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Imola SBK STK races, September 25 2011, A warm and sunny day at Imola for the Superbike warm-up and races. After yesterday’s difficult qualifying session Mark Aitchison and Roberto Rolfo lined up respectively from the fifth and the sixth row of the grid in seventeenth and twenty first position for today’s 21-lap races.
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September 25 2011 - Imola SBK STK races
A warm and sunny day at Imola for the Superbike warm-up and races. After yesterday’s difficult qualifying session Mark Aitchison and Roberto Rolfo lined up respectively from the fifth and the sixth row of the grid in seventeenth and twenty first position for today’s 21-lap races. In race one everything went well for Mark Aitchison, who fought for the best part of the race for the tenth position before closing eleventh. The hundredth race for Roberto Rolfo in Superbike was not a lucky one. The Italian rider struggled with some set up problems obtaining only the eighteenth position. In race two Mark Aitchison reached his best result of the season to take final ninth position while unfortunately Rolfo was forced to re-enter the box due to some technical problems.
Superbike – Race 1: 1) Rea (Honda) – 2) Haga (Aprilia) – 3) Checa (Ducati) – 4) Sykes (Kawasaki) – 5) Laverty (Yamaha)…11) Aitchison (Kawasaki)….18) Rolfo (Kawasaki)
Superbike – Race 2: 1) Checa (Ducati) – 2) Haga (Aprilia) - 3) Camier (Aprilia) – 4) Laverty (Yamaha) – 5) Haslam (BMW) ……. 9) Aitchison (Kawasaki) ..… Ret) Rolfo (Kawasaki)
Roberto Rolfo: “It was a difficult weekend and the races were hard too. In the first, my bike wasn’t quite right and I wasn’t able to find a strong enough pace to be able to pass those ahead of me. In the second, on the other hand, after only a few laps my engine died and I was forced to retire. I hope to do a lot better in Magny Cours next week and I thank my team that, as always, did a great job this weekend.”
Mark Aitchison: "Our two races today in Imola have been very satisfying for me. My team and I worked so hard over the weekend to improve the bike set-up and I must say that my guys did a great job. On Friday we were struggling a little to stay consistent, but during the first race I managed to find a very good rhythm and push forward, finishing in eleventh place. I had a good battle with some of the other riders which I really enjoyed. In race two, I didn’t have much luck in finding my rhythm, as I was hit twice by some other riders in the slow chicane early in the race. I was forced wide on both occasions, which meant I had to regain my momentum, and that wasn’t easy as, just after these collisions, my steering damper broke. After this I had to fight with the bike so much just to keep it under control for the entire race. In any case I was very happy to come home in 9th. A very big thank you to my team and everyone who has helped me this weekend."
Nice weather and dry track conditions today in Imola for the eighth round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup. Fourth row for Bussolotti and Mercado and fifth row for Staring. Due to difficult practice session over the last two days, all three team Pedercini riders struggled in today’s races with setting problems. A good start for Bussolotti and Staring while Mercado lost some positions in the first curve. As the race proceeded Bussolotti was able to make up some positions reaching eleventh place. Staring was in fourteenth place followed by Mercado in fifteenth. At the end of the race all three Pedercini riders reached the points zone. Staring was twelfth followed by Bussolotti and Mercado in thirteenth and fourteenth position respectively.
Superstock 1000 – race: 1) Petrucci (Ducati) – 2) Giugliano (Ducati) – 3) Canepa (Ducati) – 4) Baroni (Ducati) – 5) Barrier (BMW) …. 12) Staring (Kawasaki) - 13) Bussolotti (Kawasaki) – 14) Mercado (Kawasaki)
Marco Bussolotti: “It was a difficult race mainly because of my bad starting position but also because my start was not so fast. Because of my difficult qualifying session, today my bike set-up was not so good, but with this thirteenth place I gained some points and so I look forward to getting better results in upcoming races.”
Brian Staring: “My initial jump off the line was really good but in the first chicane I was in the middle of the group and I had to move to the right to avoid an impact with some other riders, losing a lot of positions. I pushed as hard as I could and I was able to pass some riders, improving my pace. I’m not disappointed with myself because I gave everything I could but I’m disappointed with twelfth position”.
Leandro “Tati” Mercado: "My start was not so bad but very soon I had some problem with the gears. I couldn’t use the right gear entering the corners and for this reason I lost some positions. I’m really disappointed because my race pace was good but these gear problems prevented me from achieving a better result. I’m eager to race in Magny Cours
next week to try to do better”.
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