Heavy sky and strong gusts of wind welcomed the first race of the season at Phillip Island. The De Rosa – Badovini Italian duo gains the 3rd and 4th row on the grid for the WorldSSP race, while a puncture to the tire forces Jordi Torres to pull out from the first WorldSBK race of the season.
WorldSBK – Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse
The data acquired in the first day of testing allowed Torres to get a better feeling with his MV Agusta F4 RC machine, with the Spaniard getting the first position in the Tissot-Superpole1 and making into the last qualifying session. Unfortunately, because of a crash during the SP2, due to a technical problem, Torres couldn’t complete the first timed lap, forcing him to settle for the 4th row on the grid.
In Race 1, Torres starts fast from the grid and begin his attack to the Top 10 area. At the halfway point of the 22-laps Australian track, the Spaniard gets the 1oth position and tenths by tenths starts to bridge the gap with the riders ahead. When he was catching the riders, at 4 laps from the end, a puncture to the tire forced the Spaniard to stop and lose his first championship points of the season.
WorldSSP – Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag
Despite the incident in the previous tests slowed him down on the opening day, Ayrton Badovini gets back a good feeling with his MV Agusta F3 675, leading the Tissot-Superpole1 qualifying session.
After the SP2 final session, both the Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag’s Italian riders will finish into the top 10, with De Rosa getting the 8th position on the grid and Badovini, behind him, closing 10th.
For safety reasons, the WorldSSP race, scheduled for tomorrow at 13.30 local time, will feature a mandatory pit stop to change the tires, to be performed between lap 8 and 10.
Jordi Torres – I’m definitely disappointed with the way my first race with MV Agusta ended up. And it’s a real shame because during the Superpole I set a good pace and along with the team we made important steps forward on the bike’s setting. In the race, I fought a lot with Baz and Razgatlioglu and when I finally managed to pass them both, I started trying to catch Laverty and Van Der Mark. Unfortunately, at 4 laps from the end, I realized I suffered a puncture to my tire and I had to get back to the box. We are already working to analyze the data we got today and tomorrow we want to fight for the top positions in Race 2.
Raffaele De Rosa – In qualifying we didn’t manage to set a very fast lap but I have to say that we have a good pace and this makes me confident for tomorrow’s race. We must definitely make another step forward to reach the top positions but I’m happy with the way we are working and I cannot wait to get back on track for this first race.
Ayrton Badovini – Of course, I am very happy to get the access in SP2, because it was our goal today, but the most important thing for me is I have found a good feeling with the bike. Tomorrow we will face the race full of confidence on our potential, knowing we will be able to fight with the front group.
