The Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team and its riders Emiliano Ercolani and Elia Bartolini are competing in the second WorldSSP300 round at the historic Assen circuit in The Netherlands.
Yesterday, the two young Italians completed a free practice session before taking part in the Superpole, which established the grid positions for the weekend’s race. The qualifying was characterised by low temperatures and variable weather, with Ercolani able to place eleventh, and Bartolini twenty-sixth. This meant that the pair lined up on row four and nine of the grid respectively for Race 1, which ran this morning on a partially dry track.
The two Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 riders got away well, but on lap two Ercolani unfortunately got caught up in a crash on lap two when another rider fell in front of him. Emiliano sustained no serious injuries but had to retire. The race was then brought to a halt on lap four due to another incident. Restarted a short time later, the race was reduced to just five laps.
Despite receiving two long lap penalties (for having mounted tyres on the grid outside of the permitted time limit), Bartolini made an incredible comeback to cross the line sixteenth, just outside the points zone. Tomorrow the two Italians will be back on track for Race 2.
“The weather made for a very difficult race. Ercolani was really unlucky, while Bartolini made an incredible recovery, setting the seventh fastest lap of the race. According to the new regulation this means he’ll start tomorrow’s race from seventh on the grid. Both demonstrated good speed, and this is very important.”
“Such bad luck! I started well and was lying in around tenth place in the front group when a rider crashed in front me. I couldn’t avoid him and crashed too but luckily I wasn’t seriously hurt. We’ll try to make up for this in tomorrow’s race.”
“A very strange race. During the first part I was on rain tyres, but it wasn’t the right choice. We put in slicks for the restarted race but spent too long on the grid mounting them and so I got two long lap penalties as a result, which I had to complete in what was only a five-lap race. Despite that, I made up many positions and feel confident ahead of tomorrow’s Race 2.”
