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) who in turn had moved ahead of race one podium finisher Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team).
As the race progressed and with Rea out in front by over 5 seconds, Davies and Guintoli together with Sykes and his fellow Kawasaki rider Loris Baz, were involved in an intense battle which raged until the final lap.
At the flag Rea took a double victory ahead of Davies, who clung on to his second podium of the day and Guintoli who fought hard to finish 3rd. Thanks to the 13th race win and the first double since Assen 2010, Rea elevates himself to the championship lead for the first time ever.
Loris Baz got the better of his team mate Tom Sykes to claim fourth, with Davide Giugliano putting the disappointment of his race one crash behind him with a solid 6th.
Niccolo Canepa had a technical failure in the closing laps as it looked certain that he was heading to the best classified award in the EVO category. His retirement handed that accolade once again to Leon Camier (BMW Motorrad Italia).
World Superbike 2014 – Round Four – Race Two Results
- J. REA / GBR / PATA Honda World Superbike / Honda CBR1000RR / 34’14.255
- C. DAVIES / GBR / Ducati Superbike Team / Ducati 1199 Panigale R / 4.095
- S. GUINTOLI / FRA / Aprilia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 5.546
- L. BAZ / FRA / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 6.285
- T. SYKES / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R / 7.147
- D. GIUGLIANO / ITA / Ducati Superbike Team / Ducati 1199 Panigale R / 22.054
- T. ELIAS / ESP / Red Devils Roma / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 25.811
- L. HASLAM / GBR / PATA Honda World Superbike / Honda CBR1000RR / 26.127
- E. LAVERTY / IRL / Voltcom Crescent Suzuki / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 26.306
- A. LOWES / GBR / Voltcom Crescent Suzuki / Suzuki GSX-R1000 / 33.046
- M. MELANDRI / ITA / Aprilia Racing Team / Aprilia RSV4 Factory / 37.788
- L. CAMIER / GBR / BMW Motorrad Italia SBK / BMW S1000 RR EVO / 42.415
- D. SALOM / ESP / Kawasaki Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 52.114
- L. SCASSA / ITA / Team Pedercini / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 59.001
- F. FORET / FRA / MAHI Racing Team India / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’04.364
- J. GUARNONI / FRA / MRS Kawasaki / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’18.512
- A. ANDREOZZI / ITA / Team Pedercini / Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO / 1’34.487
- G. MAY / USA / Team Hero EBR / EBR 1190 RX / 1 Lap
- I. TOTH / HUN / BMW Team Toth / BMW S1000 RR / 1 Lap
Fastest Lap: 2° Jonathan Rea 1’47.356 165,520 Km/h
Lap Record: 2013 T.Sykes 1’47.274 165,650 Km/h
Best Lap: 2013 T.Sykes 1’45.981 167,670 Km/h
Standings (Round 4 of 13): 1. Rea 139; 2. Sykes 135; 3. Guintoli 123; 4. Baz 119; 5. Davies 87; 6. Melandri 84; 7. Giugliano 69; 8. Laverty 62; 9. Haslam 58; 10. Lowes 50; 11. Elias 50; 12. Salom 34; 13. Canepa 28; 14. Camier 20; 15. Scassa 16; 16. Foret 10; 17. Morais 10; 18. Guarnoni 7; 19. Allerton 6; 20. Bos 5; 21. Corti 5; 22. Fabrizio 2; 23. Andreozzi 1. Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki 143; 2. Honda 139; 3. Aprilia 133; 4. Ducati 113; 5. Suzuki 92; 6. BMW 26; 7. MV Agusta 5.
World Supersport
After 17 action packed laps at Imola, Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) has won for the first time in World Supersport.
Taking the lead on lap two, former champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Team India Kawasaki) was kept under constant pressure for the entire race by Lorenzo Zanetti who was racing with a new helmet design in memory of the late Ayrton Senna before the Turk retired with four laps to go leaving Zanetti to take an incredible victory in his home race.
Polesitter Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta RC – Yakhnich Motorsport) lost any hope of a podium finish after running off track on lap 6 and again on lap 8. The Frenchman was able to rejoin to finish the race in 15th.
Behind Zanetti, Assen winner Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) made it a Honda 1-2 with Florian Marino (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) claiming the last place on the podium. Van der Mark’s second sees the Dutch rider leave Italy with the championship lead.
