Althea Racing Team – Imola SBK preview

The fourth round of the World Superbike Championship will take place at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, over the weekend of the 9th, 10th, 11th May 2014.

The Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari is an auto and motorcycle racing circuit near the Italian town of Imola, 40 km east of Bologna and 80 km east of the Ferrari factory in Maranello.

The circuit and its adjoining facilities underwent renovation and upgrading works that started in November 2006 and were completed in September 2007. The works were overseen by Hermann Tilke, a well-known German architect specialized in the construction of racing circuits. The circuit is named after Ferrari’s late founder Enzo and his son Dino died respectively in the 1988s and 1950s.. Unlike many circuits, Imola actually runs in an anti-clockwise direction. 

Circuit main characteristics:

Length: m.4.936

Pole Position: left

Left turns: 13

Right turns: 9

Superbike – lap record: Tom Sykes – Kawasaki – 2012 – 1’47”552

Superbike – best lap: Tom Sykes – Kawasaki – 2012 – 1’46”748

Niccolò Canepa: “I am taking on the Imola round challenge more motivated than ever. The two victories at Assen and the first place in the EVO standings have given an enormous strength to me and the team. Imola is one of the historic circuits of Italian motorcycling. I feel at ease on this track having achieved good results in the past. My goal is to be of course top of my class and to defend the lead in the standings. At Imola there will be many fans of mine and I will try not to disappoint them”.