Okubo Takes Best Result So Far
Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Hikari Okubo had qualified ninth for the WorldSSP race at Misano today and replicated that performance in the race, earning his best finish of 2018 so far. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) had to start the race with a used tyre, after suffering issues in warm-up, and finally opted to retire from the race.
Hot and intense conditions greeted the large WorldSSP field at Misano for today’s eighth round of the championship, with Okubo starting the race off the third row of the grid.
Hikari had a very positive early period in the race but after another rider crashed in front of him on lap two he lost ground and had to drop back from fifth to eighth and then ninth.
The Japanese rider showed real battling qualities to take seven championship points, which were the reward for his determination to finish inside the top ten after his unlucky second lap.
Morais was unlucky that a technical issue made him enter the pits after warm up and he finally had to start the race with a used tyre, which was supposed to be changed for a fresh one on the starting grid.
After the Misano round Hikari is 15th overall in the championship, with Morais 16th. The next race in the championship takes place after the long summer break, at Portimao in Portugal, on the 16th of September.
Hikari Okubo, stated: “At the start I was very happy because I got a good launch and made up four or five positions, but after two laps Mahias had a big highside and that lost me some time. I was lucky because if Mahias’ bike had been a little more inside I would have maybe crashed. I have to understand the bike with a full fuel tank and it is difficult to control the bike in that condition. In the last laps, even after the tyre is used, it is easier to push hard. I will try to be inside the top five in Portimao, but today ninth was not so bad as it was my best finishing position this year so far.”
Sheridan Morais stated: “We are not sure what happened when we left pitlane. Something went wrong, so of course we entered the pits with a used tyre that we used for the warm-up lap. The bike returned late into pits when the race was starting, so we had to start with this old tyre. In the race of course the tyres were cold having been standing for 20 minutes. I tried, but there was so much chatter from the tyre and the bike that it was better that I come in, because I was going to crash for nothing anyway.”
Anthony West (EAB antwest Racing Kawasaki) battled with characteristic determination for sixth place, the he was the top Kawasaki finisher today. He is seventh overall in the championship.
Rob Hartog (Team Hartog Against Cancer) placed 13th and was again top ESS rider. Now 14th overall in the general WorldSSP championship standings, he continues to lead the ESS points table, comprising riders who race in the European rounds of the championship only.
Wayne Tessels (Chromeburner Wayne’s Racingteam MTM) placed 20th at Misano with Javier Ezequiel Iturrioz (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) 21st. Nacho Calero (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) crashed out near the end of the 19-lap race. Christian Stange (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) failed to finish.
More, from a press release issued by CIA Landlord Insurance Honda:
Step forward for Smith and strong start for Sebestyen at Misano
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda rider Kyle Smith delivered another top ten finish in today’s hot and sunny World Supersport race at Misano in Italy.
From his qualifying position on the third row of the grid Smith got a bad start and was down to tenth at the end of lap one but fought his way through to finish the 19-lap race in seventh position.
Smith said: I think it was a positive race we’ve definitely got stuff to work on to improve. We didn’t achieve top 5 as I wanted to but looking at the lap times the pace wasn’t a million miles off. I had a really weak first half of the race and a really poor start so working on that the latter end of the race the pace felt really strong. If we can sort out the first quarter of the race and the start we can be up there battling at the front.”
Making his debut with CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Peter Sebestyen really showed his potential crossing the line just outside the Championship points in 16th place but after receiving a penalty for exceeding track limits had to content himself with 17th.
Sebestyen said: “I am happy after the race but of course I wanted a little bit more. In the first part of the race in the first few laps maybe I was a little bit too calm because I really wanted to finish the race and didn’t want to get into an extreme fight. Because of this the gap was too big to the riders in front of me so for the whole race I just tried to follow them and tried to fight in the last laps but I got a penalty and it was impossible. Now I see the bike can be in the top ten so in the next races I would like to be there and I will work for it.”
CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Team Manager Simon Buckmaster said: “Another step forward there for us. Kyle battled right to the last lap for the top six. As he said the start was bad, we didn’t actually get to do a practice start because FP2 was wet and he crashed at the end of FP3 so he needs to start better of course. In the early laps of the race after not such a good start he needs to try and make the gap. So we just missed out of a top six but a good step in the right direction and a good job by Stu and George. We now go in to the summer break but there is no resting, tomorrow we begin developing the new ECU that we need for us to improve and to be on a level playing field.
