From a press release issued by FGSPORTGROUP:

Imola 200 Race Result

Zongshen First, Phase One Second, Yamaha Austria Third

The Zongshen No.1 Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Warwick Nowland and Stephane Mertens has won the Imola 200, the San Marino round of the World Endurance Championship. Suzuki GB Phase One’s Olivier Four and James Ellison were second, and Yamaha Austria’s Saiger, Wilding and Truchsess were third.

Olivier four led the opening laps of the race, chased by Zongshen 2’s Igor Jerman and Zongshen 1’s Warwick Nowland. The trio broke away from the pack, with only Trackdaze’s Mike Edwards able to match the 1:55 pace and keep them in sight.

Jerman took the lead briefly on lap 14, followed a lap later by Nowland as the Phase One bike began to suffer from tyre wear. After the first round of pit stops the Zongshen 1 bike was 20 seconds ahead of Zongshen 2, with Phase One some 30 seconds behind in third place.

Yamaha Austria had closed to fourth place after Trackdaze lost two laps in the pits, and Endurance Moto 38 had moved up to fifth.

Police Nationale, in their first race using a Suzuki GSX-R1000 began to challenge the two Yamahas in the final thirty minutes, Paolo Blora lapping faster than either Yamaha Austria or Endurance Moto 38 could manage.

The race came alive in the closing laps when the Zongshen No.2 bike’s clutch failed, dropping them down the standings and ultimately causing them to retire. Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 also failed to record a finish after the bike ran low on fuel in the closing laps. This allowed Phase One to move up to second place, Yamaha Austria’s untried superbike specification R1 moved up to third, and Police Nationale inherited fourth.

Fifth place went to Bolliger Team, the only Kawasaki in the race, sixth to GMT94 and seventh to the highest placed non-permanent team – the No. 101 DRE Ducati 999.Fabi Corse took eighth place, Bergamelli ninth and KFM Herber were tenth.


Quotes:

Warwick Nowland, Zongshen No.1: It’s a very good feeling to have won but it’s only the first race. My thanks go to the organisers, the team and Dunlop who have all worked hard to help get us consistent lap times. I saw Olivier go and chased him. Everything went well. This result is just the start. My thanks to Stephane Mertens for being a good team mate.

Stephane Merten, Zongshen No.1s: Thanks to the organisers for a fantastic track; this was my first time here and I enjoyed it. I am sorry for the second Zongshen bike which had a technical problem, but I’m pleased that the team did well.

Olivier Four, Suzuki GB Phase One No.3: I thought we could win but our rear settings were not good and caused tyre wear. I was pushing from the start but the bike was always moving, moving, moving at the rear. I kept trying.

James Ellison, Suzuki GB Phase One No.3: All the lads here are quick. I was surprised that Warwick and Stephane were doing the same lap times as I was two years ago in my superstock race here. I was expecting to be fast but was brought down to earth. It was a good race.

Erwin Wilding, Yamaha Austria: We go very rapidly with our bike and it was the best we could do.

Karl Truchsess, Yamaha Austria: Fifth or sixth would have been good but third was perfect.


Top Ten Positions:

1. Suzuki Zongshen 1 (CHN) (Nowland – Mertens) – 66 laps, 2:09:23.578

2. Suzuki GB Phase One (GBR) (Four – Ellison) + 1:12.386

3. Yamaha Austria (AUT) (Saiger – Wilding – Truchsess) – 1 lap

4. Suzuki Police 22 (FRA) (Giabbani – Blora) – 1 lap

5. Kawasaki Bolliger (SUI) (Kellemberger – Jerzenbech – Nystrom) – 1 lap

6. Yamaha GMT 94 (FRA) (Scarnato – Guyot) – 1 lap

7. Ducati DRE 101 (ITA) (Tessari – Mauri) – 1 lap

8. Suzuki Fabi Corse (ITA) (Capriotti – Fabi) – 2 laps

9. Suzuki Bergamelli Racing (ITA) (Battisti – Bosetti) – 2 laps

10. Suzuki KFM Herber (GER) (Herber – Bursa) – 2 laps

17 Other Finishers were classified.

Fastest Lap: Nowland in 1’54″914 with an average speed of 154.540 kmh (95.415 mph)