Call it wishful thinking, public relations or pure propaganda, but the latest Benelli press release makes the team’s pair of 16th-place finishes in the two World Superbike races at Oschersleben this weekend actually sound pretty good. The press release text follows:

Benelli Sport satisfied after another World Superbike weekend

The Benelli Superbike story continued this weekend with another pair of solid finishes by the Benelli Tornado Superbike ridden by Peter Goddard. The experienced Australian managed to finish in both races despite being run off the track at the first corner of race one by a falling rider. The finishes not only demonstrated the increasing reliability of the Tornado engine but also allowed the team to gather even more valuable date.

“We are leaving Oschersleben with lots of data which will all be very useful for the future,” said Team Owner Andrea Merloni. “Our mission to build a truly competitive World Superbike team is on target, the reliability is improving as we learn more and find real solutions to any problems that racing has exposed. Unfortunately today Peter Goddard had a little tangle in the first corner of the first race with a fallen rider. That cost him valuable time and he spent the race recovering from that. In race two he had some handling problems which allowed riders he had passed early in the race to pass him again. But I am really happy with the way the project is progressing and I am looking forward to the racing again next week in Assen.”

The circuit at Oschersleben offered the team a unique opportunity to learn more about the behaviour of the Benelli. The circuit has some long and very fast corners. These have allowed the engineers to gather different types of data from that collected at previous rounds. But the circuit also threw some new problems at the team, which unfortunately they didn’t have enough time to solve in qualifying before the racing began. “We were experiencing chatter and a lack of rear grip today,” explained Goddard. “We didn’t get the set up completely right and that made my job difficult. But at least the bike proved more reliable and the performance was stable, the engine felt the same at the end of the race as it did at the start.”

After today’s action was all finished, the team set off to Holland for the next round, held on the weekend of September 9 at the historic Circuit van Drenthe in Assen. It’s a very fast circuit, again with its own unique characteristics, which will give the team another chance to continue developing the Tornado Superbike. After Asses comes the last round at Imola, back in the team’s home country Italy. After that the team will spend the winter extensively testing and developing the Tornado ready for their first full season of World Superbike racing.