The road back from a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2015 has been difficult for San Marinese rider Alex De Angelis, with the veteran competitor having suffered further incidents in his first WorldSBK season in 2016 that have seen him unable to push to the limit. Round 6 at Sepang International Circuit saw the recovering Aprilia rider get his best result in World Superbike so far, going toe-to-toe with Honda’s Michael van der Mark around the final corner to cross the line just behind the Dutchman in P7.

"I really like to run in these wet conditions at Sepang,” said De Angelis. “I won a Moto2 race, also in the rain in 2012. This time it went very well, as I bring back home my best result of the season. The only slight disappointment was my starting position. If I had reach a better position in the qualifying, without risking a lot and gaining those few positions from the beginning, perhaps my race would be even better. However, now I'll settle for this position obtained in a difficult and very long race. We are approaching the ideal condition, but I still do not drive as I would like and I hope to do it soon. With Van Der Mark we dueled very close passing each other for many times. All hard but very clean and correct because we never touched each other, I hope to continue to do this show also in the next races.”

Teammate Lorenzo Savadori, after topping the timesheets on Friday in Malaysia, also scored more points in Race 2 after a difficult Saturday. The WorldSBK rookie and incumbent STK1000 Cup winner came home in P14 and gained more experience of the Aprilia in the wet as his learning curve sees him gaining momentum as a real threat in the points.

"My race was a bit 'strange. In fact the race was the only session in the wet we've ever done from the beginning of the weekend and it was not at all easy. Too bad because yesterday we had tried to implement a different strategy for the race and apart from the small crash, there appear to be no improvement. Today, even in the warm up we were competitive in the dry, while in the wet I felt no more comfortable. I unfortunately had no feeling with the bike. I found myself struggling with Camier, however, not feeling the bike, I found it hard to overcome it. I’m glad that I brought home two points, and new data and experience for the next races. "

The IodaRacing duo are back on track at Donington Park in the UK for Round 7 at the end of May.