Another full sunny day welcomed the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship this saturday in Imola, with Leon Camier starting 4th on the grid and finishing 6th in a red-flagged WorldSBK Race1. Outstanding performance by PJ Jacobsen, who got his third seasonal pole position in the WorldSSP Tissot-Superpole2.
WorldSBK – Fp3, SP2, Race1
Camier, who here at Imola has continued his work on the new swingarm, gets a great 5th lap time in the FP3 session early this morning, showing off an excellent pace, second only to that of the first two Ducati and Kawasaki. The Ashford Kent (UK) rider then set the 4th time (1’46.434) in the Tissot-Superpole2, securing the 2nd row in Race 1 grid.
At the start of the WorldSBK race, Camier loses some position but he is able to stay close to the front group and, after a long battle with Eugene Laverty, he can finally pass the Irish rider by taking the top 6 position. The race will be declared red-flagged at six laps from the end due to a crash between Laverty and Lowes, with Camier ending up 6th and stepping up to the 8th place in the Championship Standings. Under the new rules, Camier will kick off Race2 tomorrow from the 3rd place on the grid.
WorldSSP – FP3, SP2
After securing the 3rd time in the early morning FP3, Patrick Jacobsen was the fastest rider in the Tissot-Superpole2 heat, with the American rider going to take his third pole in only five rounds. Bad luck for his teammate Alessandro Zaccone, who got the 12th position after being forced to retire from the Tissot-Superpole2 due to a crash after a few laps.
Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – Definitely a good race and a great qualifying session. I am very happy with this result, especially because the bike worked really well for all the weekend so far. Maybe the weather will change a bit tomorrow and we have to work again on the bike’s setting; also we need to be stronger at the beginning of the race. I love this track, people here are amazing and I really look forward to another big race tomorrow.
Patrick “PJ” Jacobsen #99 WorldSSP – I am absolutely happy with my result today because this is an home race for MV Agusta and I really wanted this pole position, for my team and myself. The race tomorrow will be tough but I feel I can still improve my pace and I will be do my best to achieve the best result for all the MV Agusta fans.
Alessandro Zaccone #61 ESS – Definitely too bad crashing in qualifying session. We are improving day by day here at Imola and this means that we finally found the right direction with the setting of the bike. I start having fun and I feel I can ride my bike the way I like the most. Now we have to settle back for tomorrow’s race and hopefully we could achieve our best result here in Imola.
