Savadori leads Superstock 1000 pack coming to Imola
Many potential podium finishers ready to give battle on Italian soil.
The end of the 2014 Superstock 1000 season was nothing short of disastrous for Lorenzo Savadori, who threw away an almost certain title win on the final lap at Magny-Cours. Since then, the Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia rider has notched up a second place plus a victory to lead the class standings by 12 points from compatriot Raffaele De Rosa (Althea Racing Team Ducati).
It has been four years since an Italian won at Imola in the Superstock 1000 class. On that occasion it was Danilo Petrucci who did the honours en route to the runner-up spot, before heading to Grand Prix racing the following season. Judging by Savadori’s performances so far, there looks to be a fair chance of another home winner this weekend, although a number of potential challengers are queuing up for victories.
Behind de Rosa and third overall is Brno’s Ondrej Jezek (Triple-M by Barni Ducati), who won the Imola race last year, while Kev Coghlan (MRS Yamaha) is fourth and Roberto Tamburini (MotoxRacing BMW) makes it three Italians inside the top five. In Tamburini’s case, he has fallen to 20 points behind Savadori after leading the standings following his Race 1 win in the opening round; at Assen, it all went wrong as he clipped the back of Kevin Valk’s machine and was unable to restart after the red flag.
Incidentally, should Kawasaki see at least one of its bikes finishing inside the top 15 this weekend, this would equal Suzuki’s leading tally as both a manufacturer and engine supplier for 61 straight races inside the points. So far this season, Bryan Staring has been Kawasaki’s leading representative in both races, finishing sixth at MotorLand Aragón and eighth at Assen in the most recent round, two weekends ago.
