The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship heads back to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola for the first time in four seasons this week and you can be at the track to watch the incredible action. The Prometeon Italian Round is the Championship’s second visit to Italy in 2023 and you won’t want to miss it with WorldSBK, WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 on track. You can purchase your tickets HERE and if you buy before July 13^th, you will receive a discount of up to 5%.

Seven races will take place at Imola with WorldSBK, WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 on track as every rider looks for a shift in momentum right before the summer break. With two rounds to go before that break, will Imola make or break some competitors’ campaigns as the title races heat up across all three Championships?

As ever with WorldSBK, the on-track action is complemented by the off-track entertainment with plenty to enjoy in the paddock. The podium celebrations will take place in the famous Paddock Show area, allowing you to get even closer to your favourite riders when they celebrate their incredible success. There will be interactive games on all three days as well as quiz games and chat shows; allowing fans to get as close as possible to the riders. Live music will also be performed throughout the weekend to add to the entertainment.

Don’t miss out on WorldSBK’s return to Imola and purchase your tickets HERE!

Source: WorldSBK.com

The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola hosts Round 7 of the 2023 FIM Supersport World Championship season as the action heats up. All eyes will be on Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) as the Championship leader, racing for Ducati, looks to be strong at home but will his compatriots be able to take the fight to him? Will experience count at a circuit that has not hosted WorldSSP action since 2019? All will be revealed throughout the Prometeon Italian Round.

MANZI LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK: can he close the gap?

Stefano Manzi’s (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) UK Round was the definition of a rollercoaster. Second place in Race 1 was followed up with fifth in Race 2 after a crash and a penalty, allowing Bulega to extend his Championship lead to 55 points, now more than a round’s maximum available total of 50. The pair will face off again at Imola with the Yamaha rider’s goal clear: cut the gap to Bulega and halt his momentum after his Donington double. With half the season gone, Manzi will need to start his fightback at the challenging Imola circuit.

LOOKING FOR MORE: will MV Agusta be back on form?

MV Agusta scored only 16 points at Donington, their lowest tally of the season. They lost ground to Yamaha in the Manufacturers’ Championship while Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) dropped to fourth in the Riders’ Championship. Schroetter will be looking for a rostrum return at Imola but he will need to undergo a medical check on Thursday after he was declared unfit at Donington following a Race 2 crash. Teammate Bahattin Sofuoglu fell to seventh, behind Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team). The Turkish star raced at Imola in Italian Supersport 300 back in 2021, taking pole position and winning the second race. Will Sofouglu’s experience at a circuit WorldSSP hasn’t visited since 2019 aid him in 2023, or could it be his steepest learning curve yet?

RACED AT IMOLA BEFORE: hoping to start a step ahead

Barcelona Race 2 winner Sofuoglu isn’t the only rider to have Imola experience. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) were on the podium in the last visit there, while Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), continuing to replace Can Oncu, scored a podium in 2016. Finland’s Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) was seventh in 2018 and all will be hoping that their previous success at the historic circuit will give them a head start when action begins on Friday.

BUILDING FROM DOINGTON: strong form to continue?

Two riders took their best-ever WorldSSP finish in the UK and will be looking to build on that as the Championship heads back to Italy. Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) leads the WorldSSP Challenge following a sixth-place finish on home soil in Race 2, with the Brit showing incredible speed across the UK Round. Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) surged up the field for fourth in Race 2. Will their strong form continue at Imola?

RIDER LINE-UP CHANGES: the latest news from WorldSSP

A few riders will need to be passed fit to ride. Andrea Mantovani (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) crashed on Friday at Donington and was declared unfit with a left knee sprain, whereas Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing) had a shoulder contusion following a Donington crash. Apiwath Wongthananon (Yamaha Thailand Racing Team) will hope to be back in action too, with all three needing Thursday medical checks. In terms of wildcards, Luca Ottaviani (Extreme Racing Service) takes the number of MV Agusta machines on the grid to three as he returns to the Championship for the first time in a year. He previously raced in WorldSSP at Imola in 2019, taking 18^th place. He’s joined by Emanuele Pusceddu (J.Angel by Edafos) who will make his WorldSSP debut; he raced in STK600, the European Junior Cup and STK1000 previously, taking victory at Imola in the EJC in 2015.