“I have to say Peter Sebestyen coming into the team and fighting for the points like that was really positive. Obviously he didn’t want to crash in his first race so maybe he was a bit cautious in the opening laps but he really fought for the last point. He had run off track a few times and got a penalty, it makes no difference in this case he was P17 instead of P16 but obviously he did have the chance to fight for that last point. Rules are rules but he was six seconds in front of the next guy so for me it is big, but penalties need to be consistent and they are not. Peter has really shown his potential this race and I’m sure for the rest of the season he will be challenging inside the points. He’ll test the bike now and like Kyle will be working with the new ECU so we are looking for a really strong finish to the season for CIA Landlord Insurance Honda. Thank you to Kor and Matia who worked really well with Peter, we’ve show again how we are a really good strong team unit and work well to get the most from our potential and I am really pleased with that. We go into the summer break in a confident mood and more than optimistic of finishing the year in a very good way.”
More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta Reparto Corse:
RAFFAELE DE ROSA CELEBRATES 2ND PLACE FINISH IN MISANO
A solid race for Raffaele De Rosa, who gets the second position in the race on the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, taking the best seasonal result for the Italian squad. Ayrton Badovini closed the Top10 after an 11 positions’ comeback.
The lights go out on the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” and Raffaele De Rosa makes a quick start from the fourth place, immediately taking the third position, close to the first two riders: Jules Cluzel and Federico Caricasulo. After only three laps De Rosa attacks and passes Cluzel conquering a second position that will keep until the end of the race, missing the victory for only 1.4s. This second place brings to five the number of consecutive podiums in 2018 for Raffaele De Rosa and the MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag Team, with the Italian rider taking the 6th position in the overall standing, on equal points with Lucas Mahias in 5th place.
Badovini was forced to start from the 21st position on the grid due to some problems that affected the qualifying sessions. The rider from Biella, Italy, found a solid feeling with his MV Agusta F3 675 machine and he was able to set an 11 positions’ comeback, ending up his home race in the Top 10.
Raffaele De Rosa – After a long line of third placement, it’s nice to be able to step up another position on the podium. I was really starting to believe I could fight for the win but Federico had a good rhythm and I made a small mistake at the “Tramonto” corner that made me lose the right moment to attack. I’m happy because it’s really enjoyable to ride this bike, the chassis is unbelievable and the team always does a perfect job.
Ayrton Badovini – With this impressive comeback we changed direction to a negative weekend’s start. Today I had a better feeling with the bike and I managed to perform an 11 positions’ comeback, which is never easy on this track. It was fun, difficult but fun. Congrats to Raffaele for the excellent race, I hope I can battle with him in the last races of the season.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:
Caricasulo takes the win at home in Misano
Race
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team rider Federico Caricasulo secured his first race win of the season at Misano today, with a dominant performance in front of his home crowd. Lucas Mahias was left frustrated after contact with another rider saw him crash out of the race on only the second lap, while European Supersport Cup rider Alfonso Coppola also crashed on the same lap but remounted to finish 23rd.
Starting from pole position after dominating qualifying on Saturday, Caricasulo was forced to sit in behind Jules Cluzel for the opening three laps, after the Frenchman took the advantage from the start. Clearly the faster rider, Caricasulo made his move on lap three with a clean pass on Cluzel to take the race lead. Setting a fast and consistent pace at the front the Italian was never headed for the remainder of the race and crossed the line to claim his first win of the season and his first since the Jerez race in 2017. The win sees Caricasulo jump from sixth to fourth in the championship standings with 104 points, 12 points adrift of third-placed Randy Krummenacher.
A flying start from the second row of the grid saw Mahias make it into the leading trio by the end of the opening lap. The 29-year-old Frenchman was fighting for position with Raffaele de Rosa when a hard pass from the Italian at turn 10 resulted in contact between the two. Mahias was pushed wide and onto the dirty part of the track, where he crashed without injury. With no points secured today Mahias slipped one place in the championship standings from fourth to fifth.
