Young American Damian Jigalov kicks off 2017 CIV Championship at Imola

Damian made a strong start to his 2017 CIV PreMoto3 250 campaign at Imola, Italy with a 5th place in Race 1 with his RMU MOTO VR46 Riders Academy team.

Practice saw Damian happy developing setups and working towards qualifying where he was able to get a solid 5th position on the grid. He started Race 1 from P10 on the grid, as the Premoto3 250-4T class is combined with the 125-2T class, and was delighted with his 5th place finish on such a demanding and technical track.

Race 2 saw Damian finish in 11th position, due to a false neutral going into the very fast turn 1 at Imola, and although it was not the placing he had hoped for, it was nonetheless more points under his belt leaving Imola in 7th place in the very competitive championship standings.

Damian Jigalov:

“After a long off season and working very hard training this past winter, I was very determined this weekend to have a strong start to my first full CIV Premoto3 250 season. I knew the competition is fast in Europe after the couple Wild Card rides last season. Race 1 went well after working long days with my RMU MOTO VR46RA team for an ideal setup with a 5th place finish. I was still missing a little speed and together with my team we wanted to improve on this finish for Race 2 on Sunday. We made a gearing change and some minor setup changes to keep the bike from slight front end instability during Race 1. Race 2 started well and by Lap 4 I was in 6th position going into the very fast turn 1, braking hard, I took 3 downshifts and went to lean into the corner, released the clutch after the final downshift and nothing. Bike went into a false neutral in between gears free wheeling. I ran off the track and into the deep gravel trap. The speed is really high in this corner. I was able to use rear brake and basically flat track through the gravel trap. I wanted to get to the edge close to the wall because I knew if I stopped in the gravel trap I would be stuck and I saw the grass along the wall. I was determined to finish the race. I tried to get weight on the rear wheel by getting on the gas but the trans was still in between gears and I had nothing. Luckily I made it out. Once back on track now the quick shifter was not working. Still I gained some positions back and finished in 11th and happy for the 5 championship points. Unfortunately Sunday did not get the result I had expected in Race 2. I am sorry for my RMU MOTO VR46RA team. We worked very hard this weekend and hoped for a better result. I’m glad to have finished the race and earned 5 championship points in 11th position.

Thank you everyone for your support! Thank you to our sponsors, ARCH MOTORCYCLE, DAINESE/AGV, BIOTHERMAL LLC, GABI TOY, WERA, APEX MFG, SPORTBIKE TRACK TIME, SPORTBIKES4HIRE SHOP, LIONIZE DELIVERY SOLUTIONS, WOODSTOCK KTM”