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Tom Sykes (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had been enjoying a strong home round at Donington Park before a Race 2 crash brought his weekend to a premature end. The race was red-flagged in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with Sykes, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) all involved and the Brit has now posted an update on Instagram following his release from hospital, with the 2013 World Champion in his usual good spirits in his statement.

Sykes suffered fractures to ten ribs in the crash, including some multiple times, while he also sustained a thoracic injury and a left ankle injury. He was transported to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for further assessment where the 37-year-old remained until Sunday, a week after his crash, when he was able to leave the hospital.

In a statement on Instagram, Sykes said: “Here we are leaving the hospital exactly one week after entering it. I have so many people to thank but thankfully they all know who they are. But especially all of the medical staff from trackside at Donington, all the way to my stay through the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. What an amazing job they have all done. Also, my technical sponsors Dainese and Shark Helmets for doing an unbelievable job.

“I have ten broken right ribs and three of those ribs with a double fracture so essentially 13 fractures in the right rib cage (not ideal when you enjoy laughing!). Also, a fracture to the left ankle but that doesn’t count when ribs are involved. That is essentially the first hurdle done. Now I will focus on recovery and time with family and friends for my return. I want to thank everybody for the get well wishes. These are really appreciated and really do makes things that little bit easier. I really do appreciate and love the support.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Very few places get hairs standing up on end by just the mere mention of their name. Not many can lay claim to hosting the biggest motorsport World Championships and a small handful are recognised by such powerful corner names. Tamburello; Tosa, Piratella, Acque Minerali, Rivazza. This is the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari; to everyone else, it’s known as Imola. The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has seen the first half banked, with six rounds done and six more to come. The start of the second half couldn’t be kickstarted on a more iconic circuit: welcome to Imola.

THE TITANIC TRIO FIGHT RESUMES: more of the same at Imola?

All the talk coming into Imola is the fact that Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) turned Ducati’s fortunes at Donington Park around, but can he do the same at Imola. He will be competitive – like he was in his first year – but Imola is a circuit where experience, precision and understanding every little bump and nuance can make the difference, and that falls on the riders more than the bike. The ‘titanic trio’ were back to their best at Donington Park and we’re predicting that Imola’s quirkiness will also keep them close together this weekend too. In 2019, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) took his first podium of the season at Imola, whilst Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took his first wins and started a sensational comeback to a fifth title. Imola could be seen as a land of opportunity for Bautista’s rivals to make some sort of dent into his Championship lead, but can he do the same again as Donington Park and rip up the form guide?

BIG NAMES READY FOR IMOLA DEBUT: a jumbled-up order in the offing?

Of the seven remaining top ten riders in the Championship standings, five have never been to Imola in WorldSBK. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) has stated his excitement about heading to what really is his home round, but it will be his first time there on a Superbike. The same applies for Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), although he was 13^th in WorldSSP in 2016. Both are in the battle for third overall in the Championship – Rea splits them, third to fifth covered by 29 points. 

The next Imola ‘rookie’ in WorldSBK in the standings is Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), who took a first podium last time out and is currently getting better results in each of his last four races: 7^th, 5^th, 4^th and 3^rd. On his last visit to Imola, ‘Petrux’ won in the STK1000 class; could his experience, home-crowd and good form help him to more magical memories? Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) complete the top ten and after a difficult Donington Park for both, can they bounce back at what will be a completely new circuit for them?

Besides the top ten in the Championship, the big names continue to get ready for their first taste of Imola aboard WorldSBK machinery. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) will hope that a fresh circuit will bring a change in fortune, especially for the #7, as it’s been five races without a top ten, his worst run in WorldSBK from races he’s started. Then, Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) arrives to Imola off the back of his best result of the 2023 season with fourth in Race 2 at Donington Park. With it being an old-school layout, Redding may excel. There’s also a question mark over Redding’s teammate for the round, as Tom Sykes will be out injured after his Race 2 crash at Donington Park, whilst Michael van der Mark hopes to come back, but will only do so if he’s feeling fit enough. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) will also be making his debut there, and he usually goes strongly at new circuits, whilst teammate Loris Baz hopes his experience can give him a first top ten of 2023.

