Friday

Work in progress for Mahias in WorldSSP Practice

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola was the stage for today’s first day of action making up round seven of the Supersport World Championship. . This weekend, all the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing bikes are out on track with the historic ELF livery that celebrates the partnership between Total Italia and the Italian team.

Lucas Mahias is again standing in for the injured Can Oncu aboard the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing ZX-6R. The French rider was on track for this morning’s first free practice, in which he began to adapt his bike to the challenging and technical Italian track, placing fifteenth with a time of 1’54”031.

In the afternoon’s session, Mahias was able to improve on his earlier reference to place twentieth with a best of 1’53”580.

Tomorrow will see Lucas return to the track for Superpole followed by the first of the weekend’s races.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Imola – Italy
Supersport World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Huertas (Kawasaki) – 4) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) – 5) Bulega (Ducati) …….. 20) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Lucas Mahias: “It’s been a challenging day. We worked hard in both sessions to find the right balance for our bike and my position in the standings is due to the fact that we didn’t change the tyres in the final stages, electing to work on race pace instead. Tomorrow I hope to be able to complete a strong Superpole so that we can score a positive result in Race 1.”

Rabat finishes WorldSBK Practice on a positive note

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola where it is competing in round seven of the Superbike World Championship.

This weekend, all the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing bikes are out on track with the historic ELF livery that celebrates the partnership between Total Italia and the Italian team.

Rider Tito Rabat is visiting the Italian track for the first time and so the morning’s first free practice was an opportunity to start learning the track and working on the set up of the Ninja. With a time of 1’53”004, the Spaniard placed twenty-fifth.

In the afternoon’s second practice, Tito was able to improve considerably, lowering his lap time by more than two seconds (1’50”747) to close twenty-fourth.
Rabat will return to the track tomorrow for FP3, followed by the Superpole and the first of the weekend’s three races.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Imola – Italy
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 2) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 3) Gerloff (BMW) – 4) Bassani (Ducati) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……24) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “My first day at Imola has been positive. I really like the track, though it’s not an easy one to interpret. The hot conditions have only made it more difficult and this morning we were slowed by an electronics issue. I had a small crash in the afternoon, just as I was beginning to pick up the pace, but luckily it was nothing serious. Tomorrow we want to continue to improve to secure a good starting position and a strong race result.”

Saturday 

Mahias ninth in WolrdSSP Race One at Imola

The stifling Imola heat is making for a difficult seventh round of the Supersport World Championship. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Lucas Mahias, who is racing with the historic ELF livery this weekend, concluded Friday’s practice sessions in twentieth position, having worked with his technicians to adapt his ZX-6R to the Italian track. This morning the Frenchman was back out for Superpole, setting a best of 1’52”245 to qualify tenth. With this result, he started the afternoon’s race from the fourth row. Lucas got away well, holding his start position. Battling as part of the chasing group and demonstrating good race pace, Mahias crossed the line in ninth place.

Tomorrow will see the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider line up for the second and final race of the weekend.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Imola – Italy
Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha) – 4) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 5) Montella (Ducati) – 6) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) …….. 10) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Race 1 – 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 3) Bulega (Ducati) – 4) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) 5) Montella (Ducati) – 6) De Rosa (Ducati) …….. 9) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Lucas Mahias: “It’s been a positive day. I went quite well in Superpole and qualified tenth. The race turned out more or less as I thought it would, although I’d hoped to do a little better, in that my feeling with the bike is improving and we’re consistently closer to the frontrunners. Tomorrow I hope we can harness the data collected today and score a better result. I want to thank the team for all their hard work today.”

Rabat just misses out on points in Race One at Imola

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Tito Rabat are at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola for this weekend’s seventh WorldSBK round.

The Spanish rider, who is racing with the historic ELF livery this weekend, placed twenty-fourth in the combined standings at the end of Friday’s free practice sessions. Today he was back out for FP3, a session in which he set a best of 1’49”365 to finish twenty-first.