World Supersport Race Results Imola
- L. ZANETTI / ITA / PATA Honda World Supersport / Honda CBR600RR / 31’53.543
- M. VD MARK / NED / PATA Honda World Supersport / Honda CBR600RR / 2.072
- F. MARINO / FRA / Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 6.263
- P. JACOBSEN / USA / Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 10.043
- R. ROLFO / ITA / Team GO Eleven / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 16.366
- F. MENGHI / ITA / VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6 / 23.914
- M. BUSSOLOTTI / ITA / Team Lorini / Honda CBR600RR / 24.060
- R. RUSSO / ITA / Team Lorini / Honda CBR600RR / 24.150
- K. WAHR / GER / RS Wahr by Kraus Racing / Yamaha YZF R6 / 24.996
- A. NOCCO / ITA / San Carlo Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 25.115
- J. KENNEDY / IRL / CIA Insurance Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 33.695
- R. DE ROSA / ITA / CIA Insurance Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 36.079
- C. GAMARINO / ITA / Team GO Eleven / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 39.322
- T. COVEÑA / NED / Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres / Kawasaki ZX-6R / 46.397
- J. CLUZEL / FRA / MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich M. / MV Agusta F3 675 / 54.935
- F. ROGERS / GBR / Com Plus SMS Racing / Honda CBR600RR / 1’07.909
- N. CALERO / ESP / CIA Insurance Honda / Honda CBR600RR / 1’16.621
Fastest Lap: 6° Kenan Sofuoglu 1’51.733 159,036 Km/h
Lap Record: 2013 S.Lowes 1’51.607 159,220 Km/h
Best Lap: 2013 S.Lowes 1’50.404 160,950Km/h
Standings (Round 4 of 12): 1. Vd Mark 65; 2. Marino 65; 3. Zanetti 49; 4. Coghlan 44; 5. Cluzel 42; 6. De Rosa 38; 7. Rolfo 30; 8. Tamburini 29; 9. Sofuoglu 25; 10. Wahr 23; 11. Jacobsen 22; 12. Menghi 19; 13. Russo 18; 14. Bussolotti 16; 15. Gamarino 16; 16. Leonov 12; 17. Kennedy 10; 18. Gowland 9; 19. Wilairot 9; 20. Nocco 6; 21. Coveña 6; 22. Schmitter 3; 23. Calero 3; 24. Rogers 1. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 86; 2. Kawasaki 74; 3. Yamaha 54; 4. MV Agusta 50; 5. Triumph 9.
Superstock 1000
Ondrej Jezek (Barni Racing Ducati) took the first win of his career after a determined ride to fend off Fabio Massei (EAB Racing Ducati) in the third round of the FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup at Imola today.
Taking the lead at the end of the opening lap, Lorenzo Savadori (Pedercini Kawasaki) had built up a commanding lead only to be ruled out of contention as his Kawasaki suffered a technical problem. This allowed Ondrej Jezek to inherit the lead although the Czech rider faced intense pressure from Massei until the end.
Behind the top 2, Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Team) was a lonely third, Romain Lanusse (Pedercini Kawasaki Team) an equally lonely fourth with Josh Day (Agro-On Wil Racedays Honda) and Hungarian Balazs Nemeth (Pedercini Kawasaki) taking 5th and 6th positions at the end of an exciting 14 lap race.
Assen winner Kevin Valk (MTM Kawasaki) and Kevin Calia (Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia) collided, the result being that they both crashed out, thankfully uninjured.
Results: 1. Jezek (Ducati) 14 Laps/69.104 km in 26’00.349 average 159.435 kph; 2. Massei (Ducati) 1.394; 3. Mercado (Ducati) 12.506; 4. Lanusse (Kawasaki) 22.812; 5. Day (Honda) 31.274; 6. Nemeth (Kawasaki) 31.960; 7. McFadden (Kawasaki) 33.357; 8. Muresan (BMW) 40.829; 9. D’Annunzio (BMW) 42.727; 10. Suchet (Kawasaki) 43.049; 11. Lussiana (Kawasaki) 43.206; 12. Pagaud (Kawasaki) 43.362; 13. Schacht (Ducati) 48.419; 14. Moser (Ducati) 48.650; 15. Grotzkyj G. (Kawasaki) 50.731; etc.
Standings (Round 3 of 7): 1. Mercado 52; 2. Jezek 45; 3. Savadori 33; 4. Valk 32; 5. Lussiana 31; 6. Massei 28; 7. Lanusse 28; 8. McFadden 27; 9. Day 21; 10. D’Annunzio 20; 11. Nemeth 17; 12. Smith 16; 13. Bergman 13; 14. Grotzkyj G. 10; 15. Pagaud 10; 16. Muresan 8; 17. Suchet 8; 18. Schacht 8; 19. Walraven 6; 20. Castellarin 4; 21. Moser 2; 22. Ayer 1. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 70; 2. Kawasaki 58; 3. Honda 32; 4. BMW 21; 5. Suzuki 6.
