We are ready, for round three of the FIM Superstock 1000 European Cup! Two riders have won so far. Roberto Tamburini has pole, and he has yet to score points in the Cup, this year. Rain is forecast, here at Imola, this Sunday afternoon. Will we see it during the STK1000 race? Raffaele De Rosa, leads the championship in STK1000 for the Althea BMW team who also field Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger in World Superbike. De Rosa, won the last STK1000 race we saw, in Holland, at Assen. Weather conditions are like this, at post time. 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) air temperature, and the track temperature is up slightly, to 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit). The pit lane will open momentarily. Raffaele De Rosa, has the points lead right now. He has five points over Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Leandro Mercado won the first race, at Aragon, Spain, but, he mixed tires at Assen and that didn't go so well. Mercado has a penalty point for causing a wreck in practice.
Marco Faccani (2014 Superstock 600 champ), is third. De Rosa, is fourth. Marco Faccani has not had all smooth sailing this season so far. He was supposed to be on the front row in Spain at Motorland Aragon for the season opener. However, he had an issue on the second warmup lap following that monster crash we had at the initial start of the race. Recall, that ten or eleven riders all spilled their bikes, at the outset of that race. That was a wild one to be sure. Will it be tamer here at Imola? No rider in this field has won in STK1000 at Imola. Lorenzo Savadori won in 2015, and Ondrej Jezek, in 2014. Ducati has had a great weekend in Superbike, with the double by Chaz Davies as you've already read about. Can they back up that success in Superstock 1000? We're going to find out, soon.
Leandro Mercado runs for the aruba.it Junior Team, and Marco Faccani is running with Triple M Racing. We look at Gregg Black on the #16 MTM/HS Kawasaki ZX10R. Black, is from Derby, England, and he'll be set to go, actually, next weekend, for his home race, at Donington Park. Details on that race, coming, at the end of this report. Remember, these guys do not run the flyaway races. They only run, in Europe. Luca Salvadori has done well on the #123 GP Project Aprilia RSV4 RF. Roberto Tamburini is on pole, for the first time this year, and for the fourth time in his career. Leandro Mercado is second. Marco Faccani rolls off third. Raffaele De Rosa is fourth, followed by Kevin Calia, Luca Salvadori, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Toprak Razgatlioglu (making his first start of the season), and Luca Vitale.
Roberto Tamburini has not scored points yet this season, after moving from BMW to Aprilia. Pit lane is open and all the riders and their bikes are out on the speedway now. There was a horrid crash in STK1000 earlier this weekend. Leandro Mercado has been given a penalty point because of it. In practice, Mercado wiped out Federico D'Annunzio on the #41 BMW S1000RR for FDA Racing Team, his own team. D'Annunzio, was in pain, and he was so angry, he threw gravel at Leandro Mercado saying, "take that, you idiot!" D'Annunzio has every right to perhaps call Mercado a bad name, because this crash, took him out of this race, with a dislocated left shoulder. Ambition lets itself outweigh talent. The bikes are on their sighting lap.
There can be a big difference in speed between these riders. On the same section of track, Switzerland's Thomas Toffel was given a similar penalty, on the #34 Motos Vionnet BMW S1000RR. Toffel is a DNQ for this race. He was outside the 107% threshold and had to go home. So, a disappointment for Motos Vionnet. Michael Ruben Rinaldi is the "Mr. Smiley" of this paddock in WSBK and STK1000, much like Daniel Ricciardo in Formula 1 car racing. He has reason to smile, because he has been on the podium in the first two races. Let us take a look at the tires these blokes race on.
Very similar to Supersport, the Stock 1000 bikes are on the Pirelli Super Corse tire. These are tires that are confirmed legal by the DOT (Department of Transportation), and you can buy them, for your high performance motorcycle, if you own and ride one (a Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, BMW, Kawasaki etc.). You can buy the slick Pirelli tires used in World Superbike, to race track days with your road going bike. But, the difference is, with the Super Corse tires, those can be used on the road and bought by the customer. If you go to Pirelli's webpage, check out these tires, and those are the same ones these riders race on. That's what Superstock 1000 is all about. You don't have the advanced electronics, exhaust systems, brakes etc. you have on a Superbike. These are much closer to your road going motorcycle, except, turned into a racing bike.
Leandro Mercado is second. Marco Faccani is third. All three major classes have common tires to use in damp and full rain conditions. Raffaele De Rosa, rolls off fourth, as mentioned earlier. Lots of talent in this field even though this class is geared to gentlemen racers. There are some real pros in this field, who maybe just couldn't quite find success in Superbike. Kevin Calia is fifth. Luca Salvadori rolls off sixth. Seventh, is our aforementioned pal, Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Eighth is Toprak Ratzgatlioglu, the protege of Kenan Sofuoglu in World Supersport, who, you heard about in yesterday's race report, winning World Supersport.
