Scassa happy to be back on the world stage
After a difficult 2012 in BSB, Luca Scassa is back to World Supersport. The 29 year old from Arezzo, Italy, has joined the Czech Team Intermoto Ponyexpres and, despite some lack of track-time before the first round and a painful right wrist dislocation after a high-side in Free Practice 1, he was able to secure a 6th place finish at Phillip Island.
"We were in a quicksand situation, but we managed to get out of it" said Scassa. "I tried the bike out for the first time on Monday and Tuesday - I hadn't even seen it before then. I crashed on Friday morning and injured myself, so I was not able to complete many laps until Saturday evening, I tried in Qualifying 2 but the pain in my wrist was too severe. I was treated by Dr. Corbascio and the painkilling injection worked for almost the entire race. In the end it was a good result, especially after moving off from the 20th slot on the grid."
Despite considering himself too tall for a 600cc, Scassa is happy to be back to WSS: "I keep saying that Supersport is not my category as I'm 6'1" tall, 12 st 8 lbs, that is always a disadvantage no matter the bike you ride. I can adapt myself well though, I had some good races in 2011. The thing I'm mostly happy about is being back on the world stage because I was expecting more from the year spent racing in the UK. I was worried it was me but then during the race at Phillip Island I realised that I still have what it takes, you can't just forget how to ride a bike. It's all in your head, you need to be serene to be fast."
Scassa makes no secret of the great effort put in place by Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki to have him racing under their flag: "The team looked for me, wanted me to join them and changed their plans to welcome me onboard, as the original plan was to have Salom as sole rider. Thanks to their motivation and the support by Ponyexpres they were able make a further investment. I'm happy to be joining a team with such passion and experience."
Luca Scassa will join the team at Aragon for a two-day test scheduled for April 3-4 in preparation for the second round of the season, which will take place the following week on the 5334 m Spanish circuit.
