Triple M Honda World Superbike Team collect valuable points In Italy
Italian Round
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
After competing in only its fifth WorldSBK round this weekend at Imola, the Triple M Honda World Superbike team saw their American rider PJ Jacobsen qualify as the top Honda rider in Superpole on Saturday and then score a 14th place finish in race two on Sunday.
On what appeared to be a challenging layout for all the Honda competitors around the classic 4.936km long circuit, Triple M and Jacobsen made use of experience gained during a recent test session at Brno in the Czech Republic. This helped them to become the highest ranked Honda squad in Superpole, with PJ qualifying 17th on the grid.
A technical issue prevented PJ from competing in race one on Saturday, but a determined ride in race two saw Jacobsen collect more championship points for 14th place.
Down in 19th in the first few laps of race two, PJ made up ground and benefited from other riders’ misfortunes as he moved his way up to his final finishing position of 14th. He was Honda’s only points scorer this weekend. After five of 13 rounds, PJ is now ranked 17th overall, with 17 points to his credit.
Hot and humid conditions graced the Imola race weekend, with a marginally warmer track surface being evident in race two, during which PJ had his first chance to see how his machine and tyre selections would work in the heat of battle.
The next WorldSBK venue for the Triple M Honda World Superbike Team will be Donington Park in the UK, with race days on 26 and 27 May. PJ has a season of experience riding in the BSB championship, in 2013, and will be looking forward to challenging the most experienced Superbike riders and teams in the world once again, at a track he knows well.
PJ Jacobsen 99
Imola is a pretty good track for me and I like this place a lot, but it was a little bit of a difficult weekend. We were the first Honda team in qualifying, which is a positive thing. We just did not get to start race one, which was the problem. Then again, this team is brand new and everybody has been working hard the first time here with the Honda. We have to keep looking at things positively, even if sometimes it does not look that good on paper. In the end we will arrive, so we just need to keep working hard. We got in the points in race two so that is pretty positive, and we will just keep chipping away
Manuel Cappelletti
Team Manager
This was a very difficult track and also all the Hondas seemed to struggle a little over the weekend here. We got two points today which were the maximum from Honda this weekend. Yesterday we had a small issue which did not allow us to take part, so the Sunday race was actually race one for us this weekend. It is what it is, but we struggled a little bit and let us wait and see how it is in the next race in the UK.
More, from a press release issued by Scott Deroue’s publicist:
PODIUM SLIPS AWAY AFTER LATE CRASH
The World Supersport 300 is a pretty exciting championship, on and off track. After Deroue’s home race the organisation respond to six protests of four different teams. They would decide about the final result at the next round. At the track of Imola the teams got the news that the result wouldn’t be revised, so Deroue went into the weekend as championship leader. Last year this particular Italian round didn’t gave the Dutch rider a good result, but after Friday things look so much better for the MotoPort Kawasaki-rider. He was straight through to Superpole 2 with the second fastest time.
On Saturday there was only fifteen minutes of action for Scott Deroue. Again he was fast on Italian soil and posted a 2.08,058. This laptime took him to second position on the grid, but the 22-year old rider got a penalty from the race direction for slow riding in qualification. From P6 Deroue got a fine start, but no one had a real answer to Ana Carrasco. She took the lead and took a easy win. The Dutch rider settled in a group that fought for second place. Deroue had some big problems with his quick shifter, but fought hard to get a third podium in a row. He could take a gap in the last lap, but he lost the front with three corners to go. Because of the crash Deroue didn’t score any points and is now in third position overall. Ana Carrasco, who took her second victory in World Supersport 300, is the new championship leader with twelve points ahead on Deroue.
