Michel Fabrizio - Phillip Island 2012
BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team competed in the 2012 World Superbike Championship debut round of Phillip Island today. Michel Fabrizio finished 6th in race one but unfortunately crashed and ended race two prematurely. It was a tough weekend for Ayrton Badovini, who retired from both races.
In race one, which started at noon local time, Michel Fabrizio had a difficult race start and entered turn one in 15th position. Thanks to having good race pace, he managed to overtake numerous riders, getting into 7th by the last corner on the last lap, right behind Jonathan Rea. After getting a good exit, Fabrizio got into his rival’s slipstream and took 6th place just before crossing the finish line. It was a tough race for Ayrton Badovini who withdrew from the race due to a lack of rear grip.
Race two was problematic for the team. Michel Fabrizio lost the front of his BMW S 1000 RR at the “Honda” corner (turn four), during the fourth lap. At the time of the crash he was running in 10th position. After an attempt to rejoin the race he retired. Ayrton Badovini struggled again in race two and also ended race two prematurely.
Serafino Foti, BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team Manager, said
“It’s been a tough round and we’re not happy with the results, apart from Michel’s first race. If his start had been a better one, he would have had a higher finishing position. We have to work on that for the next event, as we cannot compromise the race in the early stages. Ayrton hasn’t yet found the right set-up for the bike. We’ll try to find the right solution for him so that he can get his competitiveness and motivation back. We will start afresh and do our best to overcome the difficulties that came out here in Australia, so that we’re ready for next round at Imola.”
Michel Fabrizio
Ayrton Badovini - Phillip Island 2012
“With the exception of the start I’m very happy about race one. On the other hand in race two after not starting well again, I lost the front at turn four. I don’t know what caused the crash. I took a slightly different line to usual, but the speed was the same. It’s a shame, because I felt comfortable riding the bike as never before. That’s racing. We’ll bounce back at Imola.”
Ayrton Badovini
“It’s been a hard weekend. I struggled riding the bike a lot. The goal is now to solve those problems in the break between now and Imola. The team worked hard to find a set-up that worked for me, but unfortunately we didn’t get there in time.”
Full World Superbike race one results here, race two results here.
