05-13 Italy – Imola – Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola – #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

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World Superbike riders’ statements at Imola

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

The fifth round of the World SBK 2017 took place this weekend in Imola, Italy. To complete our near-live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders at the end of their two Italian races.

#ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° 7), 1st:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“What a weekend! For the first time this year, I felt like we were the benchmark, from the start. We managed to find our rhythm on Friday, and then it snowballed. The team did a wonderful job, the bike performed superbly in both races, in different conditions, but today’s round was quite interesting. We were pushed around on the first start but got off well on the restart. and I was able to do some good passes that put us in a good position. Sykes’ pace was strong, so I had to put my head in the handlebars to chase him. Once caught up, I was able to dictate my own pace and that was enough. Thank you to all the Italian fans for coming out this weekend, their support was special ".

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki n ° 1), 2nd:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"There were some difficult times today, especially when I missed the entrance to the Variante Bassa. I lost all the places I had won in the first strings and that completely changed my race. . I think if I hadn’t lost them I would have had a little extra. I might not have won the race, but I could have ridden with Chaz. I got stuck in traffic afterwards. that, but once through I was able to maintain a constant pace. I was too far from Chaz, but compared to yesterday we halved the gap on the winner. I ran with the new prototype front tire soft and in those temperatures I think it might have been too soft an option for our bike. But overall, I’m happy to have increased our championship lead, to have taken 40 points and ” being on the podium twice on a track which is probably not the best for us now. It was a weekend d really positive ".

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki n ° 66), 3rd:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“We got off to a good start and I knew it was an opportunity to take. I had to start well and attack hard from the start. I knew Chaz’s speed was amazing, and Jonathan’s speed would be good too. Eventually Jonathan and I had pretty close times. There were two sections of the track where I couldn’t ride as I wanted and on the whole lap I had trouble keeping the bike running. were not too bad. Chaz was still a cut above today, but we ourselves were even stronger than the other riders. We improved the settings on the bike slightly, but third place was probably our maximum today. I’m relatively happy with Sunday’s race. It’s the first race of this weekend (and its red flag six laps from the end, Editor’s note) which disappointed us a bit ".

Xavi Fores (Ducati n ° 12), 4th:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“I’m really happy with this day. Apart from the very start of the race, we had the same race pace as the leading group and we managed to stay ahead of Melandri. It was a good weekend, despite the two crashes on Friday. Little by little, we are getting closer to the podium and that motivates me a lot ".

Marco Melandri (Ducati n ° 33), 5th:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"It has been a hard day, and we cannot be satisfied with the result as it is not representative of our potential. Yesterday we managed to get on the podium, but we were already having problems with acceleration and we Unfortunately we couldn’t resolve them. The rear wheel continued to lose contact with the ground during upshifts, which penalized us a lot on slower corner exits. Also, I didn’t have enough confidence. in the nose gear to try to get past Fores. However, I want to thank all the supporters for their support, it was amazing and it made me really proud to defend the Italian flag on an Italian motorbike. We will bounce back in Donington ".

Alex Lowes (Yamaha # 22), 6th:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“It was a tough race. Obviously the guys worked really hard this weekend: it’s so easy to come back to a weekend and, looking back, to say we could have done this or At Imola we just couldn’t get the performance out of the bike that we needed, the guys never stopped trying and in the race sixth was all we could secure. This race has been difficult for me, but my team at least deserves that I fight to the maximum until the end. We were only able to finish sixth, I am reasonably happy because I could not have done better, but I am not satisfied because we were too far from the front lines. We will try to learn some lessons from the weekend, and we will give our all in the next event at Donington, which is my home race. I can’t wait. ".

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50), 7th:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“Today we had one of our best results of the year, but more importantly it was the first race where I was able to maintain the pace and even improve at the end of the race. We learned a lot. especially when it comes to the weight distribution that we were having issues with. This confirmed our thoughts, these past trials, on where to go. I hope the ideas to test will move us forward at Donington Park. I am optimistic and excited to race at home in the UK and would like to progress further in front of our fans ".

Jordi Torres (BMW n ° 81), 8th:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"We had a good race today. Fortunately, I recovered from my illness yesterday (stomach problems, editor‘s note) and that it did not affect me during the race. Start from last place on the grid was not easy, but I was able to quickly acquire a good rhythm. I was hoping to be able to do a little better in reality, but in these conditions and with the tire that we were using, that was what I could do Better. I thank the team: the result is good considering the day entirely lost yesterday. I then thank the Clinica Mobile because without their help, I would not have been able to do it ".

Nicky Hayden (Honda # 69), 12th:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“My second start was not as great as the first, but I still managed to gain some places. I was able to stay in the group fighting for sixth place for most of the race and I hadn’t ridden better all weekend, but towards the end unfortunately I lost a balance weight on the wheel which caused a vibration. I couldn’t keep up. I could have been a little closer. This weekend has been tough enough for us, but it’s over now. I hope we will find the right direction in Donington Park ".

Leon Camier (MV Agusta n ° 2), fall:

05-13 Italy - Imola - Statements by World Superbike riders in Imola - #ItalianWSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“It’s obviously a big, big disappointment. My pace was fast and my bike’s warm-up setup was really good. We made a little change to adapt the machine to the race conditions and I felt the setting was absolutely perfect so I tried to attack and hang on to my second position. But I fell, and it was all over. I want to stay positive because we had a really good pace this weekend . I can’t wait to take part in the next event in Donington ".

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