After yesterday’s interruptions, Team Bimota Alstare looked forward to a full day of practice and qualifying without any disruptions and, by and large, that’s what happened. There was one red flag incident, but Ayrton Badovini and Christian Iddon were able to string together a number of laps and try different ideas in today’s hot conditions at Imola.
Both riders qualified for Superpole 2 and Ayrton was heading towards Superpole 2, but was overtaken right at the end of the session. He finished 16th fastest and Christian 19th, but both are looking forward to tomorrow’s pair of 19 lap races and challenging for the top EVO spot.
Ayrton Badovini – 16th, 1:48.909
“I am not completely happy because I couldn’t find a good setting for my bike today and so I could not push as hard as I wanted to. The bike is working OK on race tyres but we need more time to try different things so that we can improve it.
On my first lap in Superpole, my qualifying tyre didn’t give me much grip or traction and I think I went just as fast on my race tyres – so that is a positive for the races tomorrow.
I had a crash today, when the exhaust touched down and I was flicked off the bike. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any injury, but the mechanics had a lot of work to do. But they managed to get the bike ready for the next session and I want to give them a big ‘thank you’ for that.”
Christian Iddon – 19th, 1:49.997
“It was a pretty frustrating day for me. We tried a lot of different things, but didn’t make the progress we expected. It is a shame because the whole team worked so hard and I feel a bit bad because I couldn’t give them better results.
We will go through all the data tonight and see how we can improve the bike. I did my good lap times on race tyres, so that is one thing that is a positive ahead of tomorrow. I like this track and, if we can get the bike to work better, I think I can get some good results.”
