Yellow flags condition Alcoba’s Superpole at Misano

The first day of the sixth Supersport World Championship round played out in hot and sunny conditions at the Misano World Circuit in Italy today.

This is a home round for the Kawasaki WorldSSP Team which means that Jeremy Alcoba’s bike features the ELF livery, to mark the partnership between Total Italia and Manuel Puccetti’s teams.

Both partners are particularly proud of this solid relationship, which goes beyond the professional and has only got stronger with time.

This morning the Spaniard headed out for free practice, adapting his ZX-6R 636 to the Emilia Romagna track and setting a time of 1’38”029 to place seventh.

In the early afternoon, Jeremy was back on track for Superpole, which establishes the starting grid for Race 1. With a best of 1’37”828, Alcoba placed just thirteenth, in that his fastest lap, which would have put him towards the top of the timesheets, was cancelled by race direction when a crash for another rider brought out the yellow flags.

He will therefore start the weekend’s first 18-lap race from the fifth row of the grid.

Misano World Circuit – Italy
Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Masia (Ducati) – Casadei (MV Agusta) – 3) Bendsneyder (MV Agusta) – 4) Schroetter (Ducati) – 5) Oncu (Yamaha) – 6) Debise (Ducati) ……… 13) Alcoba (Kawasaki)

Jeremy Alcoba: “Temperatures were a lot hotter today than they were during the test at the end of May. We made some changes to the bike and still need to find the right setup. I didn’t push overly hard during practice, while in Superpole I was really improving on my times, but a yellow flag meant my fastest time was cancelled. I’m sorry to have start Race 1 from row five, but I’ll do my best as always because this is my team’s home round and everyone’s really helped me today.”

Gerloff gets off the mark at Misano

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) started the FIM Superbike World Championship round at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ during Friday’s two free practice sessions on 13 June.

In what is a home race weekend for Garrett’s Italian based squad, he set about trying to find a strong race set-up for his Ninja ZX-10RR on day one. The hot weather conditions and high humidity contributed to a day of hard work for all, with Gerloff eventually finishing 17th in the combined free practice times.

A good base was found to tackle three of the track’s four sectors at full pace, leaving the team one area to work on in particular during Free Practice 3 on Saturday.

After setting a 1’34.294 best lap in FP2 at the 4.226km long Misano facility, Gerloff and his crew will now look at their day one data in greater detail ahead of what are expected to be continuing
hot weather conditions on the Adriatic coast of Italy.

Free Practice 3, Superpole Qualifying and then Race One are the next tasks for Gerloff and his team to complete, on Saturday 14 June.

Garrett Gerloff: “It was definitely hot today and I do not feel bad on the bike. Which is why I am frustrated. I feel like in three of the track sectors it is not horrible but in one sector I am just way off. I shouldn’t be as far back as I am but we are trying to find a solution in that area to make the bike better. I hope on Saturday we can make that jump and be closer to the front.”

Alcoba makes a great recovery, seventh in Race 1 at Misano

The first race of this sixth WorldSSP round played out today at the Misano World Circuit. Yesterday saw Jeremy Alcoba take to the Italian track for a practice session in which he prepared for the subsequent Superpole. The Spaniard was unlucky in that qualifying session, in that his fastest lap was cancelled when the yellow flags came out following a crash. With a time of 1’37”828, he finished thirteenth, which translated into a fifth row start for this morning’s race, which ran in very high temperatures.

After making a good start, Alcoba held his position in the early stages. He soon began to work his way up the field, progressing as far as tenth. Demonstrating very strong pace, Jeremy continued to make up positions all the way to the line to conclude this first race in seventh position!

Alcoba will be back out tomorrow for the second and final race of this sixth WorldSSP race.

Misano World Circuit – Italy
Supersport World Championship
Race 1: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) -2) Masia (Ducati) – 3) Oncu (Yamaha) – 4) Debise (Ducati) – 5) Booth Amos (Triumph) – 6) Schroetter (Ducati) – 7) Alcoba (Kawasaki)

Jeremy Alcoba: “I’m happy with Saturday’s race. We were finally able to make a good start, not gaining but not losing positions, which was good. At the beginning I was looking at how the tyres might drop but I was able to manage the race really well, still lapping fast even in the final stages. I was really happy with our speed throughout the race, and it was also enjoyable to be fighting with the other riders. I think the potential is there and that we ran a good race, so I’m happy. The team did a great job, and I want to thank them for all their hard work. Let’s stay focused for tomorrow because I think we can take another little step forward.”

At Misano Gerloff fights back for points in Race One

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) lined up for the opening race of the WorldSBK weekend at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on the fifth row of the grid, then rode to a 14th place finish.