Coppola’s hopes of a back-to-back points scoring finish were dashed on lap two today, when he suffered a low side crash at turn two. Fortunately the 20-year-old Italian was able to remount and rejoin the race, gaining more valuable experience in his rookie WorldSSP season.
Federico Caricasulo
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team – 1st
“I’m really happy to win here at Misano, as it’s always special to win in front of your home crowd. This weekend I had the perfect bike and for that I need to thank both my team and Yamaha for their work and commitment. There is no better way to end the first half of the season with a win, so we go into the summer break on a high.”
Lucas Mahias
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team – DNF
“My start was good and I knew I had the rhythm to fight at the front as we’d worked a lot in free practice towards that. De Rosa braked very hard and I tried to put in a pass, but he was so close to crashing. On the second attempt I managed to get in front, but then he came straight back at me with a very hard pass and there was contact. It pushed me wide and when I touched the gas I had a highside and that was my race over. It’s not the way to end what had been a good weekend for us and it’s certainly not good for my championship. I’m angry because it was a hard pass, too hard, but the focus now must be on the next race.”
Alfonso Coppola
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Junior Team – 23rd +1’27.667
“I made a good start and got away with the group fighting for points, but immediately my feeling with the front wasn’t good and I wasn’t able to stay with them. Then at turn two I lost the front and crashed. I managed to rejoin and finish, but this is not the result we were looking for. All weekend I have not had such a good feeling, so this is something we need to work on ahead of the next race.”
Filippo Conti
GRT Yamaha Offical WorldSSP Team Manager
“We wanted to win for Bruno today and that’s exactly what Federico did. We really needed this win today because for so much time we couldn’t reach our target, but now we’ve made a step and we’re back where we have to be. Federico made a fantastic qualifying yesterday and backed that up with a fantastic race today, which he deserved to win. Thanks to him, his team, to everyone who supports us and to Yamaha for making this possible. It was unfortunate for Lucas to crash after the contact because he also had the pace to fight for the win today. Unfortunately Alfonso also crashed at the beginning but was able to rejoin and complete the race. He just needs to continue to focus and improve his knowledge because that’s his target in his rookie season.”
More, from a press release issued by Racedays Racing:
Soomer 15th, Iozzo 20th In Scorching Misano Supersport Races
Hannes Soomer and Dino Iozzo were back in action the World Supersport and World Supersport 300cc Championships this weekend at the 4.2km Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Italy, the final race before the summer break.
With track and air temperatures the hottest they’ve been in Europe all season the conditions were tough with Soomer fighting hard to secure 15th in WorldSSP whilst Iozzo stormed through the field to finish a respectable 20th in WorldSSP300.
Soomer, who qualified in the same position after narrowly missing out on Superpole 2 produced another solid performance, lapping consistently quickly throughout the nineteen lap encounter to secure his fourth point scoring finish of the season in the scorching heat.
Iozzo, was once again racing on a circuit that he had never seen before and with Friday’s rain shower preventing two full dry sessions the lack of dry track time meant he was not able to show his full potential. When the lights went out however the #13 rider showed once again that he is a future contender as he sliced his way through the pack to secure another top twenty finish in one of the most competitive championships in the World.
Mike Dickinson (Team Manager): “Another consistent weekend for both riders. Dino took a little bit of time to find a good setting and learn the track whilst Hannes with his experience at this circuit concentrated on a race setting. Extremely hot air and track temperatures made life a little difficult for both riders, but a solid points finish for Hannes in P15 and another top 20 for Dino means we can go into the summer break knowing we will be back at Portimao in September stronger than ever. As usual the team did a great job all weekend so a big thanks to them.”
Dino Iozzo: “In the first practice I struggled with learning the track but continued to follow people around me to see what they were doing. The rain had set in for the second practice which I didn’t mind at all. In the first two laps I was estimated to be in first but had a high side coming out of the last corner which ended the practice for me. In SP1 a group of us jumped the red light at the start of the session and unfortunately I got a penalty which put me at the back of the grid. We started P35 which I knew meant the race was gonna be tough. I managed to get a decent start and caught and passed quite a few people and ultimately ending in P20. A huge thank you to my team for all the work they put in to this week. Roll on Portimao.”
