Team Italia FMI leads the way in the Superstock championships

Team Italia FMI is more than just a team, it's virtually a National side! The Italian squad, which was put together by the FMI, the Italian Motorcycling Federation, to promote young domestic talent in bike racing, is currently achieving some sensational, almost unprecedented results in the two apprenticeship categories under the World Superbike umbrella. After the Silverstone round, Team Italia FMI riders are heading the field in both the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and the European Superstock 600 Championship standings, thanks to two surefire future talents such as Eddi La Marra (STK1000) and Riccardo Russo (STK600), who both won their races on Sunday.

23-year-old Eddi La Marra is in his third full season in the Superstock 1000 category, and he took his Barni Racing Team Italia Ducati 1199 Panigale to a superb win, his first personal triumph in this category. La Marra still leads the table but now with a 31-point lead over Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet), who was fourth at the flag, and 33 over third-placed Aussie Bryan Staring (Kawasaki Team Pedercini).

"I've been chasing after this win for some time", said Eddi La Marra, who has been on the podium 5 times in seven races this year. "I had a few problems in the race and to be honest I wasn't sure I could win, but luckily everything went well and I was able to hold off Guarnoni. Now I have a good lead in the table, but with three rounds left anything can happen: we must stay focused and repeat these results when the championship resumes after the summer break."

While La Marra was notching up his first win in his career, Riccardo Russo powered to his fourth in European Superstock 600. A product of the Yamaha R6 Cup and in his second season with the Federation, the young Italian had a bad start in the first fraction before the red flags, but then made up for that on the restart. This time round Russo held off his closest championship rival Michael van der Mark on the last lap in the battle for second place, only to discover that he had won the race when Belgium's Gauthier Duwelz (Team MTM Racing Yamaha) crashed out three corners from the end.

"It was a tough race", admitted Russo, who also leads the way in Italian CIV Superstock 600. "I pusher hard from the early laps and when I realized I could win, I gave my all. Me and Van der Mark are going to fight for the title right down to the final round, but for the moment I'm happy to be back at the top of the table. A big thanks to my team, they've put me in a position to race the way I like and to get this precious win."