Imola (Italy), Sunday 30 June 2013: unfortunately, after making a positive start to the race weekend, Team SBK Ducati Alstare and riders Ayrton Badovini and Carlos Checa experienced a difficult day today at the Imola circuit. Badovini concluded the day’s two Superbike races in eighth and tenth position, Checa eleventh and twelfth.
Race 1 – Ayrton, eighth on the grid, lost a couple of positions through the first laps and was lying twelfth by lap five, followed by his team-mate Carlos, thirteenth. The Italian was able to pass Haslam during the course of the next lap, and then Baz to place himself ninth by mid-race. His fastest laps arrived during the second half of the race but unfortunately, due to a gap of roughly six seconds that had opened up between him and the group immediately ahead of him, Ayrton was unable to improve much further on his position, thus concluding the race in final eighth position. Carlos, suffering from grip issues from early on, rode a solitary second half of the race, maintaining his position to cross the line in eleventh place.
Race 2 – As in race one, and on hotter tarmac (54˚C) with respect to race one, Ayrton lost a little ground in the opening stages, to position himself eleventh by lap five. For the entire second half of the race he chased down Cluzel, managing to pass the Frenchman through the very last corner to cross the line in final tenth place. Carlos, thirteenth on the grid, made up a position through the first laps but was unable to catch those in front due to rear traction problems. He finished the race in twelfth position.
Carlos Checa: “This weekend has been hard. Honestly I expected to take a step forward here at Imola but it didn’t go as we’d hoped. We’ve made a series of changes over the weekend but they haven’t brought the desired results. I had problems with grip at the rear of the bike in both races and it was difficult to change direction. I’m disappointed and sorry for the team that has worked so hard again this weekend. We definitely have a lot of work to do during the upcoming tests in order to understand how to improve…”
Ayrton Badovini: “Up until yesterday everything was going really well but today temperatures were a lot higher and so there was less grip, not a lot of traction. The first race wasn’t bad but I lost too much time at the start unfortunately. We made some small changes for race two but the track was even hotter and it was even more difficult. I’m not happy with today’s results because I really thought I could do better but in general I can say that I’ve made a small step up with my bike this weekend. I want to thank all the fans who came here to support us today. They can be sure that we’ll continue to work hard in testing over the coming days.”
RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Giugliano (Aprilia); 3. Laverty (Aprilia). Race 2 – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki); 2. Rea (Honda); 3. Guintoli (Aprilia).
CLASSIFICATION:
Riders – 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 235; 2. Guintoli (Aprilia) 229; 3. Laverty (Aprilia) 190; 4. Melandri (BMW) 182; 5. Davies (BMW) 154; 6. Baz (Kawasaki) 136; 7. Rea (Honda) 125; 8. Fabrizio (Aprilia) 120… 13. Checa (Ducati Alstare) 59; 14. Badovini (Ducati Alstare) 59…
Manufacturers – 1. Aprilia 289; 2. Kawasaki 259; 3. BMW 237; 4. Honda 138; 5. Suzuki 122; 6. Ducati 96