European Junior Cup
Augusto Fernandez (WIL Sport) has come out victorious at the end of an exciting battle for the victory in the Pata European Junior Cup, powered by Honda race at Imola. The young Spaniard crossed the line a fraction of a second ahead of compatriot Javier Orellana (Europe Food SL), second, and Brit Josh Harland (Josh Harland), third, with several other protagonists who were also in contention for the win. Fernandez is now the new leader in the standings, 11 points ahead of today’s fifth place finisher Marc Miralles (Honda Spain).
Results: 1. Fernandez 9 Laps/44.424 km in 20’23.741 average 130.686 kph; 2. Orellana 0.102; 3. Harland 0.516; 4. Hubner 0.971; 5. Miralles 1.190; 6. Fernandez 1.523; 7. Grassia 1.706; 8. Hill 10.858; 9. Gabellini 33.914; 10. Perez 35.226; 11. Van Sikkelerus 35.824; 12. London 36.599; 13. Wisdom 52.059; 14. Ortt 59.569; 15. Moreno 1’00.035; etc.
Standings (Round 3 of 8): 1. Fernandez 63; 2. Miralles 52; 3. Orellana 48; 4. Hubner 40; 5. Harland 27; 6. Grassia 27; 7. Perez 22; 8. Fernandez 21; 9. Soomer 20; 10. London 18; 11. Licciardi 14; 12. Brink 13; 13. Wisdom 13; 14. Van Sikkelerus 11; 15. Hill 8; 16. Gabellini 7; 17. Geissler 4; 18. Zhu 4; 19. Moreno 3; 20. Ortt 2; 21. Patterson 2; 22. Levy 1.
HRC Report
A perfect weekend of racing delivered Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) two race winner’s trophies following the Superpole win in qualifying at the fourth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Imola in Italy.
He is now leading the championship, having started the day in fourth place in the standings. He has also now won three races in 2014, more than any other rider so far this year.
The scorching weather that appeared for practice and Superpole, with track temperatures nudging over 50°C at times, was not repeated on raceday but in pleasantly warm conditions Rea and his Honda CBR1000RR never missed a beat as they secured front running wins in each 19-lap race. Unlike many other recent WSBK races these two contests went the full distance and were unaffected by any weather changes.
With his race two win at Assen, this made it three in a row for Rea. He also scored fastest lap in each race, but without quite setting a new record in race conditions. His front-running pace ensured that he would lead every single race lap across the finish stripe today.
This is the first time Rea has ever led the world championship despite a strong list of race wins and podium places. He now has 14 career race wins, all taken on Honda machinery. His championship lead is four points, from Tom Sykes (Kawasaki).
The podium places in race one were shared with Chaz Davies (Ducati) in second and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) in third. Davies again took the second rostrum place in race two but Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) rounded out the top three second time around.
For Rea’s team-mate Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) the Imola circuit provided tough challenges that he overcame with two top ten rides, a tenth place in race one and then an eight in the second race. He is now ninth in the championship. The English rider has yet to find the set-up breakthrough and sheer pace of Rea, and is now looking forward to home round advantage at Donington Park to make is next step! Donington is a circuit at which he has raced motorcycles of every capacity over thousands of kilometres gaining vast set-up knowledge he aims to use to good effect at Donington and in the remaining races in the series!.
The Donington races, which will form round five of the championship, take place on Sunday 25th May.
Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) took his breakthrough win at his home round of the FIM Supersport World Championship, just as his team-mate Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) did last time out at Assen.
In finishing second, 2.072 seconds behind his team-mate van Der Mark took a share of the championship lead after an incredible 1-2 for the Pata Honda duo.
Zanetti had been in the mix in the WSS practice sessions from the start of his home round and he started from third place on the grid, with van der Mark on the back of the second row in sixth place.
Zanetti broke free of the third place podium fight as he chased long time race leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) who retired with a third of the race distance to go. From then on Zanetti was controlling the gap to second place rider van Der Mark until a light fall of rain brought out white flags. Undeterred by almost invisibly small spots of rain, Lorenzo carried on at high pace to take his first ever win at this level.
He is now third in the championship, 16 points behind his team-mate van der Mark.