Scott Deroue: ‘I’m really disappointed about this DNF, because I rode a pretty good race. In the sighting lap I noticed a problem with my quick shifter. An hour before the race the external company who’s responsible for the quick shifter visited us. In the warm-up on Sunday morning everything still was fine, but during the race the reaction of the quick shifter was really slow. It affected my race a lot, so I’m pretty upset that it gave me a harder challenge to get a good result. I tried to gap my opponents, but it wasn’t possible with this quick shifter-problem. I pushed a lot in the last lap and unfortunately a little bit too much. Of course, it’s my own mistake, so I’m really disappointed in myself. I needed to be smart, but tell a racer to be calm if he sees the podium. I’m really fired up to go to Donington Park and set this DNF all straight. I also hope that my teammate Robert Schotman has a speedy recovery, so he will be able to show his speed in the UK-round.’
Results
First free practice: P10, 2.10,513
Second free practice: P2, 2.08,231
Superpole 2: P2, 2.08,058 – Gridposition, P6
Race:
1. Ana Carrasco (ESP) – Kawasaki, 23.38,527
2. Borja Sanchez – Kawasaki, +13,835
3. Kevin Sabatucci – Yamaha, +13,866
4. Luca Grünwald (GER) – KTM, +14,236
5. Galang Hendra Pratama (INA) – Yamaha, +14,318
Championship Classification:
1. Carrasco, 48
2. Grünwald, 45
3. Deroue, 36
4. Van Straalen, 36
5. Sanchez, 26
The next race of the season will be at the circuit of Donginton Park, in the weekend of friday 25th till sunday 27th of May.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Local Hero Caricasulo Charges to the Podium in WorldSSP at Imola
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team’s Federico Caricasulo secured his third podium of the season in his home race at Round 5 of the 2018 FIM Supersport World Championship in Imola. The 22-year-old Italian charged from fourth on the grid and was battling for the race win right until the chequered flag before crossing the line in second and missing out on the victory by just 0.363s. Reigning WorldSSP Champion, Lucas Mahias, started from pole and broke away in the early stages of the race before a small crash on lap 5 saw him re-join in 20th place. In a sensational fightback, he carved his way through the field to secure eighth at the line and limit the damage to his 2018 championship aspirations. European Supersport Cup rider Alfonso Coppola produced his best result of the season to finish in 19th as he continues to impress in his rookie WorldSSP season.
Caricasulo had waited all season to ride in front of the Italian fans at a hot and humid Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari with track temperatures rising to above 40°C for the race. Starting from fourth on the grid, the man from Ravenna had a good start and by lap 4 he was into second place and attempting to break away from the chasing group alongside his teammate Mahias. After Mahias’ crash, he inherited the lead and had opened up a one-second gap to Jules Cluzel in second by lap 6 before a small mistake saw him run wide and drop back to fourth, almost 2 seconds behind Cluzel. Patiently he worked his way back into second as they started the final lap but try as he might, he could not find a way past Cluzel on and he crossed the line in second to record his third podium of the season, securing 20 championship points in the process. After this result, Caricasulo remains fifth in the championship standings but now has 60 points and has closed the gap to Randy Krummenacher at the top to just 12 points.
Mahias had timed it perfectly to secure his third pole position of the season on Saturday and when the lights went out for Sunday’s race, he looked in ominous form, building his pace and taking Cluzel for the lead on lap 3. Showing sensational pace he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 4, a 1:52.529, to open up a gap of 1.4s over the chasing pack. Unfortunately, on the next lap he had a small crash at Turn 18 but luckily his GRT Yamaha R6 escaped unscathed and he was able to re-join the race, albeit in 20th place. Charging his way through the field, the 28-year-old French rider was able to limit the damage to his championship hopes by crossing the line in eighth and while he may have relinquished the lead in the standings to Krummenacher, he is only two points behind in second with 79 points.
For European Supersport Cup rider Alfonso Coppola, progression is the key in his rookie WorldSSP season after making the step up from the WorldSSP300 championship. Qualifying 23rd on the grid for Sunday’s race, he did not have the best of starts and crossed the line in 28th at the end of the first lap. Focusing on his building his race pace, he steadily improved and showed his potential by improving to 19th position when he met the chequered flag, less than seven seconds off a points-scoring finish, highlighting the progress he has made in 2018 and he is now determined to pick up his first championship point at Donington Park.
