The first race making up round three of the WorldSSP300 played out today at the Misano World Circuit.
Competing for the Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team, Elia Bartolini and Emiliano Ercolani completed a free practice session yesterday. This was followed by the Superpole, which established the grid positions for today’s race.
At his home track, Bartolini proved competitive, stopping the clock on 1’49”716 and qualifying seventh on the grid. Ercolani struggled to adapt his riding style to the Italian track and closed seventeenth with a time of 1’50”240.
The race got underway in the early afternoon and ran in warm, sunny conditions, with Elia lining up on the third row of the grid and Emiliano from the sixth. When the lights went out, both battled hard to defend their starting positions, but during lap four Ercolani crashed through turn 8 and was unable to continue with the race.
Bartolini remained part of the leading group, responding to his rivals’ attacks. He then suffered a technical problem that unfortunately meant he had to retire from the race.
Race 2 is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 12.45 local time (CET).
“An unlucky race for Elia who had the potential to fight for the podium, but who unfortunately had to stop due to a technical problem. Emiliano paid for his qualifying result come the race, and crashed in trying to make up the lost ground. I’m sure they’ll take on tomorrow’s race with real determination.”
“Starting further back on the grid can condition a race, and that’s what happened to me today. In this category, you can’t afford to lose ground in the early stages, so I was pushing hard to make up positions, and crashed in the process. I hope to do a lot better in tomorrow’s race.”
“I made a good start and was close to the front guys when unfortunately, I had a problem with the bike. I tried to slow my pace to see if the problem would pass, but the bike stopped and so I had no choice but to retire. An unlucky moment that we’ll try make up for with a positive result tomorrow.”
