It was a sad day today at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello as news spread of the untimely death of Marco Simoncelli in the Malaysian GP race in Sepang. The final round of the Superstock 1000 and Superbike Italian championships took place at the Italian track today. In the Superstock 1000 category, team Pedercini lined up with rider Billy McConnell. Billy is an Australian rider participating in the British Supersport championship. The Mugello circuit was a completely new experience for him but he was able to learn the technical Italian circuit very quickly, reaching the sixteenth place and the fourth row for today’s 14 lap Superstock race. Both Marco Bussolotti and Tati Mercado started from the second row of the grid, in sixth and eighth position respectively. Mercado made a very good start to reach fourth place while Bussolotti was lying in thirteenth and McConnell fifteenth. As the race progressed, Mercado moved up into third place while Bussolotti and McConnell made up a lot of positions to reach respectively tenth and thirteenth position. Unfortunately during the eighth lap McConnell crashed, though was thankfully unhurt. Mercado finished the race in style, crossing the line in third place to take his first podium of the season while Bussolotti closed in tenth. In the Superstock 1000 Italian championship standings Bussolotti concluded in overall fourth place with 74 points. Mercado was sixth with 57 points. Mugello – Superstock 1000 CIV race – 1) Petrucci (Ducati) 2) Savadori (Ducati) 3) Mercado (Kawasaki) 4) Clementi (BMW) “¦”¦.. 10) Bussolotti (Kawasaki) “¦”¦. Ret) McConnell (Kawasaki) Marco Bussolotti: “I’m really disappointed because after a good start I began to have problems with the rear tyre. After few laps I couldn’t ride my bike as I wanted to and I lost some positions. Without this problem I think I could have stayed inside the top three or four. We have lost a good opportunity to gain a strong result. Unfortunately I couldn’t really chase the riders in front of me and the only thing I could do was try and finish the race.” Tati Mercado: “It was a long and difficult race. After a good start I fought with Clementi for third place throughout the entire race and I was able to hold my position even though he pushed hard to pass me in the last laps. I’m happy with the result but I’m really sad for Simoncelli and want to dedicate this podium to him.” Billy McConnell: “It was my first time in Mugello, my first time with Kawasaki and with the Pedercini team. It was a really great experience for me because team Pedercini is like a big family and I enjoyed working with them. Unfortunately on Friday we lost a lot of time due to a technical problem and I was able to test my new bike only on Saturday. In any case I’m satisfied because I improved every time I went out on track. This year I have used a Supersport bike and so it was not easy to adapt my riding style to the Superstock. I’m disappointed only because I crashed. I’m really sorry for the team and I want to thank all of them for their great support over the entire weekend”. In the final Superbike race of the 2011 CIV championship, Fulvio Faccietti started from the fifth row of the grid in nineteenth position. Faccietti’s start was not so bad and he was nineteenth in the first laps of the race. As the race progressed, Fulvio was unfortunately unable to increase his race pace, closing today in seventeenth position. Faccietti was fifteenth in the Italian Superbike championship final standings. Mugello – Superbike race 1) Polita (Ducati) 2) Sandi (Ducati) 3) Conforti (Ducati) 4) Baiocco (Ducati) 5) Nannelli (Ducati) 6) Mauri (Aprilia) “¦”¦”¦”¦..17) Faccietti (Kawasaki) Fulvio Faccietti : “It wasn’t an easy race and I was honestly hoping for a better race to end the Italian Superbike championship. In the first laps I was not able to find the right feeling with my bike and I increased my pace only in the last few laps. It was then too late to reach a good result. I want to thank all my team for their fantastic work, not only over this weekend but throughout the whole season.” More, from a press release issued by KMR Kawasaki: Dominant display by KMR Kawasaki at Bishopscourt Ryan Farquhar’s KMR Kawasaki team put in a dominant display at Bishopscourt on Saturday when they blitzed the opposition in the two Supertwin races at the annual Sunflower Trophy meeting. With Jeremy McWilliams and Jamie Hamilton joining Ryan on the ER6 650cc machines, the trio were never headed and completed a stunning 1-2-3 in both races as Hamilton and McWilliams took the race wins. With mixed weather conditions at the 2.136-mile International circuit, McWilliams was having his first ever outing on the bike and having missed practice on Friday, 5 laps in morning warm-up enabled him to start the first 9-lap race from the back of the grid although he soon tore his way through the field. However, whilst he climbed his way up to third, it was Hamilton who set the pace at the head of the field and it was he who took the chequered flag by 4.4s from team owner Farquhar who once again proved he’s not just a road racer and put in an accomplished short circuit performance. The second 9-lap race later in the day saw the three riders run in flying team formation in the leading three positions with former GP winner McWilliams, getting more and more used to the bike with each and every lap, and Hamilton exchanging the lead on numerous occasions. Farquhar sat behind in third, just a couple of seconds adrift, as the leading duo broke and re-broke the lap record and it was McWilliams who ultimately got the verdict, taking the win over Hamilton by just 0.7s third. Farquhar took a comfortable third as McWilliams had the honour of setting a new lap record at 1m30.138s. Hamilton also rode the team’s ZX-10R Superstock bike to 4th in the opening Superbike race and 8th in the feature Sunflower Trophy event. Speaking afterwards, a delighted Farquhar said: “It’s been a superb day for the team and to take a 1-2-3 in each of the Supertwins races was simply superb and a terrific way for us to end the season. It’s a huge achievement to get all 3 bikes in the top 3, not once but twice so it really couldn’t have gone any better. I’d spoken to Jeremy back in January when we were riding in the Classic Festival in Australia and he said he’d like to have a go on one of the Supertwins so when the opportunity arose to ride at the Sunflower he took it. He had to miss the practice on Friday due to other commitments but the 5 laps in the morning meant he could start the races and he showed his class with two great rides, including the win and the lap record. He can still ride a bike that’s for sure and there’s a good possibility that he’ll be out on the bike again sometime in the future.” “Jamie again showed how good he is and I’m really looking forward to working with him on a more regular basis in 2012. The Supertwin bike really suits him but he impressed on the big bike too. It was his first time on the bike and we were testing a few bits and pieces but he showed what he can do with a good 4th in the first race and 8th in the Sunflower was no mean feat given he’d started from the back row of the grid. Overall, I’m simply delighted with how the day went and I’d just like to thank everyone in the team for making it all happen and also Jeremy and Jamie for being a pleasure to work with.”