Luca Vitali starts ninth. Rounding out the top ten is Sebastien Suchet. Both Yamaha STK1000 riders, Florian Marino and Ricardo Russo, are out of action, with broken legs. A couple motorcycle racing veterans are subbing for them including Louis Rossi, who we have heard of in Moto2 competition before, and Niccolo Canepa. Canepa, has been ill, with stomach ailments. Luca Marconi rolls off eleventh. Luca Marconi rolls off 11th, with Andrea Mantovani, next up. The weather should be OK and we'll get through this STK1000 race. The track is bone dry. But, the big challenge will be the narrow first turn. Louis Rossi starts 13th. The first turn is a big challenge.
Louis Rossi was racing for Yamaha in the FIM World Endurance Championship. But, after crashing in the first 24 hour race, the team said, "don't call us, we'll call you." Starting fourteenth, is a familiar name to Grand Prix motorcycle racing fans. Matteo Ferrari. He's a wildcard for this weekend's race on the DMR Racing BMW S1000RR. Fabio Massei is 15th. Another rider will not be able to start. Italian Roberto Mercandelli on the #93 Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX10R. He crashed in qualifying and as a result, Mercandelli fractured his right wrist and hurt his left wrist, too. He was checked out at the hospital. But, he won't race today. Neither will poor old Bryan Staring. Staring fractured his leg in training, and is recuperating.
We look again, at the front row. Facani, Tamburini, and Mercado. Will one of the Italian marques win at home at Imola in STK1000? We're about to find out. The rider who is caboose on this field, has a penalty in his future. That's Luca Oppedisano of Italy on the #91 Saviofficina Racing Team Kawasaki ZX10R. The bikes are on their warmup lap. The weather looks good. There are ominous dark clouds around the circuit. Let's hope they don't drop any rain. With 36 riders and bikes, we'll see if we get through the first corner on the first lap cleanly. That's a dozen bikes per mile of this 3 mile track at Imola.
Some major guests have been checking things out at Imola this weekend. Jack Miller (who was in the commentators booth for the World Supersport race), Loris Baz, and four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Kork Ballington, who won titles in the 1970s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kork_Ballington
Everyone is getting a feeling for the track on dry tires. Imola is a classic and unique race track. The bikes form up on the grid. Let's hope everyone gets through the Tambarello chicane, cleanly. Raffaele De Rosa won last time out at Assen by 10.1 seconds. It was the largest STK1000 winning margin since Sylvain Barrier won at the Nurburgring in 2012. Now, it's time, to bring the action! Superstock 1000 at Imola, is underway! Oh dear! Roberto Tamburini gets a bad start! Leandro Mercado leads this race, which will see a distance of 14 laps. Marco Faccani is second. Hold your breath. Is everyone going to get through without falling?
Phew! Yes! So far so good. Raffaele De Rosa passes Roberto Tamburini and we watch the Yamaha riders go at it. Remember, the fill-in riders for Yamaha are Louis Rossi and Niccolo Canepa. Leandro Mercado has the advantage as the bikes hit Tosa for the first time. Kevin Calia has also made a good start. Michael Ruben Rinaldi is in push, push, push mode, and he has jumped from seventh up to fourth already! Louis Rossi also picks up a few places. Raffaele De Rosa is going for it, sweeping up the inside of Kevin Calia! Roberto Tamburini is now up behind Kevin Calia. These two are team mates, as we hit the Variante Alta. Toprak Razgatlioglu has made a decent start in his first STK1000 race of 2016.
Luca Vitali and Sebastien Suchet were right with each other going through the corner. Louis Rossi is now attacking Fabio Massei for tenth place. Poor old Niccolo Canepa! He's sunk like a stone way down to 26th place. Again, he is team mate to Louis Rossi on the Yamaha YZF R1. Louis Rossi has cut the chicane at Variante Bassa, and has to stop for five seconds. Raffaele De Rosa is in a scrap with Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Marco Faccani meanwhile, wants to put pressure on Leandro Mercado. No one has jumped the start of this race. Oh dear. The black and orange mechanical black flags are flying. We have a rider in trouble. It is Marco Sbaiz, the Italian, on the #26 Berclaz Racing By MotoXRacing Yamaha YZF R1.