ELSEWHERE ON THE GRID: noteworthy stories and themes

In sixth place overall in the standings and in desperate need of a big result after a Donington Park disaster, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) will return to Imola, where he led a race for the first time in 2018 in his rookie season. The two seventh place results he achieved from that season remain his best at the track in WorldSBK, although he won the 2017 STK1000 race there. After suffering concussion at Donington Park, Rinaldi underwent an MRI scan which confirmed no lasting damage, although he’s still required to pass a final medical check on Thursday. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) seeks to use his Imola experience to put him inside the top six in the overall standings, with a best race result of fifth in his most recent race there. 

Further down the order, Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) returned to the top ten at Donington Park and will hope for more of the same for his team’s home round, whilst it will be the second home round of the season for Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha), who goes to Imola for the first time in his professional racing career. Brad Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) will see whether the progress at Misano and Donington Park will bring another step at Imola, and with the Italian venue being somewhat quirky, similar to tracks in the UK, it could be a ‘new familiarity’ for Ray this weekend. 

Hafizh Syahrin (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team), teammate Eric Granado, Isaac Vinales (TPR Team Pedercini Racing), Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing MOVISIO) and Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) all take to Imola for the first time on a Superbike, although Vinales raced in WorldSSP in 2019 at the track, finishing eighth, whereas Konig made an appearance in WorldSSP300 at the track in 2019 too. 

Don’t forget, get the FREE Official Programme here whilst you can watch our latest documentary, ‘The Showdown’, about Imola 2002!, Finally, enjoy all the action from our return to Imola LIVE and wherever you are with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returns to Italy and the historic Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola for Round 7 of 2023. The Prometeon Italian Round features WorldSBK, WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 for three thrilling days of action. It all starts at 09:45 Local Time (GMT+2) on Friday with WorldSSP300 FP1, followed by WorldSBK and WorldSSP. The afternoon action begins at 14:15, with WorldSSP300 FP2 starting track time before WorldSBK at 15:00 and WorldSSP at 16:00. On Saturday, WorldSBK FP3 starts the day at 09:00 followed by three Tissot Superpole sessions: 09:45 for WorldSSP300, 10:25 for WorldSSP and 11:10 for WorldSBK. Racing action starts at 12:40 with WorldSSP300 Race 1 with WorldSBK Race 1 at 14:00 and WorldSSP Race 1 at 15:15. Warm Up sessions kickstart Sunday action before diving straight into races. The Tissot Superpole Race is at 11:00, followed by WorldSSP Race 2 at 12:30, WorldSBK Race 2 at 14:00 and WorldSSP300 Race 2 rounding out the weekend at 15:15.

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Friday, 14^th July (all times Local Time, GMT+2)

09:00-09:30 – Yamaha R3 European Championship Free Practice

09:45-10:15 – WorldSSP300 Free Practice 1

10:30-11:15 – WorldSBK Free Practice 1

11:25-12:10 – WorldSSP Free Practice 1

13:30-14:00 – Yamaha R3 European Championship Superpole

14:15-14:45 – WorldSSP300 Free Practice 2

15:00-15:45 – WorldSBK Free Practice 2

16:00-16:45 – WorldSSP Free Practice 2

Saturday, 15^th July

09:00-09:30 – WorldSBK Free Practice 3

09:45-10:05 – WorldSSP300 Tissot Superpole

10:25-10:45 – WorldSSP Tissot Superpole

11:10-11:25 – WorldSBK Tissot Superpole

11:45 – Yamaha R3 European Championship Race 1 (10 laps)

12:40 – WorldSSP300 Race 1 (13 laps)

14:00 – WorldSBK Race 1 (19 laps)

15:15 – WorldSSP Race 1 (17 laps)

16:15 – Yamaha R3 European Championship Race 2 (10 laps)

Sunday, 16^th July

09:00-09:15 – WorldSBK Warm Up

09:25-09:40 – WorldSSP Warm Up

09:50-10:05 – WorldSSP300 Warm Up

11:00 – WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race (10 laps)

12:30 – WorldSSP Race 2 (17 laps)

14:00 – WorldSBK Race 2 (19 laps)

15:15 – WorldSSP300 Race 2 (13 laps)

Source: WorldSBK.com

As the 2023 FIM Supersport World Championship rumbles through each round, key stories are coming to life and that’s what happened at Donington Park for the Prosecco DOC UK Round. Taking a career-best sixth place finish at a circuit he loves, Britain’s Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) was right in the mix across the whole weekend and was one of the riders to watch throughout. 

