With Leon Camier closing 4th in a thrilling and battled Race1 today at Portimao, Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse missed its first WorldSBK podium for just 0.342 seconds. In WorldSSP class PJ Jacobsen got the 3rd time after the Tissot-Superpole2 and tomorrow will kick off the race from the front row.
WorldSBK – FP3, SP2, Race 1
After finishing with the 3rd fastest time in this morning’s FP3 practice, the Tissot-Superpole2 played a bad joke for Leon Camier, forced to pull out of the session during the first lap because of an engine problem; since he couldn’t complete neither one lap, Camier has been forced to start the race from the 11th position on grid.
When the light goes out, Camier immediately finds the right feeling with the F4 RC set by Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse. Despite the disadvantaged position on the grid, the Brit rider begins an extraordinary comeback leading to 4th place, behind Marco Melandri, after only half a race. The perfect match between rider and bike allows Camier to quickly bridge the gap with Melandri, fighting for the the podium until the finish line. In the end, the the Ducati rider won the battle for just 0.342s.
Tomorrow at 15.00 local time Leon Camier will kick off race 2 from the pole position, because of his placement in today’s race 1.
WorldSSP – FP3, SP1, SP2
After getting a solid 3rd place in the FP3 this morning, Jacobsen returned to the track early in the afternoon for the last qualifying heat of Tissot-Superpole2. In the 15 minutes long session, the American rider was able to close again in 3rd position, earning the first row on the grid ahead of tomorrow’s WorldSSP race.
Alessandro Zaccone and his squad continues to work hard on the setting of his MV Agusta F3 675, ending the Tissot-Superpole1 session in 21st position, placing 2nd within the ESS class.
Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – I didn’t expect to recover so many positions but the bike was working really good and I was able to make some good passes in the beginning. I pushed hard so much in the last few laps trying to catch Melandri, but in the end I made a few little mistakes trying to close the gap and it wasn’t quite possibile to pass him. Anyway, I am definitely happy with this result and I want to thank all my team for their great job. I am really looking forward to tomorrow.
Patrick “PJ” Jacobsen #99 WorldSSP – I am very happy, today the bike’s setting was perfect and I was able to push hard for the whole Superpole session. Tomorrow we will start from the front row and it will be a huge opportunity to fight for the podium. Big thank to all my team, I will try to repay their work with a good placement tomorrow.
Alessandro Zaccone #61 ESS – Honestly, we still have a bit of work to do on the bike because we are a little bit too far from our potential positions. Of course, having missed the second round yesterday made the setting work very complicated. Now we just have to stay focused on tomorrow’s race, because from where we are right now, we can only improve.