Sbaiz must be trailing smoke from the back of the motorcycle. Marco Facani is right behind Leandro Mercado, and we see Roberto Tamburini letting Michael Ruben Rinaldi know he's there. Poor old Tamburini or ("Tambu") as he's called, has dropped to sixth. De Rosa is pushing past Facani, and he's set the fastest lap of the race so far on the Althea BMW at 1:49.922. Tamburini follows Rinaldi. Lonely in seventh spot is Toprak Razgatlioglu. Luca Vitale is eighth, followed by Fabio Massei and Sebastien Suchet. Luca Salvadori has dropped places from where he started. Matteo Ferrari runs 12th and has an appropriate name to be racing with, here at Imola. Andrea Mantovani is 13th, followed by Jeremy Guarnoni, and in 15th, it's Alessandro Andreaozzi, of Italy, who had a big crash at Assen.
Andreaozzi also wrecked, in practice, here at Imola. But right now, he has the #121 Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX10R running just fine, in this race. Toprak Razgatlioglu weaves through Piratella and was a magnificent sight to see in Superstock 600 racing, last year. Raffaele De Rosa takes the lead of this motorcycle race, on lap three, from Leandro Mercado. Mercado does not want De Rosa to get in front. Why? De Rosa, will leave everyone else in his dust, whistling off into the distance. Someone has been off, indicated by tire tracks, through the gravel trap at the Villeneuve chicane. Right now it is Ducati, BMW, Ducati, Aprilia, the top four bikes.
Faccani runs wide through Aqua Minerale. Leandro Mercado didn't want to see this. But, Raffaele De Rosa, has made the pass, for the lead. We now have a scrap, between Marco Facani and Kevin Calia. Calia looks to be getting the better of Facani through the corner. Side by side through Rivazza! This is good stuff! Leandro Mercado has likely lost the fairing off his Ducati. The marshals should black flag him for that. No, it's not the fairing. It's the right side bodywork, that has come loose from the motorcycle. Despite the bodywork damage, Mercado is still giving De Rosa, a tough run for his money.
De Rosa has to ride on the defensive into Aqua Minerale. Kevin Calia sets a new fast lap record at 1:49.847. Calia and Facani are still chasing the top two. Michael Ruben Rinaldi holds fifth spot. Leandro Mercado makes a move on Raffaele De Rosa and takes the lead. Mercado leads as we work lap six. Nine laps left. Lap seven, next time around, is the halfway mark in this STK1000 contest. The top fifteen looks like this.
1. Leandro Mercado
2. Raffaele De Rosa
3. Kevin Calia
4. Marco Facani
5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi
6. Roberto Tamburini
7. Toprak Razgatlioglu
8. Luca Vitali
9. Sebastien Suchet
10. Luca Salvadori
11. Fabio Massei
12. Andrea Mantovani
13. Matteo Ferrari
14. Jeremy Guarnoni
15. Luca Marconi.
Raffaele De Rosa is pushing so hard, he almost runs up the back of Leandro Mercado! It's a battle for the lead, as Raffaele De Rosa slides past Leandro Mercado. Kevin Calia is right behind the Argentinian. Mercado is really pushing. He has an advantage over De Rosa, because the Ducati has more top end speed than the BMW does. Calia runs the fastest time of the top three at 1:49.946, while De Rosa and Mercado are in the 1:50 bracket. 1:50.094 for Mercado. 1:50.100 for De Rosa. Michael Ruben Rinaldi is fifth, and this could hurt him, in the points championship for the cup.
Under the bridge they come. The sound is tremendous, as the BMW and the Ducati, have very distinctive engine notes. Both are 1000cc displacement. But, it's a neat contrast between the wailing shriek of the BMW and the low rumble of the Ducati V Twin. 35 riders are still running. Marco Sbaiz is out, but, the last man in the field is Ukraine's Konstantin Pisarev. Pushing is De Rosa as he tries to pass Mercado. But, we've had a wreck! Michael Ruben Rinaldi has ditched the motorcycle! This is crucial. Rinaldi is second in the STK Cup standings to Raffaele De Rosa. The front end digs in and pitches Rinaldi off of the bike into Tambarello, with seven laps left.
More drama! Marco Faccani has also wiped out! We have some rain on the road, too. The temperature has also dropped. Faccani loses it early on the entry to Tosa, and tumbles off the bike. There is a huge black cloud at the middle of the track towards Tambarello and into Tosa. Does this mean we end another STK1000 race, early? Luca Vitali has passed Sebastien Suchet, and Luca Salvadori has passed Fabio Massei, too. We have a three-way battle for the lead. It's Mercado, De Rosa, and Calia. Michael Ruben Rinaldi has rejoined the race, and we hope there's no gravel spewed all over the speedway. Kevin Calia is the fastest man on this race track right now, with a lap record.