Battling hard, the 27-year-old from Shropshire in England was looking like one of the podium contenders right through the weekend, but then in Tissot Superpole, he suffered a crash at the start of the session on the exit of the Foggy Esses. After getting the bike back to the pits, the team worked frantically to get the #69 back out on circuit but it was to no avail, as he got out but not to set a new lap time, leaving him mired in 13^th and on the fifth row of the grid. 

However, British grit, determination and pluckiness saw Booth-Amos keep his cool come the races, surging through the field to take a ninth in Race 1, capitalising on a late collision for Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) at the final corner on the last lap. Having to come through again in Race 2, it was an even better race for the Brit, with track position being key. He got a flying start and was already ninth by the end of Lap 1, five places higher than his Race 1 opening lap. 

From there, he was able to get ahead of Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) for P8, as well as Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) for P6, with Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) also crashing and re-joining behind. Manzi and Booth-Amos battled on track with the Italian getting ahead twice at the Melbourne Loop, leaving home-hero Booth-Amos in P7. However, a dramatic highside for Marcel Schroetter on the exit of the final corner pushed him up to sixth, which he held until the flag.

Speaking about his career-best result, the 27-year-old was elated with what was a breakthrough ride: “That’s what we’ve been aiming for all year but it’s been difficult with the new electronics. We’ve been trying to figure it out since we started but now it’s starting to come together. Every weekend, we can see the progress. I know I can do it so that’s the main thing. Being at home gave me a bit more motivation to get a good result. I love going to Donington Park, and it’s one of my favourite tracks so I kind of new that I’d go well there, especially after what I did in BSB. We weren’t expecting it but we knew we’d be up there somewhere. It didn’t really help crashing in Superpole and starting so far back as it made my life such hard work, that’s for sure!”

Up next for Booth-Amos, Imola, a circuit which he hasn’t visited before, but the double top ten from Donington Park will be just the springboard the three-time WorldSSP300 race winner wants, as he looks to make it a hat-trick of top ten results on the bounce in consecutive races for the first time since graduating to World Supersport.

“For the next few rounds, I’ve proved my point and I know I can run at the front. I just have to carry it on,” said the #69, who is back in action at Snetterton for British Supersport duties this weekend, where he’s third in the Championship with two wins. “The team know I can do it; obviously, we’re still on the old 600cc Supersport bike, so it’s not easy against the new Next Generation bikes. As long as we keep doing what we’re doing, pushing for the top six or top eight every weekend, that’s the goal moving forward. Thanks to the team for working hard and fixing the electronics issues we’ve had this year.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) has undergone further tests following his crash at Donington Park last weekend. The Ducati rider crashed out in Race 2 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as he looked to avoid a crash ahead of him, with Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) unable to avoid the Italian. Rinaldi was taken to the medical centre for a check following the crash where he was diagnosed with a mild concussion and a right ankle injury.

In a statement released on Thursday, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati provided a further update on Rinaldi. It said: “Michael Rinaldi underwent a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan (two days ago) to rule out any long-term damage. The results of the examination confirmed normal brain function. Next Thursday (before the event), the rider will undergo all the required functional medical tests, in order to assess the consequences of the concussion and confirm that he is clear to ride at his home round.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

It was a weekend of more progress for American rider Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), as the #31 showed plenty of potential right across the Prosecco DOC UK Round. With the halfway mark of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship reached this past weekend at Donington Park, Gerloff was up inside the top five at points and had a double top ten finish on Sunday, as he and the Bonovo Action BMW squad edge closer to the front with four top ten results in the last six races.

Donington Park is a happy hunting ground for Gerloff, with a podium in his first season visiting the track coming in Race 2, 2021, albeit on Yamaha machinery – it remains his best WorldSBK finish with P2. However, after switching to BMW for this season and taking P10 in his first race for the brand, it would be his only top ten in the opening nine races. However, in Barcelona, Gerloff came on strong with a hat-trick of top ten finishes and a best of seventh in the Superpole Race. In Race 2 at Donington, he was straight into the top five on the opening lap of the restarted Race 2, and held the position for three laps, before slipping to sixth until Lap 11, when he dropped one place back to P7. However, a mistake on Lap 13 dropped him to P9, but he held it until the end.