‘Mikey’ van der Mark pushed hard all the way to the flag, despite some awkward moments early in the race, and he is now tied on points with previous clear championship leader Florian Marino (Kawasaki) with 65 points each. Marino took the final podium place today, inheriting the position following the retirement of early race leader Sofuoglu.
Marco Bussolotti (Team Lorini Honda) held off his team-mate at Imola, Riccardo Russo (Team Lorini Honda) to take seventh place. Both riders made great improvements on their qualifying positions of 11th and 14th respectively.
A qualifying fall for Jack Kennedy (CIA Insurance Honda) put him 19th on the grid and with work to do in the race. Despite being run off the track at one time the Irish rider finished the race in 11th place, and scored points for the second time in four rounds.
Raffaele De Rosa (CIA Insurance Honda) was penalised in the race for taking too long to change a rear tyre on the starting grid. He did not notice his penalty, so he was dropped from a possible fifth to 12th. He is now 6th in the championship standings.
Fraser Rogers (Com Plus SMS Racing) was 16th and just one place from a championship point, while Nacho Calero (CIA Insurance Honda) was 17th and the last finisher.
Ratthapark Wilairot (Core PTR Honda) was suffering from severe hay fever had to start the race from pitlane after his bike failed to start on the warm-up lap. He crashed on the first lap and could not restart
The next round is at Donington Park, UK, with raceday on Sunday 25th May.
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) – Race result: 1st / 1st Championship position: 1st – “I do not know what to say in some ways. Together with all the crew we worked hard for the races here. We did not expect to win but we know we were in a great position to win. Pole position was more of a surprise for sure because it has been quite a long time since I have been able to put a single really fast lap together. Race two was a bit more comfortable than the first because in the opener I went really fast from the start but I dropped into the 1’48s and that was my pace from then on. In race two I was able to make 1’47s for longer. With four laps to go in race two I started to think that with a six second lead it would be really silly if I made a mistake. My guys gave me great signals. My bike is fun to ride right now, responsive to what I am doing so I am happy.”
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) – Race result: 10th / 8th Championship position: 9th – “We’ve made a step but from free practice yesterday morning we’ve lost about a second a lap. From being able to do high 1’47s and low 1’48s on old, used tyres, we’ve only been able to do high 48s today, dropping into the 49s. I was quicker on an 18-lap harder tyre on Friday than I was in both races today. So, for me it’s not been a good weekend, but it’s been fantastic for the team. You always want to beat your team-mate, but it’s good that the bike is capable and for me that’s a positive. We’ve got a test here tomorrow so we’ll hopefully be able to figure some things out and find out what changed from yesterday.”
Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) – Race result: 2nd Championship position: 1st – “We struggled a bit at the beginning of the weekend and I could not find one really fast lap in qualifying. But for this morning we found a solution and improved my lap time from yesterday. My start was not too bad and I made some mistakes and dropped back but as same as I passed the other guys I could do a similar pace like Kenan and Lorenzo, but I could not get closer. I was really happy. OK, Kenan retired, but to have a Pata Honda 1-2 at the home race of the sponsor is amazing and I am in the lead of the championship now. Now we have showed real pace and that we can fight for the podium all race.”
Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) – Race result: 1st Championship position: 3rd – “It is incredible to win in my own ‘house’ in Italy. Just before this weekend Mikey had won at Assen and I thought it would be perfect for me to win at my home round. It is fantastic and since I arrived here I was concentrating 100% on how to win. It is very difficult in this class because there are five or six strong riders at every race. But I saw that in qualifying I had a good pace but there was still a lot of pressure because I am Italian, and I have a lot of Italian sponsors here. So when I saw Kenan stop for a technical problems I saw that it was my opportunity. In the last few laps I saw the white flag for the rain, but I just focused and I thought about the win. I think the Ayrton Senna crash helmet I had this weekend helped me but this win is for Andrea Antonelli who was killed racing in Russia last year. I knew that when I won a race it would be for Andrea and his family.”
Raffaele De Rosa (CIA Insurance Honda) – Race result: 12th Championship position: 6th – “Starting from 17th on the grid, to finish fifth on the road was great. Taking a 20-seconds penalty was not so good after riding so hard; but rules are rules. At least we have shown how competitive we can be at a circuit I don’t enjoy after a poor qualification. It was not necessary to change our tyre on the line but we went from an A to a B. The first part of the race was not so bad because I passed many riders. I followed Rolfo for a bit but I think he was a little bit too fast. Now the bike is working better and I believe I can do more at Donington because I like it there.”
