Leandro Mercado has won the STK1000 race at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, ahead of Kevin Calia and Althea BMW rider Raffaele de Rosa. With a field of so many Italians, home glory for the host nation of the Motul Italian Round was easy to find, and top honours something to be fought for. Although Argentine, Mercado’s Ducati win completed a great day of racing for Italy and Ducati.

With the weather having held out for WorldSSP and WorldSBK Race 2, the skies above the Parco delle Acque Minerale in Imola were dark grey as the World Superbike podium finishers made way for STK1000. With the grid lining up amongst some nervous glances at the sky, the weather seemed like it could prove the biggest rival of all those lining up. It was previous cup winner Leandro Mercado who led off the line, as pole sitter Tamburini fell back slightly as the order shuffled around the first lap and Marco Faccani and Raffaele De Rosa moved up to try and challenge Aruba.it Junior Team rider Mercado for the lead.

Kevin Calia, pole sitter Tamburini and Championship P2 rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the second Aruba.it machine completed an almost all-italian top 6 in the first laps, with Turk Razgatlioglu finding form again after injury to run in P7 and end the home run for Italy. After crashes for Ruben Rinaldi and Faccani, Calia was able to bridge the gap to the duel for the lead between Mercado and De Rosa as the 3 enjoyed a big gap out front to fight for the win. Mercado eventually pulled away, with Calia taking P2 and De Rosa completing the podium in P3.

Tamburini came home in P4 after starting from pole, ahead of Razgatlioglu in P5 and Vitali in P6. Sebastien Suchet came home in seventh ahead of Mantovani, Massei and Ferrari to complete a great top ten for host nation Italy.

STK1000 will be back on track for more thrills at Donington Park for their next race, sure to be another stunning battle.