Potentially better results could have been scored by BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike team at Monza in the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship. Ayrton Badovini – the sole rider after James Toseland was forced to sit out the races - took a good sixth place, which could have been complemented by an equally good result in race one.
An off-track excursion on the second lap of race one prevented Ayrton from bettering eleventh as the lap-times showed the level competition of the top riders.
In race two, Ayrton was forced to slow to avoid falling riders at the first chicane but didn’t lose his nerve, finally managing a good sixth place, his best result of the season.
Ayrton said: “I am not happy, or perhaps not completely satisfied. On the straight in race one of the first lap I was penalized a lot, and it was hard to stay focused to finish the race. In race two, I lost several positions, and contact with the lead group, while avoiding the falling riders. I got back to sixth position but made up with the times during the race. I could have fought for a few positions ahead without problems. We take this result this weekend as a reference point from where we can improve and be more competitive. ”
In Superstock after the retirement of Sylvain Barrier in the first part of the race with engine failure, came the glory. Lorenzo Zanetti took his second victory in two successive Sundays by beating Davide Giugliano (Ducati) in the sprint by just 65 thousandths of a second. With this win Zanetti is now third in the FIM Cup and sits just thirteen points behind the leader.
Lorenzo said: “I am happy with the race. It’s my first World Superstock win and is a dream come true – made even better because of being in front of my home crowd. In qualifying I missed pole by making a mistake but in the race, thanks to the team, everything went the right way: fastest lap and victory. The championship is very close and it will be tough and there will be more difficult tracks, but today I realised a victory and we are working well on getting more. I’m sorry for Sylvain’s retirement as we could help each other and earn more points.”
Serafino Foti, sporting director of BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team said: “Overall a positive weekend. Ayrton put in a good performance in the first race but had a problem on the exit of the Ascari chicane. In the second, however, he was hindered by the Haslam/Rea/Smrz fall on the first lap. Without these two incidents he could have done even better. We are happy because after five months, our bike has reached a good level thanks to the hard work of the team. Now we will try to stay consistently in the top ten.
In Superstock, Lorenzo rode a smart race and maintained concentration after the red flag, earning his first victory on the restart. I am very sorry for Sylvian, in that, without the technical problem he would have fought to the last corner for the win, but that’s racing. He will definitely be back in the points soon.”
Race one report and results available here, race two results available here
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