Speaking about the weekend, Gerloff said: “I felt it’s been going better and better. It’s nice to feel like we’ve been making progress. There hasn’t been a ton of progress in terms of the position that we’re finishing in, that’s been a bit stagnant but in terms of how far away we are from the group in front of me or from the win, it’s been shrinking and shrinking. The competition is so tight this year… in the past at Donington Park, with ten seconds off the win, I could have been fourth. But now, there are more guys fighting for that position! So, it’s easier to go backwards and that’s what I did. 

“I got a great start and was inside the top five for the first time and I was pumped up, but I just had a couple of laps where I made a mistakes and I ended up going backwards and I was so frustrated with myself! I dropped back a little bit but at the end, I was right behind Locatelli and that group, so it’s nice to feel like we’re making progress. I know we’re going the right way.”

Gerloff has been one of the most consistent BMW riders in the last three rounds; the three top ten finishes in Barcelona saw him as top BMW each time and the only one inside the top ten. At Misano, he was the only one to score points in all three races, with the Superpole Race and Race 2 once again seeing him progress to the top ten with a best of eighth in the latter. In comparison to his teammate, Loris Baz, he’s also outperforming him – Baz has just four points-scoring finishes and no top ten finish thus far, although the Frenchman was injured at Mandalika and by no means fully fit at Assen. 

HAPPY GERLOFF: “It’s the first time I’ve consistently had fun racing in a while!”

Elaborating about one area to improve, the American stated: “I’ve been trying to work a lot on putting myself in the right position. I’ve been struggling with starts this year, so from the red light to the first 60mp/h. I haven’t been able to get a good start and get off the line. That’s been costing me into Turn 1 as by the time I get there, I’ve lost two or three positions or they’re next to me and it’s really hard to defend that. It’s not my reaction time, just the ability to let the clutch out in the right way and be driving forward. At Donington, I started to try and start in a different way; before, I was doing it like I had in the past. In Race 2, I finally got it right! It made a huge difference and whereas usually two people who start behind me come up next to me, I was moving past people who were a row ahead of me. It’s a different dynamic into Turn 1 then. It’s a things to keep improving on.”

Half of the 2023 season is done and it’s been a season with a new team for Gerloff, who praised the Bonovo Action BMW outfit and the atmosphere within the team: “The atmosphere has been awesome; Les Pearson, my crew chief and Andy Leivers, my electronics guys, we work so well together as a trio. We go over the data so good together and we have a ton of fun. This year with this team, not just Les and Andy but the mechanics, the boss and manager, it is such a good group of people and I’ve had so much fun with the team. It’s the first time I’ve consistently had fun racing in a while. That really puts a nice atmosphere to keep learning and keep improving; if it’s always negative or if you’re not doing good enough, then it really discourages you. With us having as much fun as we are, it keeps everybody engaged and focused; it’s just such a nice atmosphere.”

“TRACK TIME HAS BEEN HUGE” – you can’t rush progress

Evaluating his 2023 so far, the 27-year-old has felt progress in his first year with BMW: “From the beginning of the year, we’ve made steps with chassis and geometry, which made the bike feel more normal and natural with how everything has worked. In the last couple of the rounds, we’ve been in a good shape with the geometry but we’ve made steps with the electronics, which has especially helped. Andy’s been doing an epic job; if I have an issue, then he’s good at improving the feeling. He looks at everything closely and he’s done a great job at giving me what I want.

“Track time has been huge. In Australia and Indonesia, I’d had testing but it didn’t feel natural or like my bike, it just felt like a bike. When we came back to Europe, Assen was OK and it felt better but then in Barcelona, everything started to feel a bit more like it was mine. We made changes to setup and that was really good. That comes after having enough track time and trying different setups. When we’re trying to make small adjustments, you want to do it slowly and make sure they’re going in the right direction. Otherwise, if you haphazardly say it did work but you’re not really sure, then you can get lost.”

TOP 5 THE TARGET: “I think it’s reasonable if we can keep going in the way we’re going”

“I hope to be consistently fighting for top Independent but that’s not going to be easy!”, continued the #31. “Petrucci just went out and got a third place and Axel Bassani has been riding really strong this year, as well as the GRT guys at certain tracks. My team deserves it too, to be consistently recognised. I’d imagine, based on how strong the other Independents are, it means fighting for the top five. I hope that’s the case; I think it’s reasonable if we can keep going in the way we’re going.” 

