Despite not being able to get on the podium, Marco Melandri scored two great fourth places, limiting the damage on a tough circuit for his BMW. This allowed him to gain some points and catch up with his rivals ahead of him in the standings and giving him more confidence for the next races. More was expected from our Ducati riders Carlos Checa (only an 11th and 12th – surprising as he is a 5 time winner here) and Ayrton Badovini with an 8th and 10th. Excellent result for Michel Fabrizio with a 5th in race 1 and an eighth in race 2, while Leon Camier is 8th and 7th..
Barrier wins over Canepa in Superstock 1000 after a great race.
Melandri is still fourth in the Championship. The next race is on 21/7 in Moscow.
Here are the statements of the riders.
Marco Melandri Nolan X-802R:
"On this track unfortunately our bike struggled. I don’t think that we had a chance to win today, so this result is the best possible. Race one has been very hard. I struggled a lot to change direction by shortly opening the gas which I normally do and, unfortunately, I couldn’t do better. While in the previous races I had issues with new tyres, here in Imola we struggled a lot with used tyres instead. The race was physically very demanding and at the end of the race I was really tired.
In race two we tried to solve the issue with some changes to the front suspension but the situation did not improve. The bike remained nervous and when I tried to push harder the bike moved more and more. In the last part of the race Chaz passed me and it was very difficult to get the fourth place back. If he had not made a mistake he probably would have been in front in the end. The positive point is that as a result of today I have reduced the gap to the Aprilia riders."
Carlos Checa X-lite X-802R:
"This weekend has been hard. Honestly I expected to take a step forward here at Imola but it didn’t go as we’d hoped. We’ve made a series of changes over the weekend but they haven’t brought the desired results. I had problems with grip at the rear of the bike in both races and it was difficult to change direction. I’m disappointed and sorry for the team that has worked so hard again this weekend. We definitely have a lot of work to do during the upcoming tests in order to understand how to improve…"
Ayrton Badovini X-lite X-802R:
"Up until yesterday everything was going really well but today temperatures were a lot higher and so there was less grip, not a lot of traction. The first race wasn’t bad but I lost too much time at the start unfortunately. We made some small changes for race two but the track was even hotter and it was even more difficult. I’m not happy with today’s results because I really thought I could do better but in general I can say that I’ve made a small step up with my bike this weekend. I want to thank all the fans who came here to support us today. They can be sure that we’ll continue to work hard in testing over the coming days."
Michel Fabrizio X-lite X-802R:
"What I needed was the start of race 1 and race 2 in the bike in race 1 race 2 but unfortunately the temperature is too high the circuit has given us problems with rear grip and front. On one occasion I even touched his elbow and I pushed on the bike to raise it ... I played quite a joker. When I saw that I had put so bad, I preferred to defend the 8th position and take home points. We are well placed to be competitive in all the races and I'm disappointed because we could have what it takes to do it every time. In race 1 I left and came back still close to the podium ... I replied in race 2 but I was not as incisive as in race 1. Too bad."
Leon Camier X-lite X-802R:
"For some reason the tyre span on the rim today and there was nothing more that I could do, because I was pushing so hard and adapting my style to try and cope with the chatter. In the parts of the track where I didn't have chatter I was really fast and I think I could have caught the guys in front and challenged for the podium, but when I got to the points where the bike had chatter, there was nothing more I could do and I was so limited. On a positive note though we did a good job this weekend and without the problems we were strong. I think electronically we still need to improve, we've got it working really well with what we've got, but we need to try and come up with some better strategies that will help me put more power to the ground."