In Superpole Rabat was able to improve by almost a second and, with a time of 1’48”516, he again placed twenty-first, which made for a seventh row start for the afternoon’s first race. Tito was able to recover well during the course of the race, crossing the line sixteenth, just outside the points zone. Tomorrow Rabat will be back out at Imola for the Superpole Race and Race 2.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Imola – Italy
Superbike World Championship

Superpole: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 3) Bassani (Ducati) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Redding (BMW) – 6) Ray (Yamaha) …….. 21) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 1: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 6) Petrucci (Ducati) …… 16) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “I’m pleased with the way today’s race went. I made a very good start and closed in on the group ahead of me. Once with them, I was able to start battling and climb up to eventual sixteenth place. I maintained a very strong rhythm, though there are still some sectors where we need to improve. For tomorrow we’ll try to maintain this pace and score the best possible results.”

Sunday

Ninth place for Lucas Mahias in WorldSSP Race Two

Round seven of the Supersport World Championship has drawn to a close at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola with the second and final 17-lap Supersport race. At this second home round of the season for Manuel Puccetti’s team, the bike of rider Lucas Mahias, who stands in for injured Can Oncu, features the historic ELF livery that celebrates the partnership between Total Italia and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing.

In yesterday’s Superpole, the French rider qualified tenth which meant a fourth row start for him in the first of the weekend’s races, in which he scored an encouraging ninth place finish. Race 2 ran today and, like yesterday, Lucas started from ninth on the grid. After making a good start, Mahias found himself lying in around tenth place. By maintaining a consistent rhythm and avoiding mistakes, the Frenchman made up one position in the final stages to cross the line ninth, scoring more championship points as a result.

The next WorldSSP round will take place over the weekend of 28-30 July at the Most Circuit in the Czech Republic.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Imola – Italy
Superbike World Championship

Race 2 – 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Montella (Ducati) – 4) Huertas (Kawasaki) – 5) De Rosa (Ducati) – 6) Navarro (Yamaha) ……. 9) Mahias (Kawasaki)

Lucas Mahias: “Even though I scored the same result as yesterday, today’s race was more satisfying. I was able to maintain good pace and the bike was working better. Due to the heat, I was careful to pay attention to tyre consumption so that I wouldn’t lose ground in the final stages. Ninth place might not be the kind of result that the team and I deserve but I consider it a step forwards towards greater competitiveness.”

A crash stops Rabat in WorldSBK Race Two at Imola

Conditions at the Imola circuit were again hot and sunny on the final day making up round seven of the Superbike World Championship. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing was fielding Tito Rabat, whose Ninja featured the historic ELF livery this weekend. Yesterday, the Spanish rider took part in Superpole, qualifying twenty-first, while he made up ground in the first race and came very close to the points zone.

Tito was back on track this morning for the Superpole Race, which ran over a distance of ten laps. A very fast start allowed Rabat to maintain his starting position. Fighting as part of a big group of riders and maintaining strong pace, Tito crossed the finish line in twentieth place.

The second long race got underway in the early afternoon and was reduced from nineteen to fifteen laps as a precautionary measure, considering high temperatures in excess of 37°C. Rabat again got away well, making up positions right away. Getting into a good rhythm, the Spaniard worked his way up through the field but unfortunately, on lap five, a crash forced him to retire. Tito was unhurt and will be back in action at the next WorldSBK round, taking place at the Most Circuit in the Czech Republic on 28-30 July.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – Imola – Italy
Superbike World Championship
Superpole Race: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 4) Rea (Kawasaki) – 5) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 6) Bassani (Ducati) ………… 20) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 2: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Bassani (Ducati) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 6) Ray (Yamaha) – 7) Baz (BMW) ………. DNF) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “Aside from the crash that stopped me in race 2, I have to say it’s been a positive weekend. For the first time I was able to stick with those running mid-field, and overtake four riders in the early stages of the race before the crash. We’ve understood how to manage the electronics and so I can’t wait to race at Most to continue the work begun here at Imola. I want to thank my team as they’ve done a great job. And in turn, I can assure the team that I will continue to give it my all.”