Ieraci after double win: "If you told me I’d do this before the round, I wouldn’t have believed you!"
Appearing as a wildcard at Misano, Ieraci claimed two victories out of two on home soil in his 49th and 50th races in the Championship
The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship welcomed back one of the most experienced riders in the Championship during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round at the iconic Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Having previously contested 48 WorldSSP300 races, Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) returned at Misano as a wildcard and claimed his first two victories in the Championship on his temporary return to action.
Ieraci started his WorldSSP300 journey back in 2019 and he scored his first podium in his maiden season with third at Lusail to round off a mixed campaign: he retired from four races but scored points in the other five, including three seventh-place finishes. In 2020, he took a best of fourth place as he narrowly missed out on a podium while eighth was his best in 2021. In 2022, his last full season in WorldSSP300, he took a best of fourth place on two occasions and, in terms of Championship position, his first season was his best as he claimed 11th place in the standings.
For this season, Ieraci moved back to his native Italy to compete in the CIV championship but appeared as a wildcard at Misano and he showed strong pace from the start of the weekend with third in the combined classification on Friday and he converted this into eighth place in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session. In Race 1, Ieraci was in the lead group throughout the race as he led for six of the ten laps in the shortened race, although on Laps 8 and 9 he crossed the line in fourth place before re-taking the lead on the final lap.
Discussing Race 1, Ieraci dedicated his win to his dad and said: “I’m really happy. I don’t have many words, but I think this result, this win, my first win in the World Championship as a wildcard, it’s the only way to say thanks to my team. I’m really happy but I don’t have many words. This victory is for my dad. My first victory in the World Championship is dedicated to my dad.”
Race 2 was run over the initially scheduled 15 laps with Ieraci crossing the line at the head of the field on three occasions although he was, like in Race 1, in the lead group throughout the race. He fended off a challenge from Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) by just 0.062s to claim his second victory in as many days, joining Jeffry Buis (MTM Kawasaki) and Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) in riders who claimed their second win the day after their first.
Looking back on Race 2 and the weekend, Ieraci said: “It’s unbelievable. It’s a dream for me. if you told me I’d do this before the round, I wouldn’t have believed you! I’m here after two wins. It’s really a dream. Thanks to my beautiful team, ProDina, because it’s the only way to say thank you, I think. It’s special. To return with two wins is really a dream. I don’t realise what I’ve done yet, maybe I’ll realise tomorrow or two or three days later because now it’s a mix of emotions. It’s incredible.”
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