SUPERBIKE:
IKER LEUCONA RACE1: 9th
"Today was more challenging than it could have been. After making a good start in FP3, I felt confident that I’d be able to secure a place on the first two rows. But in the Superpole I crashed at turn 4. Luckily, I was able to pick up the bike and return to the garage. The team did a great job, changing only what was necessary for me to go out again and we managed to finish in eighth place, which is not bad after a crash but left me a bit frustrated because it didn’t reflect the good work we’d been doing up until that point. In the race my start was honestly not bad and the riders on the first three rows basically held their positions but as we reached turn one and I had my team-mate on the left side, another rider entered on the inside, on the kerb, and I had to pick the bike back up. It was a critical situation to manage in terms of braking because I had Xavi on the other side. I hit him but luckily we did not crash, which is the most important thing, but I lost a lot of positions as a result. I overtook someone but lost contact with the group. Anyway, at least in the second part of the race, I was able to maintain very good pace so we will try and build on this and fight for a top position tomorrow."
IKER LEUCONA RACE2: 5th
"Overall I’m really happy with our weekend here. I think both me and Xavi did not expect this kind of speed, but we’ve both been very fast, worked together and finished very close to the front in all three races. In race 1, I maybe struggled a bit more but then in the Superpole race I battled hard with Rinaldi and Locatelli. I lost some time as a result, but my pace was strong, and I knew I could fight for the top five again in race 2. Starting from the second row helped a lot, and even though I struggled with the rear tyre in the early stages, lap by lap I felt more comfortable and in the second part of the race I could ride really fast. I’m very happy for now; we’re just nine points from fourth in the championship and to have finished in the top ten in every race tells us that we’re on the right track."
SUPERSPORT
FGEDERICO CARICASULO RACE1: DNF
Qualifying today did not go badly, we did 1.37.7 which is a fast time here at Misano. We could have done a few tenths better but I didn't manage to get the perfect score as on the second lap with the tire, the one to set the time, I found myself in the middle of a group of slower riders.
As for the race, on the other hand, I am disappointed, not so much for the technical problem that stopped me with 6 laps from the end, but for the fact that, after yesterday's long run, I was convinced that I had the pace to stay with the best 3, while instead after the first laps I was already detached. I struggled so much with the full tank and the heat while the others didn't have this problem. The goal for tomorrow is to close this gap also with the track temperature which has increased by 15 °. Now let's work and try to be stronger tomorrow.
FEDERICO CARICASULO RACE2: 6th
I was hoping to make more progress than yesterday. We made a change to improve the bike a bit, especially in acceleration and corner entry. Compared to yesterday, we improved when entering the corner, but on other things we took a few steps back.
Finally at least we scored some points after the last 2 races; this gives us important data to work on.
It was the first race with the heat and this put us in more difficulty than expected. However, we have received a lot of information and I am sure that next time we will know better and first what to do in these conditions.