Kevin Calia has set a new lap record at Imola, 74 thousandths of a second quicker, than the 2015 lap record set by Roberto Tamburini. Tamburini's former record = 1:49.868. Calia's new record = 1:49.794. De Rosa and Mercado almost touch on the front straight! Louis Rossi has recovered back up to 23rd place. Michael Ruben Rinaldi has rejoined the race. But, he is way down in 34th spot. Mercado, has seemingly pulled the pin. He's stretching his lead to 6/10ths of a second. Mercado resets fastest lap with a new record at 1:49.659. Can Kevin Calia pass Raffaele De Rosa? Let's revisit the top 15 spots.
1. Leandro Mercado
2. Raffaele De Rosa
3. Kevin Calia
4. Roberto Tamburini
5. Toprak Razgatlioglu
6. Luca Vitali
7. Sebastien Suchet
8. Luca Salvadori
9. Fabio Massei
10. Andrea Mantovani
11. Jeremy Guarnoni
12. Matteo Ferrari
13. Luca Marconi
14. Niccolo Canepa
15. Alessandro Andreozzi
We have now passed 2/3rds distance (nine laps), and have five remaining. De Rosa is still at the sharp end. We've lost another rider as Luca Marconi has crashed out of 13th spot. He has fallen at Piratella. Four laps to go. Toprak Razgatlioglu flashes by on his Kawasaki ZX10R and has had a good race today. Louis Rossi is coming back through the pack after getting a penalty for cutting a corner. Rossi wants to get by Swiss rider Eric Vionnet. De Rosa wiggles through Aqua Minerale. That was a HUGE wiggle! We saw Sylvain Guintoli crash there in qualifying, and hurt himself, so he was not able to start the Superbike races.
Kevin Calia passes De Rosa. De Rosa has to watch out, because, he's the points leader in the STK1000 Euro Cup. Calia has his #74 Aprilia up to second place. Three laps left now. Kevin Calia is trying to challenge Leandro Mercado for the win. Calia has had one STK1000 podium, but has not won a race yet. Mercado begins pulling away from Kevin Calia. Kevin Calia wiggles the bike out of the final chicane at Rivazza. We have quite the battle raging for the back half of the top ten. Fabio Massei tries diving under Luca Vitali. Jeremy Guarnoni is at the back of this group, and has MotoGP rider Loris Baz here, spotting for him. Baz, of course, ran for Kawasaki in World Superbike a few years ago.
Sebastien Suchet heads a freight train of motorcycles up ahead of Guarnoni. Luca Vitali makes a late inside lunge, and makes it stick! Sebastien Suchet has a good line into Aqua Minerale. This battle is Suchet, Massei, Salvadori, Guarnoni, and at the end of the group are Matteo Ferrari and Niccolo Canepa. It's the final lap in STK1000. The top three are split apart. Leandro Mercado has riddent a great race even missing the bodywork from the side of his Ducati, revealing the mechanical workings of that motorcycle. Vitale, Suchet, and Guarnoni continue their fight as this race is nearly done and dusted, ladies and gentlemen. This is proper Superstock 1000 racing, at its best!
Suchet squeezes Massei into Villeneuve. Suchet and Massei are side by side! Guarnoni splits the Yamaha's and he's up to eighth place! Luca Savadori had a big slide through Tosa and that opened the door for Guarnoni to pass. But, despite the earlier heroics from Raffaele De Rosa, it is going to be Leandro Mercado, taking his second Superstock 1000 win of the season, here at Imola! Calia is second, with De Rosa, third. Mercado and De Rosa, are tied for the points lead! How close do you like it?
#36 Leandro Mercado ARG. Ducati 1199 Panigale R
Toprak Razgatlioglu is fifth. The final battle for the back half of the top dozen is in this order. Vitali, Suchet, Mantovani, Massei, Ferrari, Guarnoni, and Canepa. Luca Salvadori, after starting sixth, crashed his GP Project Aprilia, and he low sides his GP Project Aprilia a few hundred meters from home. Michael Ruben Rinaldi scores nil points. Leandro Mercado has done it again after disappointment at Assen. Two out of three for Mercado. Could Leandro Mercado run in Superbike next year? We'll see. Also, Emanuele Pusceddu is under investigation, but it does not matter. Raffaele De Rosa maintains his 100% podium finish record and is the only rider to finish on the podium in the first three races. De Rosa has his eighth straight podium.
The next race for these blokes, is at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. It is the halfway mark in the cup season, round four of eight, and is coming up, next weekend.
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