Imola invaded by fans on Open Paddock day
A number of top Superbike riders first went for a special ‘test run' at the Mirabilandia theme park this morning, on the F1-inspired iSpeed rollercoaster, one of the fastest in the world, with an acceleration rate of 0-100 km/h in 2.2 seconds. Title contenders Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam, together with Michel Fabrizio, James Toseland, Troy Corser, Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes, and Luca Scassa all posed for photographs in front of the iSpeed ride on their Superbike machines before completing a number of high-speed laps on board the rollercoaster.
In the afternoon, helped by glorious weather conditions the Imola paddock was then opened to the public who were able to collect autographs from their SBK heroes in the Open Paddock.
This was followed by a visit from Monsignor Tommaso Ghirelli, the Bishop of Imola, who spent three hours inside the Autodromo, where he did a lap of the track on board an Alfa Romeo safety-car and met up with managers and mechanics of various teams, before blessing the track from the start-line.
The day ended with the circuit press conference at the Paddock Show, with a traditional question and answer session from the media to Biaggi, Haslam, Rea, Corser, Crutchlow, Sykes, Noriyuki Haga and Scassa.
