Istanbul (Turkey), Saturday 14 September 2013: a combination of yesterday’s accident and rain during this morning’s session unfortunately conditioned qualifying for Ayrton Badovini and Team SBK Ducati Alstare who, as a result, will start tomorrow’s races at Intercity Istanbul Park from last position.
Due to rain overnight the track was damp for the start of this morning’s second qualifying session. Badovini, who could not participate in yesterday’s first qualifying as a result of a crash in the previous practice session, originally planned to try and complete a few laps this morning despite the pain in his swollen left ankle. When it started to rain towards the middle of the session however, the Italian rider realized that he would be unable to record a lap time with which to position himself within the top fifteen and qualify for Superpole. He therefore decided, together with his team, to remain in the garage. Badovini also sat out of the final free practice session on the recommendation of the Clinica Mobile’s doctors who have continued treatment in order to help reduce the swelling of the ankle in preparation for tomorrow’s races.
Having completed first practice yesterday, the Ducati Alstare rider can line up for tomorrow’s races, albeit from last position (sixteenth).
Ayrton’s team-mate Carlos Checa will unfortunately not return to the track this weekend after a crash yesterday morning left him with a contusion to the upper thorax and a suspected fracture of the left scaphoid.
Ayrton Badovini: “It didn’t make sense to try and ride today on the wet track. For now I can’t even get my foot in my boot – I tried a larger boot too but without success. So for today I’m resting up in the hope that my ankle is less swollen by tomorrow – it’s already looking a lot better than it did yesterday so I’m optimistic. Of course I would like to try and race tomorrow if my physical condition allows.”