In hot and humid conditions at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ on Saturday 14 June, Garrett was seventh in the morning FP3 session. He placed 15th in the subsequent Superpole Qualifying session, after the bright and sunny weather conditions had significantly raised the ambient and track temperatures.

In the 21-lap WorldSBK race Gerloff made some early progress on his Ninja ZX-10RR in lap one, until another rider made contact with his bike and Gerloff lost a lot of time removing damaged components from his left handlebar.

At the end of lap one Garrett was last across the start/finish line, but made determined progress from then on. He made overtakes around the 4.226km Misano layout and moved up to finish the opening Misano race in 14th place.

Sunday 15 June will be the final day of action at Misano, with the ten-lap Superpole Race and a final full distance WorldSBK Race Two bringing the sixth round of the championship to a close.

Garrett Gerloff: “In the morning’s FP3 session I felt pretty good. We used a Q tyre and I think a lot of other people used one also. I was in seventh place, which I was pretty happy about. It definitely got a lot hotter over the next two hours as we went towards Superpole Qualifying. Then, I was fighting like crazy just to do the same time that I did in FP3 and it seemed like everybody else found half a second. I was just getting frustrated because it seems like each time I think I have found something, I am behind again. I had a decent start to first lap in the race when I some overtakes. Into T8 on the first lap I had a rider ram into me. Their exhaust bent my clutch lever down onto my rear brake, so I had to break off the clutch lever and try to get it off the cable. I wasted eight seconds or so trying to do that. After that I was just in the back trying to make progress forward. I did the best that I could but it is not the result that we want, obviously. But, we got a couple of points.”

Alcoba repeats his best result of the season in Race 2 at Misano!

The sixth WorldSSP has concluded today at the Misano World Circuit in Italy. Rider Jeremy Alcoba made a strong recovery in Saturday’s race 1. Starting from thirteenth on the grid, the Spaniard was able to cross the line in seventh position.

For today’s race, which ran in very hot conditions, Jeremy again started from the fifth row. The Spaniard put in an excellent performance, his pace allowing him to make up many positions and climb as high as fifth. On lap thirteen race direction waved the red flag followed a crash for a rider who then remained on track. Alcoba concluded the race fifth, replicating his best result of the season after also finishing top five in Race 2 at Phillip Island!

In the general standings, Jeremy lies ninth with 88 points.

The next WorldSSP round will take place on 11-13 July at Donington Park in the UK.

Misano World Circuit – Italy
Supersport World Championship
Race 2: 1) Oncu (Yamaha) – 2) Masia (Ducati) – 3) Debise (Ducati) – 4) Oettl (Ducati) – 5) Alcoba (Kawasaki) – 6) Garcia (Yamaha)

Jeremy Alcoba: “P5 is a really good result for us. I think we did a really good job yesterday to improve today. It’s true that there were many crashes in front, but we didn’t lose much time to the fastest guys. I made a really good start but then struggled a little to stop the bike with a full tank. Once the tyre performance dropped and we were carrying less fuel, I started to feel better though, like yesterday, and could get into a rhythm. The red flag meant we finished P5, which I think was realistic, as it wouldn’t have been easy to reach the front group. We can say that we’re closer to the front anyway and have been able to perform well with the bike and the whole package at this track. Let’s see if we can continue like this next time. The pace is there, and I think we’re working well. A big thanks to the team!”

Gerloff secures season best finish in Race Two

America’s Garrett Gerloff took part in two WorldSBK Sunday races at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’, recording his best individual finishing position since he joined Kawasaki this season.

In the short Superpole Race, held over ten laps, Gerloff finished a battling 11th, having started from 14th place on the grid. He had ambitions on finishing inside the top ten but was passed in the later stages and could not improve his starting position fo the final race of the weekend.

In the second race Gerloff was able to use his Ninja ZX-10RR machine very effectively, despite starting from the fifth row of the grid.

Despite the hot ambient air conditions of 32°C Gerloff was able to fight his way to eighth place, which was two places better than his previous best race result this season. Gerloff scored points in both full distance races at Misano, which was a home round for his Italian team.

In the championship Garrett is 17th, with an enhanced points total of 40.

Donington Park in the UK is the venue for the seventh round of the championship. The UK round will take place between 11-13 July, at the same venue WorldSBK first appeared as a championship in its own right, in 1988.

Garrett Gerloff:

“Today ended up not so bad. I was a bit frustrated after the Superpole Race because I was in eighth place, then I was just trying my best to stay in the top nine, to try to make sure that I could have a better starting position for Race Two. I didn’t get one, so I was definitely frustrated. We had not the best start in Race Two but we had pretty good pace and I felt better and better the more laps I did, and the more the fuel load started to go down. I finished inside the top ten and it was nice to have a single digit next to my name. We made some progress and I hope we make more in the next race, and keep improving, I really hope.”