The next round of 2023 will also be Gerloff’s first time at Imola, a track he’s been relishing to get to: “For me, I seem to be good at learning new tracks; I like going to them. I have no past history there, positive or negative. There’s nothing in my mind to distract me from just riding. Imola will be cool and I’ve always watched that track ever since I started road racing. It’s been one of my favourites just because of how crazy it is. Up and down, through the trees, it looks epic! It reminds me of a lot of American tracks as it’s an anti-clockwise track. Also, they’re mostly natural terrain tracks. All things considered, I hope to be strong there because it’s similar to what I’ve been used to in the USA. I think it might be a good start.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

We’re halfway there in the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship; six rounds down and six waiting in anger. As is always the case, the rider market for the following year is always active and looking to 2024, that’s no different. However, it’s not just from riders who are on the grid or are looking to move from other paddocks, its riders wanting to return to the sport as a whole.

MORE THAN A RUMOUR: could ‘The Maniac’ cause the craziest jolt in the rider market?

Andrea Iannone has been one of the names banded around the WorldSBK paddock for a few rounds now and was actually seen at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” in May for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round. There, he stated his aim to be on the WorldSBK grid for 2024 and that he enjoyed his experience within the paddock, even if it was as a guest for the time being. Now, after the Prosecco DOC UK Round, Marco Barnabo has said “never say never” on the possibility that ‘The Maniac’ joins up with his Barni Spark Racing Team. 

Speaking about the possibility of Andrea Iannone coming to join the WorldSBK paddock and potentially doing so with his team, Marco Barnabo said: “He is a great talent rider and I am sure he could be really good in this Championship. However, now my focus is on the work with Danilo. So, as the project is not well defined and until we start getting the results we set, I don’t know if we’ll be able to do something more of this. Never say never!”

It comes after current rider Danilo Petrucci, in his Saturday afternoon debrief at Donington Park, responded to a question about Iannone being his potential teammate in a two-bike Barni Ducati line-up, as well as his good friendship with his ex-MotoGP™ rival: “He’s already texted me! We were texting just five minutes ago. He said ‘I wish I can be there next year’; it would be fun! It’s not my job this time for sure! Jokes apart, Andrea is a really a good talent. I would like to see him in this Championship. It would be a good step.”

BARNI BACK ON THE BOX: “We never gave up in these five years”

It was an emotional return to the podium for the team, with Marco Barnabo elated at the good turn in fortune for the team in 2023 after a difficult period of time: “The project with Petrucci started a while ago. I tried for several years to bring him back with me after 2011. Clearly, he had great opportunities but we always kept in contact, we trust each other and we’re friends. When this chance emerged, we took it.

“I am very happy; we worked a lot on the bike as it’s very different compared to Bautista’s, and we still have to work to adapt it to Danilo. I’m sure if we can go on like now, we’ll get very good results in 2023 with him. We are very happy about this podium; it has been missed for a long time! I’m very proud of the team, we never gave up in these five years and this podium is a reward for all the sacrifices we did.”

The five years that Marco talks about have been long; Xavi Fores taking second in 2018 during the inaugural Argentinian Round’s Race 2 was the last visit to the podium for the Italian team. Top ten results came with Michael Ruben Rinaldi in 2019 but in 2020, Leon Camier’s star-signing for the team ended in the British rider getting injured in testing at Aragon, never recovering and thus retiring from the racing side of the sport. Marco Melandri was drafted in and achieved a top ten, but later went back to his own retirement, as Matteo Ferrari and Samuele Cavalieri stepped in. For 2021, Tito Rabat’s headline signing for the team ended in disappointment with a handful of top ten finishes, as Samuele Cavalieri once again returned, whilst a year later, Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi was given an opportunity after an impressive WorldSSP campaign, but later replaced by Xavi Fores for the final three rounds.

PETRUCCI TURNS IT AROUND: after Misano misfortune, Donington Park delight

Already in 2023, Danilo Petrucci has returned the team to some kind of form, regardless of the podium achieved at Donington Park. Two top ten finishes at Phillip Island were a solid start, whilst a top five at Mandalika saw the team back towards the pointy end. Assen was consistent whilst Barcelona was difficult, but it was perhaps Misano where it was all about ‘what could’ve been’ for the team. Crashing out of a podium-contending fourth in Race 1, ‘Petrux’ salvaged a P7 in Race 2 after a crash in the Superpole Race.

