MV AGUSTA AND LUCA SCASSA ARE ITALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONS In 1973 Giacomo Agostini won the last Italian Championship on a MV Agusta 500, thirty five years later Luca Scassa brings the Varese (Italy) based company back on the top step of the podium of the premiere class in the drivers’ championship as well as the constructors overall standings. As in the 2006 Super Stock championship, the Tuscan rider brought his F4 1000 R on top of the podium. Scassa dominated the entire weekend: pole position, fastest lap and race win by almost six seconds over second place, Riccardo Chiarello on Suzuki. “I am extremely happy, this title is the result of the passion of Claudio Castiglioni and Massimo Tamburini, and the perseverance of a small group of people that I wish to thank one by one because we created a fantastic team: Cesare Fani my engineer and my friend, a person that dedicated himself entirely to this project; Giorgio Balotta and Roberto Ceriani that spent long nights setting-up the bike; Mauro Marelli for his engine mapping without which we would have never made it; Maci for being our living encyclopaedia and Federico Toti that has been following me from the beginning. Obviously I would also like to thank everyone that has worked hard on this project: from the people at CRC, Team Gimotorsports, Union Bike, Pirelli and all those that in one way or another have helped me. I’d like to thank my guys and my fan club, they have been spectacular! I’d also like to compliment myself for having ridden so well today, two laps in 1min53s and the rest of the race in the low 54s is something that only few people can obtain”¦.. and today I was the only one to manage it! Next year I hope I’ll be racing in the World Championship, we will probably go separate ways at the end of this year, but I’ll bring this moment with me in my heart for the rest of my life.” Unfortunately after a promising fourth place in qualifying Maurizio Prattichizzo had a technical problem on the starting grid and had to retire. Ilario Dionisi finished the Superstock race in tenth position while fighting tyre wear. SBK FINISHING ORDER: 1. L. Scassa (MV Agusta); 2. R. Chiarello (Suzuki); 3. M. Borciani (Ducati); 4. A. Gramigni (Yamaha); 5. T. Bridwell (Suzuki); 6. C. Corti (Yamaha)”¦.. 12. A. Mazzali (MV Agusta) SBK OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1. L. Scassa (MV Agusta)110; 2. C. Corti (Yahama) 87; 3. L. Conforti (Honda) 81; 4. N. Brignola (Honda) 77; 5. L. Mauri (Ducati) 62; 6. R. Chiarello (Suzuki) 47; 7 M. Prattichizzo (MV Agusta) 46 MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1. MV Agusta 123; 2. Honda 108; 3. Yamaha 77 More, from a press release issued by Naturally Best Racing: BATTLING BRIDEWELL NEARLY NETS MUGELLO PODIUM Following on from the disappointment of Brands Hatch last weekend, when he was sidelined from the final round of the British Supersport Championship with machine failure, Wiltshire road racer Tommy Bridewell bounced back with a battling fifth place in the final round of the Italian Superbike Championship at Mugello today. Having missed the opening couple of races due to sustaining a broken leg in the opening round, the 20-year-old from Etchilhampton near Devizes continued his good end of season form to battle with the leading Italian riders and after qualifying tenth on the Naturally Best Suzuki, Bridewell made a good start in the race. After making his way up to fifth on the opening laps, Bridewell made his move with three laps to go as he challenged Ricardo Chiarello and Marco Borciani for the final podium place behind runaway leader Luca Scassa and after a fairing bashing moment with Claudio Corti, he ended up running wide on the final corner and had to settle for fifth at the chequered flag. As a result of his strong performances in the final two rounds, Tommy netted runner-up spot in the International Cup series which runs within the main championship. “I thought I rode a hard but fair race today and I’m pleased with my performance but I wanted that podium so bad. I wasn’t running any traction control unlike the others so I just dug deep and got my head down. To end up nearly gaining a podium in this sort of company is good and had it not been for that mistake on the final lap, I could have rounded the season off in style. Instead, I’ll aim to do that in Portugal where I’m really looking forward to riding in the World Superbike Championship as a wild card. I’m happy to be finishing the season strongly and we’re now considering our options for next year” said Tommy.