The GRT Official Yamaha WorldSSP Team return to action for Round 6 of the 2018 WorldSSP Championship at Donington Park on the 25th-27th May.
Federico Caricasulo
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team – 2nd – 1:53.589 +0.363s
“I am happy for the podium because a podium is always good! I am not that happy for the race, but I am happy for the championship as it is very close again – I am only 12 points behind the leader. My race was good, I pushed very hard to break away at the front with Lucas but we both made a little mistake. In the second part of the race I managed to catch back up with the leading group and was in P2, but when I tried to overtake Jules Cluzel, it was impossible because he had better speed than me out of the corners and I couldn’t do anything without taking too many risks. I am very excited for Donington as I feel that I and my team are very strong now, we just need to work on our acceleration when exiting a corner. My team did an incredible job all weekend, without making a single mistake and the championship is now a lot closer and more interesting!”
Lucas Mahias
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team – 8th +16.200s
“The result was not perfect but I will take the positives from today. I started on pole, pushed hard at the front, opened up a big gap and set the fastest lap of the race. Sure, I crashed, but this can happen in a race. When you are pushing on the limit it is very easy to do but again, taking the positives I was able to get back and push hard and fight back to finish in eighth. This was good for the championship and despite this result, I am still second in the standings. It is not the time for negatives, we must focus on the fact I was strong and fast, I felt good on the bike and I am already focusing on the next race at Donington.”
Alfonso Coppola
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Junior Team – 19th +46.884s
“This weekend has been good! We made a big step and I feel confident that I can go to Donington and hit the ground running to be fast from the first practice session, which is very important in WorldSSP. I am happy with the progress we have made this weekend as we closed the gap to the guys at the front and it was my first home race in WorldSSP. We also managed to get within five seconds of the points and, if I hadn’t made a bad start, I would have been a lot closer. I will work on trying to improve my starts before the next round to help close the gap to the points and I am already focused on trying to be as fast as I can at Donington.”
Filippo Conti
GRT Yamaha Offical WorldSSP Team Manager
“Our home round can always be difficult as there are more fans and the expectations are higher. Lucas pushed a lot after a great start and his race pace was very good. His aim was to open up a good gap and then try and manage the race until the end but he pushed a little bit too much and had a small crash. His recovery was incredible and he limited the damage to the championship standings. Federico and the whole of his team did an amazing job. It is always hard for a rider to perform at his home round, you have lots more supporters and a lot of pressure on you, especially in Italy. He managed to stay focused and he showed just how good a rider he is. Alfonso did not have a great start in the race, but he had a good pace and he will continue to work with the team to try and improve again at Donington so he can fight for the points. Thank you for the whole team as it has been a tricky weekend but they have handled everything thrown at them perfectly. Thank you to Yamaha for the support and for giving us a package that allows us to always be fighting at the front.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Carrasco Wins As Deroue Crashes Out
Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team Kawasaki) won the second WorldSSP300 race of her career after putting in a pole-to-chequered-flag win at the Imola circuit in Italy today. Recent championship leader Scott Deroue (Motoport Kawasaki) was unfortunate to fall in the final sector of the race, but is still only 12 points off the championship lead, in third place.
After posting the best lap in Superpole qualifying Carrasco simply let loose in the race itself, piling on the pace to ease away from the chasing bunch in a class that is known for close competition between younger riders, all desperate to make their mark in the newest form of full FIM World Championship racing there is.
Ana’s final margin of victory was over 13 seconds, after only 11 laps of the 4.936km long Imola circuit.
On the awesome new Kawasaki Ninja 400 the uncatchable 21-year-old Spaniard Carrasco made good use of her strong pre-race preparations to follow up her race win for Kawasaki in Portugal last year.
After qualifying second but being penalised for slow riding in a practice session – like many of his competitors – Deroue was put back to sixth on the final grid. He was on course for a podium finish until he almost lost the rear exiting the Tosa hairpin, also dropping track position for a short time.