Riccardo Russo (Lorini Honda) – Race result: 8th Championship position: 13th – “I had a little difficulty because I had a crash in morning warm-up and that caused me a bit of pain in my shoulder. The team did great work to get my bike ready so thanks to the boys in the team. It is possible that I can have a good race at Donington next time because I feel good about that track.”
Jack Kennedy (CIA Insurance Honda) – Race result: 11th Championship position: 17th – “We got some points on the board which is what we needed here. The weekend was going good and we were consistently inside the top ten, where we need to be. In qualifying it was a disaster as I crashed with ten minutes gone, and we got the bike fixed with six minutes to go. The boys did well but it did not feel right so I never improved. I made life hard for myself starting 19th on the grid. I made up some ground but got run off track and lost five places so I was playing catch-up from there. I dug deep all race and the boys did a good job to get the bike ready to race.”
Ratthapark Wilairot (Core PTR Honda) – Race result: DNF Championship position: 19th – “This is a bad result for us, we should have scored points here. It was my first time to Imola and it is a challenging track to learn. We now must regroup as a team and get back to fighting in the points again at Donington.”
Team Hero EBR Report
A packed Imola circuit in Northern Italy played host to the fourth round of this year’s World Superbike championship with Team Hero EBR riders Geoff May and Aaron Yates in action once again.
Race 1, held at 1030 local time was a disappointment for the team, after the positives taken during the weekend as both riders failed to finish. Geoff was unable to start after a small problem during warm up couldn’t be fixed and Aaron retired mid race after another great start had seen move forward a couple of places.
Race 2 was held in similar warm conditions and both riders were able to participate. Unfortunately Aaron was unable tocomplete the race because of a technical problem but Geoff salvaged an 18th position finish after another weekend of hard work and determination from the whole team.
Aaron Yates: “I really enjoyed racing here and Imola is definitely now one of my favorite race tracks. Unfortunately we had some troubles today and I am sorry that we can’t finish the races. Anyway, we made some progress during the weekend and I am sure we will soon be more competitive.”
Geoff May: ”I am sorry I didn’t the chance to ride in Race 1 because my intent is collect much data as possible in order to develop the bike alongside my mechanics. In race 2 we completed the race and I improved the feeling with the bike. Now I want focus on the next race in Donington, where I’m sure we will continue to make some further improvements.”
Giulio Bardi – Team Manager: “Obviously I would like a better result, but from our side what really matters is constantly improving throughout the season. Every race is like a test for us and after each race we become stronger than before. I know our team is doing its best to improve the EBR 1190RX and I am sure we will soon get some good results.”
Aprilia Racing Report
The Aprilia Racing Team leaves Imola with the third place Sylvain Guintoli took home in Race 2 which, together with his fifth place in Race 1, keeps the rider close to the top of the championship standings. Sylvain, coming off two wins and demonstrating consistent performance, now lies in third place in the championship, just 16 points behind the new leader, Rea, and 12 behind Sykes.
In the first race, after holding onto second place for much of the race, Guintoli suffered a drop in tyre performance which forced him to a more defensive strategy in the second part of the race. These are important points in a Championship which, after only four rounds, promises to be extremely well balanced. Sylvain’s redemption came in Race 2 where he played a key role, staying in the leading pack from the start and finishing in third place in front of some of his fiercest rivals in the battle for the title.
Sylvain Guintoli: “It was a hard battle in both races. In Race 2 we managed to improve our pace quite a bit. I knew I would have to start off strong because we are struggling a bit at the moment in the second half of the race. I fought all the way to the end. I knew that the podium was within reach so I gritted my teeth and tried not to make any mistakes. A fifth and third place don’t exactly make me jump for joy, but in any case they mean 27 points. I know that I put forth my best effort on this track. The test tomorrow is important because we’ll be able to continue improving and looking for new solutions so that we can be incisive in any conditions”.
The weekend at Imola was decidedly disappointing for Marco Melandri who, after two days of positive sessions, was expecting to be strong in the races. Instead, his sixth place in Race 1 and eleventh place in the second match, despite two excellent starts, kept the rider from Ravenna out of the spotlight on the track at Imola.
Marco Melandri: “This was a very disappointing Sunday race day, definitely not up to our expectations which were quite high after such a good start to the weekend. Friday and Saturday were positive and it seemed like we were on the right track. This means that we still have a lot of work to do. I am quite capable of bringing home very different results, but that’s how this sport is at these levels”.
