Sunday’s race saw Marco with his X-802R USA SPECIAL on the podium once again, with a third place despite his determination to fight for the top spot. Debut a bit up and down for Nicolò Canepa, who replaced a recovering Carlos Checa. Canepa showed real promise in practice and gained a lot of experience in this race. Well done to both Salom, 11th in race 1 and 9th in race 2, for the first time on the Kawasaki, and Aitchison 10th and 13th.
Melandri is now 4th in the championship standings.
Next race in France on October 6
Marco Melandri: Nolan X-802R
Race 1: 4th
“Today’s race was closely fought unfortunately, with a negative outcome for me. The two red-flags in some ways helped me because in the first two parts of the race I could not go as fast as I wanted. Then, before the third start, we made some changes and finally I had a good speed. I started quite well; I had a good race pace and I wanted to be in front. Unfortunately, on this track it is very difficult to overtake. I tried it in every way but I did not succeed. With this result we have lost important points and I am sorry for that. Tomorrow we will see what will happen in race two.”
Race 2: 3rd
“Today was a quite positive day. It was not easy, even if I got the best result I could achieve. I want to thank my team; they did a very good job. Unfortunately, during the first part of the races I struggled with the front, so I needed a long race to catch up with the guys in front of me. This was not possible yesterday as the race was not long enough. But today, I could push in the second half of the race and I got on the podium. There are still many points still available. It will not be easy, but I still want to win some more races.”
Ayrton Badovini: X-lite X-802R
Race 1: 9th
“I’m pleased on the one hand because in the final race I was able to make my best lap, so it was going a little better than in the first two ‘heats’ but unfortunately I’m really paying physically at this track. As I can’t push with my foot, I’m having to compensate with my arms and after eight or nine laps I just can’t keep the pace up. I’d been to the clinica mobile for painkilling injections prior to the race but I was still suffering during the race. Anyway we’ve done what we could today. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow but the way I’m feeling right now I think I’ll really struggle to make 26 consecutive laps.”
Race 2: dnf
“I’m ok and haven’t done any more physical damage luckily. I just went straight and finished in the sand. Physically my foot wasn’t so much the problem. I was just getting tired because I haven’t been able to train properly in recent weeks. I want to thank the clinica mobile for all its help and support this weekend. I’m not happy because we’re worked on the bike but we haven’t been able to find the right set-up. We’ll need to work more on the set-up at magny-cours in order to understand which direction to move in.”
Niccolò Canepa: Nolan X-802R
Race 1: dnf
“Unfortunately I was having a little trouble in the first ‘heat’ and this meant that we started further back in the second. In trying to make up lost ground I unfortunately, made a mistake and fell, losing the front. We’d made a small change to try and improve the bike but it didn't have the desired result, perhaps the heat also affected the performance of the front of the bike. Tomorrow we’ll make another change and hopefully I’ll be able to put together a good race.”
Race 2: 15th
“It’s a pity about the race results, especially race 2, as I felt good and was keeping pace with those in front without too much difficulty. The changes we made this morning were very useful and the front of the bike gave me a good feeling. Unfortunately, Melandri forced me a little wide through the second turn and, not wanting to lose ground, I pushed too hard and crashed. Luckily the bike was ok even if the gear shifter was broken, and I was able to return to the track and finish the race. Summing up the weekend, I think we’ve done a good job here, considering our performance in the practices and qualifying. We were able to place inside the top five in several sessions, and qualify fourth. I think we’ve demonstrated this weekend that the bike can run up at the front and, if we had more time and more races during which to work, it would surely become easier and more enjoyable.”
Michel Fabrizio: X-lite X-802R
Race 1: 13th
“It’s been a very strange day because this morning in free practice and in super pole I was happy and I had a good feeling with the bike. My starting position was not good but I was looking forward to the race. I don’t know what happened because we didn’t change anything for the race. The track temperature was maybe a little higher but I had very big problems with grip at the front. We are looking through the data now to see if we can find the problem, but I hope it will be better tomorrow."
Race 2: 10th
“Starting from the fifth row was difficult, but after the changes that we made after warm-up this morning, my confidence in the front was much better and I was able to do 1m24s laps in the race, so I was very happy. I felt much more comfortable on the bike and although the result is not perfect, I think I could have finished higher with a better starting position. I am happy that we were able to make these steps forward after the problems earlier in the weekend.”