He regrettably crashed after losing the front on the very last lap, but his misfortune allowed another Kawasaki rider, Borja Sanchez, from the ETG squad, to take second place, at the head of a pack of six battling competitors. Sanchez had originally been classified third but was promoted after another rider was penalised for going over the limits of the track.
Mika Perez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) placed eighth, one second behind the second group, but Tom Edwards (Nutec – Benjan Kawasaki) crashed out early. His team-mate Walid Khan was tenth today and Darren Loureiro (DS Junior Team Kawasaki) 11th. Robert Schotman (Motoport Kawasaki) crashed heavily and was taken to hospital for checks.
In the championship fight, Carrasco leads with 48 points, Luca Grunwald has 45 and Deroue 36. The next round will take place at Donington Park in the UK on the 27th of May.
Ana Carrasco, stated: “Incredible! I think we had a perfect weekend because we were really strong in all the practice sessions and the whole race. I did not push, push, push to go alone but it was easier than I thought. I feel really happy and the team did a perfect job.”
Scott Deroue, stated: “I’m really disappointed about this DNF, because I rode a pretty good race. In the sighting lap I noticed a problem with my quick shifter. An hour before the race the external company who’s responsible for the quick shifter visited us. In the warm-up on Sunday morning everything still was fine, but during the race the reaction of the quick shifter was really slow. It affected my race a lot, so I’m pretty upset that it gave me a harder challenge to get a good result. I tried to gap my opponents, but it wasn’t possible with this quick shifter problem. I pushed a lot in the last lap and unfortunately a little bit too much. Of course, it’s my own mistake, so I’m really disappointed in myself. I needed to be smart, but tell a racer to be calm if he sees the podium. I’m really fired up to go to Donington Park and set this DNF all straight. I also hope that my teammate Robert Schotman has a speedy recovery, so he will be able to show his speed in the UK-round.”
More, from a press release issued by EAB antwest Racing:
WEST MAKES BRAVE RETURN TO WORLD SUPERSPORT ACTION AT IMOLA TWO WEEKS AFTER SURGERY ON BROKEN ARM
Italian Round
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
May 14, 2018 (Imola, Italy) The EAB antwest Racing World Supersport Team welcomed back Anthony West to WorldSSP action this weekend at round 5 of the 2018 FIM World Superbike Championship season at the revered Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.
After a scary crash at the previous round at Assen when the throttle stuck open, resulting in a broken arm and subsequent surgery, Ant West made the trip to Imola with the aim of returning to action on his Kawasaki ZX-6R machine.
West was cleared by medical staff on Thursday to take part in Free Practice. The Imola circuit is one of the most physically demanding tracks on the WSSP calendar with its mix of slow chicanes, fast corners and elevation changes over 22 corners comprising its 4.936 kilometers length. A difficult track to ride at full fitness, few would attempt to ride so soon after surgery.
After completing Free Practice 1 in position 17 out of 32 riders, Ant was determined to try and continue during the weekend. After Free Practice 2, Ant was 18 out of 32 riders missing the Superpole 2 cut, still struggling with strength and mobility in his surgically screwed right arm.
Free Practice 3 and Ant was 15 out of 32 riders, trying a new setup on the bike to deal with chassis issues that were hindering a fast lap.
Superpole 1 started with the team making another adjustment trying to fix the handling deficiencies and give Ant a better setup to advance into Superpole 2. Although Ant recorded his fastest time of the weekend, the team missed the mark on the setup and he suffered from lack of grip, qualifying seventeenth.
With a new setting for warmup, and two days on the bike, Ant started to get his confidence back. After a visit to the clinica mobile, Ant was ready for the race. When the lights went out, he got a good start and started working on moving forward. At the end of lap 2 he was fourteenth, by lap 5 he was tenth—an incredible position based on his physical condition. But he wasn’t done yet, he was ninth by lap 8, eighth by lap 9. By lap 12 he was sixth, and embroiled in a battle with Krummenacher and Tuuli. The battle with Tuuli went all the way to the final chicane where they touched and Ant had to hold on—with a broken arm—through the gravel trap and was able to beat Tuuli to sixth place across the line. When Ant made it to Parc Ferme, he was completely exhausted. The pain from his broken arm so severe that his mechanics had to remove his gloves and helmet for him. The sixth place result represented the first Kawasaki in the race and propelled the EAB antwest Racing team to ninth place in the championship and first Kawasaki.
