Fifth place for day in Superstock 1000 Cup at Imola
Josh Day took his Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to fifth place in today’s third round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at Imola in Italy. It was another good result that allows to the new team to take positives out of what was otherwise a difficult weekend.
Hopes were high for the team’s two Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP-mounted riders, Day and Kyle Smith, who qualified in seventh and eighth places respectively. American Day (main picture) rode well to take fifth place after 14 laps of Imola’s 4.936km Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, but Smith crashed out of contention, remounting to finish in 16th place at the flag.
In the European Superstock 600 championship race on Saturday evening, Italian rider Kevin Manfredi put in a dazzling ride on his Honda CBR600RR machine after starting from 15th place on the grid. The diminutive Italian carved his way through to sixth place before crashing out on the penultimate lap of the 12-lap race.
His New Zealand team-mate Jake Lewis finished just outside the points in 16th place but the team’s third rider, Harry Stafford, was taken to hospital after a qualifying crash left him with a broken nose and a right arm fractured in three places.
The Superstock championships now have a six-week break before re-assembling for the second Italian round at Misano on 20-22 June.
Rider quotes:
Josh Day – Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, 5th
“We’ve had a good weekend and the bike is beginning to feel like it’s mine every time I get on it. We made quite a bit of headway with suspension so we didn’t lose so much time in the practice session. It really paid off with good qualifying and a good race result. We didn’t chase a set-up this weekend, just did laps and got a feel for the bike and the track conditions. The race was a bit up and down, but I was happy with fifth; thanks to the whole team and we’ll just see how it goes at Misano.”
Kyle Smith – Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, 16th
“We struggled with set-up a bit but finally got a decent setting for qualifying. In the race I had some problems which were pushing me into corners and eventually it pushed a bit too far. It’s a problem that we’ve had in testing, but not during a race before. I hope we can fix it for the next race and be up there again.”
Kevin Manfredi – European Superstock 600, DNF
“I really enjoyed the weekend until the last moment. I had a good race and I had fourth place in sight, which would have been a good result after my qualifying. Unfortunately, I crashed so I was very disappointed to be unable to bring the bike home, but I just wanted to keep pushing. I’m sorry for the team but we will try to come back stronger at Misano.”
Jake Lewis – European Superstock 600, 16th
“It’s not a great result, of course, and I was unhappy that I could not finish higher. Imola is a difficult circuit and I haven’t really gelled with it, either last year with the European Junior Cup, or this year on the CBR. I’ll have to hope for a better result next time.”
Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, round three – Imola, Italy
Result, 14 laps:
1 O Jezek (CZE) Ducati
2 F Massei (ITA) Ducati
3 L Mercado (ARG) Ducati
4 R Lanusse (FRA) Kawasaki
5 Josh Day (USA) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
6 B Nemeth (HUN) Kawasaki
16 Kyle Smith (GBR) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
Championship points after three rounds:
1 Mercado 52, 2 Jezek 45, 3 Savadori 33, 4 Valk 32, 5 Lussiana 31, 6 Massei 28, 9 Day 21, 12 Smith 16.
European Superstock 600 championship, round three – Imola, Italy
Result,12 laps:
1 M Faccani (ITA) Kawasaki
2 N Tuuli (FIN) Yamaha
3 S Casalotti (ITA) Yamaha
4 L Salvadori (ITA) Kawasaki
5 M Rinaldi (ITA) Yamaha
6 F Caricasulo (ITA) Honda
16 Jake Lewiz (NZL) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
DNF Kevin Manfredi (ITA) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
Championship points after three rounds:
1 Tuuli 58, 2 Faccani 56, 3 Tucci 39, 4 Tessels 39, 5 Salvadori 31, 6 Manfredi 27, 18 Lewis 5
More, from a press release issued by VFT Racing:
Strategy Allows Menghi To Fight Hard & Claim Career Best WSS Result At Imola
Fabio Menghi and the VFT Racing Team continued their 100% record of point scoring finishes in 2014 after racing to 6th position at the end of an exciting 17 lap World Supersport race in Imola.
Moving up to 9th from his starting grid slot of 13th, the Italian initially battled hard with Kevin Wahr, Jack Kennedy and fellow Italian Alessandro Nocco, before a late surge saw him slice through the bunch of riders ahead to claim a career best World Championship finish in front of an appreciative crowd.
Menghi and the entire team were jubilant at the result and the whole team move on to Donington Park in a fortnight with renewed self-belief and confidence.
Fabio Menghi – 6th position: “We had a good strategy this weekend which we were able to benefit from today. I made a good start and I knew I just had to stay calm as we would have a chance towards the end. I am really happy with this result and I want to say a huge thanks to my entire team and all of our sponsors. I like racing in Imola and it was great to hear the fans at the end of the race. We can be excited about the rest of the season now.”
More, from a press release issued by H-Moto BMW:
Muresan Scores First H-Moto BMW Points Of 2014 In Imola With 8th At The Flag
Robert Muresan has scored H-Moto BMW’s first championship points of 2014 after a determined race long fight saw him claim 8th position in today’s FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup race at Imola today.
From the start Muresan was running 14th, but after settling into a rhythm, the hard charging Romanian fought his way into the top ten before a couple of decisive passes saw him claim not only his best result in the class, but also the best result for a Romanian rider ever.
Riccardo Cecchini also had an improved race compared to his qualifying performance and although still not 100% after his crash earlier in the weekend, he rode well to finish 22nd.
Robert Muresan – “We are very happy with today’s result and I am very happy with my H-Moto BMW team. The team works so hard and we did great job this race. We are very confident for the next rounds that we can continue to be the first BMW in the classification. This result is the best result ever for a Romanian rider, I thank the team, my family for all their support, and also the fans It was great to see so many people watching today. See you all in Misano.”
Riccardo Cecchini – “I was very sore during the race. I thought I could have done a bit better but the bike wasn’t feeling that great either. The next race is Misano so hopefully we can get a good result there.”
The next round of the championship is at Misano on June 22nd.