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The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola hosts Round 7 of the 2023 FIM Supersport World Championship season as the action heats up. All eyes will be on Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) as the Championship leader, racing for Ducati, looks to be strong at home but will his compatriots be able to take the fight to him? Will experience count at a circuit that has not hosted WorldSSP action since 2019? All will be revealed throughout the Prometeon Italian Round.

MANZI LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK: can he close the gap?

Stefano Manzi’s (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) UK Round was the definition of a rollercoaster. Second place in Race 1 was followed up with fifth in Race 2 after a crash and a penalty, allowing Bulega to extend his Championship lead to 55 points, now more than a round’s maximum available total of 50. The pair will face off again at Imola with the Yamaha rider’s goal clear: cut the gap to Bulega and halt his momentum after his Donington double. With half the season gone, Manzi will need to start his fightback at the challenging Imola circuit.

LOOKING FOR MORE: will MV Agusta be back on form?

MV Agusta scored only 16 points at Donington, their lowest tally of the season. They lost ground to Yamaha in the Manufacturers’ Championship while Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) dropped to fourth in the Riders’ Championship. Schroetter will be looking for a rostrum return at Imola but he will need to undergo a medical check on Thursday after he was declared unfit at Donington following a Race 2 crash. Teammate Bahattin Sofuoglu fell to seventh, behind Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team). The Turkish star raced at Imola in Italian Supersport 300 back in 2021, taking pole position and winning the second race. Will Sofouglu’s experience at a circuit WorldSSP hasn’t visited since 2019 aid him in 2023, or could it be his steepest learning curve yet?

RACED AT IMOLA BEFORE: hoping to start a step ahead

Barcelona Race 2 winner Sofuoglu isn’t the only rider to have Imola experience. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) were on the podium in the last visit there, while Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), continuing to replace Can Oncu, scored a podium in 2016. Finland’s Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) was seventh in 2018 and all will be hoping that their previous success at the historic circuit will give them a head start when action begins on Friday.

BUILDING FROM DOINGTON: strong form to continue?

Two riders took their best-ever WorldSSP finish in the UK and will be looking to build on that as the Championship heads back to Italy. Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) leads the WorldSSP Challenge following a sixth-place finish on home soil in Race 2, with the Brit showing incredible speed across the UK Round. Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) surged up the field for fourth in Race 2. Will their strong form continue at Imola?

RIDER LINE-UP CHANGES: the latest news from WorldSSP

A few riders will need to be passed fit to ride. Andrea Mantovani (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) crashed on Friday at Donington and was declared unfit with a left knee sprain, whereas Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing) had a shoulder contusion following a Donington crash. Apiwath Wongthananon (Yamaha Thailand Racing Team) will hope to be back in action too, with all three needing Thursday medical checks. In terms of wildcards, Luca Ottaviani (Extreme Racing Service) takes the number of MV Agusta machines on the grid to three as he returns to the Championship for the first time in a year. He previously raced in WorldSSP at Imola in 2019, taking 18^th place. He’s joined by Emanuele Pusceddu (J.Angel by Edafos) who will make his WorldSSP debut; he raced in STK600, the European Junior Cup and STK1000 previously, taking victory at Imola in the EJC in 2015.

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