With a weekend off before the next World Supersport race at Donington, Ant will have more time to heal and get closer to full fitness.
Anthony West 13
Sixth was more than I was expecting after starting sixteenth on the grid and riding with a broken wrist. After FP1 I was thinking there was no way I was going to be able to race. After my surgery, I was really sick the week before the race—I couldn’t hold down any food, even water was making me sick. I’m glad I kept pushing now that we got a better result. The team has been working on getting more power out of the engine and it definitely felt better. Now, I want to rest my wrist so that we can be ready for Donington.
EAB antwest Racing is a critically underfunded yet competitive team competing in the World Supersport championship comprised of Australian, American and Dutch members. EAB antwest Racing is supported by EAB, Accent Timber Flooring, Putoline, National Tiles, Race-Pro, Riva Moto, FuSport, Arai, Furygan, Danske Frargtmeand. Unique season long and one event sponsorship opportunities are available.
For more information contact Murph at Syndicate Motorsport Management.
+1.831.464.3458 or [email protected]
More, from a press release issued by RaceDays Racing:
Great recovery for Soomer as Iozzo scores first World Championship point at Imola
Hannes Soomer and Dino Iozzo produced two stunning rides for Racedays in the latest round of the Supersport and Supersport 300 World Championships at the iconic Imola circuit in Italy.
Soomer finished in a very credible 16th position, after starting from the back row of the grid following a crash in qualifying.
From the start of the 17 lap WorldSSP encounter Soomer was on form, moving forward through the field with relative ease with another display of overtaking that many would be proud of.
Whilst the #38 rider was unable to add points to his current season tally the team are full of praise for the Baltic Bullet, and are fully focused on racing at the sharp end at the UK round at Donington Park in a fortnight.
The WorldSSP300 race, round three of the series, will be one to remember for Raceday’s Dino Iozzo who fought hard, making up 15 places from his 30th position on the grid to finish 15th scoring a maiden World Championship point in the process.
The result for Iozzo and the team is also significant for another reason they achieved the first point scoring finish for Honda this year!
Iozzo who has made significant steps on each of the three races held this year now heads to another new venue – the 2.5 mile Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire full of confidence and ready to add to his points tally.
Hannes Soomer – 16th: “It was as difficult as a weekend gets. I had a big crash in FP2 and also in the first lap of Superpole which meant I would start at the back of the grid in 32nd place. In the race I tried to come through the pack as quick as possible but could only manage16th. I made a few mistakes in the last laps which cost me the chance to get some more points. We understand more and more what we’re missing every race which gives us the opportunity to work hard in the right direction in the next races. I want to say big thanks to the team for the incredibly hard work all weekend and for my sponsors for making this possible.”
Dino Iozzo – 15th: “We arrived at Imola which was a very technical track. After the first session I had really come to terms with the track and improved a lot in the 2nd session by dropping 3 seconds a lap. I felt really confident for qualifying and got my best start position of the year in 30th place. I had a really strong start and managed to stick with the group even progressing through it to get my very first world championship point. A big big thanks to my team and all my sponsors.”
Mike Dickinson – Team Manager: “An excellent weekend overall for the team at Imola. A few problems in practice for Hannes and a crash on the out lap in Superpole meant he would start at the back of the grid. A very determined ride saw him move through the field into 16th place, quite an achievement in this catagory. I would like to thank the 600 crew for a couple of very late nights rebuilding Hannes’s bike back to pristine condition meaning we coudld be in the fight. Dino’s development as a world championship rider took a very positive step forward and proved once again that hard work and commitment delivers results. The whole team wish to congratulate him on his first world championship point in 15th place after a fantastic race. We now move on to historic Donington Park and hope to continue the good results.”
For more information visit: www.racedayshonda.com