Hannes Soomer: “We had quite a difficult weekend in Misano. We had some problems in Friday’s Free Practices but made good progress on Saturday. I had a good start from 15th on the grid and was in the fight for top 10 positions for a long time. Going to the summer break with a point scoring finish is good but for sure we have to work hard during the break to find something to be closer to the top in the second half of the season. Thanks to the team and all my sponsors and supporters.”
More, from a press release issued by EAB antwest Racing World Supersport Team:
TOP SIX IN WORLD SUPERSPORT FOR WEST AT MISANO, FIRST KAWASAKI TO THE FINISH LINE
Round 8 Misano
The EAB antwest Racing World Supersport Team arrived on Wednesday to the beautiful town of Misano on Italy’s Adriatic coast for round 8 of the World Supersport Championship.
The team was unsure what to expect at the Misano circuit with the three low speed corners that lead onto long straights— a track configuration that does not suit the Kawasaki’s lack of acceleration compared to the competition.
Free Practice 1 started with dry conditions and a lot of questions because Pirelli brought four different dry front tire compounds and three different dry rear compounds to try and handle the blistering track temperatures. The team used a new setup that was radically different to the previous setup from Brno—Brno’s elevation changes were a thing of the past compared to the Misano circuits almost flat configuration. Ant showed up ready to ride and quickly came to grips with the challenging Italian course, he was P7 at the end of the session and first Kawasaki.
Free Practice 2 started under threatening skies. The Italian sunshine was replaced with gray skies and thunderclouds. The original plan of starting a revised setup on used tires was scrapped and new tires were fitted to try and make another push before the rain came to secure a top ten position and automatically advance to Superpole 2. After five laps, Ant was in P7 and then the rain came. The rain came down and Ant waited to see if the track would dry. The rain never stopped so Ant and all the other competitors watched as the time ticked down to zero in the session. Ant was again fastest Kawasaki, P7 was secured, and a Superpole 2 berth was achieved.
The overall setup of the bike was working well and Ant used FP3 to try another tire combination before the afternoon’s qualifying session. The short FP3 session saw Ant make another improvement in time and finish the session with a 1:38.568 lap time, good enough for sixth and first Kawasaki.
Superpole 2 was held under bright skies and scorching sun, the track temperature reaching 48 degrees Celsius. The high track temperature resulted in a lack of grip and Ant struggled to get the power to the ground. Ant finished the session in tenth place.
Sunday morning arrived and Ant started warmup with a full fuel load to simulate the bike at the start of the race and to make a final choice on tires for the race. With a full fuel load, Ant finished the session in ninth position with a time of 1:39.122.
The sun made its presence known as the start time for the race edged closer. The track temperature was climbing and the final rear tire choice needed to be made. The last track temperature reading for the race was 46 degrees on the grid. The new rear tire was fitted on the grid and it was all up to Ant to make a push for the front when the lights went out. Ant was able to get a decent start off the line and was in ninth position at the end of the first lap. At the conclusion of lap two, Ant was into seventh position trying to stay with the stronger accelerating Yamahas. By lap 8, Ant was in sixth and pulling away from the following riders. As he started the final lap, Ant was still in sixth and was able to holding off a late charge from Kyle Smith in seventh. When the checkered flag came out, Ant crossed the line in sixth, and was the first Kawasaki.
Post race analysis shows that Ant finished the race in sixth place on the twenty fifth fastest bike through the speed trap. The ten points earned bring Ant’s total to fifty one, moving him into seventh in the riders championship and first Kawasaki rider. The EAB antwest Racing team with only one rider is eighth in the team championship. Ant has also delivered more points than any other rider, or team combination, to Kawasaki’s 67 points total in the manufacturer championship.
Anthony West 13, P6
I’m never happy unless I’m winning, but for our package and lack of budget compared to other teams the weekend went pretty well. We missed the mark a little in the heat of Superpole and that put us a little further back on the grid then I wanted to be but, overall, the team gave me a good motorcycle that we didn’t have to change a whole lot from Friday to Sunday. We were once again the best Kawasaki in the race. Hopefully, the new ECU we are supposed to receive during the summer break will help close the gap to the Yamahas.
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]