The drought was almost ended in Race 1 at Donington Park but Petrucci, back at the track for the first time since 2009, had one clear image from Misano stopping a late, potentially race-costing charge to Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who eventually took P3: “I had a clear image in my mind of the team owner, Marco, with his head in his hands from Misano, and I thought, ‘I don’t want to repeat that again!’. So, I was on the limit. Maybe Jonny, when I was able to catch him, made two or three mistakes and I was able to catch him but then, the last two laps, I said, ‘I have nothing more to give.’ I decided, OK, maybe it is better to score some points!”

Donington Park welcomed the 32-year-old double MotoGP™ race winner onto the front row for the first time, before a hat-trick of top five finishes and a first podium in Race 2, with the #9 stating that he’ll “drink a lot of beers” in celebration. It’s the first time the Barni Spark Racing Team have achieved three consecutive top five finishes since Assen and Imola in 2018 with Fores, who achieved four in a row with 5^th, 4^th, 5^th, 4^th. With Imola up next for Petrucci and Barnabo’s team, do bigger achievements lies ahead?

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Source: WorldSBK.com

While Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) was out in front at Donington Park, a few riders were quietly impressing as they searched for their best result in the FIM Supersport World Championship. One of these was Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) as he claimed fourth place in Race 2 during the Prosecco DOC UK Round while he also racked up an impressive 23 points across the round, the most he has scored in a single round since graduating to WorldSSP.

In Friday’s Free Practice 1, held in mixed conditions, Huertas completed 16 laps and his best time was around half a second down on pacesetter Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) as he finished seventh. Friday’s Free Practice 2 was held in wet conditions and the 2021 WorldSSP300 Champion was one of a handful of riders who did not set a time with track conditions worse than in FP1 thanks to the rain.

On Saturday, Huertas took fifth place in the Tissot Superpole session as he lapped around eight tenths down on Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) as the Italian obliterated the eight-year-old lap record. 19-year-old Huertas narrowly missed out on P4 on the grid when fellow Kawasaki rider, Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), pipped him by just 0.003s. In Race 1, Huertas was in the podium fight before dropping out of it in the closing stages of the 19-lap race as he finished in sixth, 12 seconds off the podium.

The gap to the podium reduced by a huge eight seconds in Race 2 as Huertas finished just four seconds off the rostrum in fourth. He was also just eight seconds down on Bulega in Race 2, a gap that reduced from 18 seconds in Race 1, as Huertas made a step forward to secure his best-ever result in World Supersport since making his debut in 2022. His 23-point haul from the UK, beating his previous best of 16 from the 2023 Emilia-Romagna Round.

Talking about his weekend, Huertas said: “It was a positive weekend. Little by little, race by race, I am recovering the feelings that I lost after the injury. The results are on show and both me and the team are making progress. I’m still not 100%, I have some discomfort, but I’ve learned to live with it. When you come back from an injury and don’t win, you need more time on track. In FP2 we decided not to go out on track, so I was able to do very few laps over the weekend. I hadn’t been able to try a long run either, so we went into the race a bit blind. But we knew how to solve it quite well.

“On Saturday, I had problems with the bike. The team made a small mistake in the choice of tyres and, in the race, we had a problem with the fuel pump, which gave me a failure and I was losing between half a second and eight tenths per lap. On Sunday. we went out with everything more in order and I was where I should have been.”

Expanding on his best WorldSSP result and weekend, Huertas added: “This will be the trend until the end of the season. I think they are the positions that I deserve. Imola will be a more complicated weekend because I don’t know the track. I’ve never been, when I was in WorldSSP300 it was the year we didn’t race there due to Covid-19, and we haven’t been back until now. It will be a somewhat more complicated weekend, but we’ll get it right. Then there are circuits that I quite like.”

Huertas is getting closer to the front of the field, a trend he showed in his first season before his injuries in Australia this year disrupted his season. He effectively missed both races at Phillip Island and Mandalika before returning at Assen and showing his potential again as WorldSSP returned to Europe. Currently 12^th in the Championship, the Spaniard will be looking to burst into the top ten sooner rather than later; he is currently five points behind Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in tenth. 

Discussing how far he is from his rivals, Huertas said: “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have much to do, I think I have nothing to envy of the riders ahead of me. The problem is that, due to certain aspects, I am not being able to reach them, but I hope to continue working with the team as up to now and find something. Even if the Kawasaki is at a disadvantage, we can replace it.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com