News

Without a shadow of doubt, one of the revelations of the first half of the 2011 season has been Ayrton Badovini. Following his outstanding success last year in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup the rider from Piedmont in north-west Italy has, together with the BMW Motorrad Italia team, now made another major step forward in the Superbike class. From Monza onwards the Italian outfit has strung together a series of results that have propelled Badovini to eighth overall in the points table. With five rounds still remaining, ‘Speedy' Badovini is hoping to improve on those results, starting with next weekend's race in the UK at Silverstone.

Are you pleased with the Brno results and eighth place in the championship?
"I am extremely satisfied with two sixths at Brno. It's the first race where we haven't squandered anything and have obtained results that have been within our reach. It was more than positive, not yet at the level we are aiming for but everything went really well. I'm also pleased with eighth place in the table, it shows that we are improving, we knew we were not in a position to win the championship and not even finish in the top 3, but for the moment we are right behind the leaders even though the end of the year is the right moment to look at the standings."

Taking into consideration your race performance and results, how do you feel about not actually being able to qualify on the first two rows after failing to get into Superpole 3?
"In the first race I finished lap 1 in 13th place, and again in the second race I lost several places at the start of the race. The difference lies in the fact that in race 2 I managed to make up a lot of places early on. For sure I was a bit disappointed, but everything went well and I'm happy. The best thing about Superpole is that I managed to get through the first run without using qualifying tyres, usually only the top riders can do that. In Superpole 2 we made a small miscalculation, not fitting a second qualifying tyre in time. Unfortunately in the last few minutes I was edged out of the top 8, but that all forms part of the game and the risks that come with this exciting Superpole format."

Do you think you have exceeded or not lived up to the expectations you set for yourselves at the start of the year?
"To be honest we didn't really have any schedule of expectations to respect. Our aim was to make progress before the Monza round, we wanted to do it so as not to remain out of the limelight. That was the idea, and luckily we managed to do so. When you find yourselves right behind the leading group however, it doesn't take much to gain or lose a couple of positions. We expected to be quick, and now I'm confident we can make further progress before the end of the season."

So now what results are you hoping for at Silverstone?
"At Silverstone the British riders will all be on the attack, wanting to get good results at their home track. I hope to be in amongst them, fighting for the top positions and continue this season's positive trend."