Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/311007
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 19 MAY 13, 2014 P43 ZANETTI THE ALPHA MALE The remarkable last couple of weeks for the Pata Honda team just kept on giving at the home round of World Supersport race winner Lorenzo Zanetti and the home country of the team's sponsor, Pata. The celebrations on the podium were wild from the Pata bosses as Zanetti won just a week after the Dutch Ten Kate team saw its rider Michael van der Mark win at Assen – its own home race. Zanetti said before this race that he was out to win it, and he was fast from the start. When the long-time race leader Kenan Sofuoglu broke down with a clutch problem on his Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India ZX-6R, Zanetti was finally in position to win the 17-lap race. He pushed on but then was assaulted, like his peers, by the sight of white flags near the end, which warned of rain in the most infinitesimal quantities. Everybody just kept going, however. And at the front it was Zanetti, who crossed the line wear- ing his Ayrton Senna tribute helmet. He wore it in memory of the fallen Formula One star who died at Imola 20 years ago, but Zanetti dedicated his win to his Italian friend Andrea Antonelli, who was killed in an accident at Moscow last year. "It is incredible to win in my own 'house' in Italy," Zanetti said. "Just before this weekend Mikey had won at Assen and I thought it would be perfect for me to win at my home round. It is fantastic and since I arrived here I was concentrat- ing 100 percent on how to win. It is very difficult in this class because there are five or six strong riders at every race. But I saw that in qualifying I had a good pace but there was still a lot of pressure because I am Italian, and I have a lot of Italian sponsors here. So when I saw Kenan stop for a technical problems I saw that it was my opportunity. In the last few laps I saw the white flag for the rain, but I just focused and I thought about the win. I think the Ayrton Senna crash helmet I had this weekend helped me, but this win is for Andrea Antonelli who was killed racing in Russia last year. I knew that when I won a race it would be for Andrea and his family." Zanetti won his first ever and his team's second race of the year by just over two seconds from his teammate van der Mark. The closest a Kawasaki got to the win after Sofuoglu's dreadful luck contin- ued was now joint championship leader Florian Marino in third, some six seconds from the win on his Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyespres. His teammate PJ Jacobsen was a fine fourth, the American delivering on some very promising rides and season so far. Easily his best result. Local riders sent the local fans – a claimed 52,841 of them all weekend – home happy with the midfield, as Roby Rolfo and Fabio Menghi were fifth and sixth. Warring teammates Marco Bussolotti and Riccardo Russo scrapped to seventh and eighth. Ninth went to Kevin Wahr with the new boy - up from Superstock 600 - Alessandro Nocco. In the overall championship Imola had a great effect on a series which is four rounds old, with van der Mark and Marino on 65 points, Zanetti on 49, Kevin Cogh- lan 44, and Jules Cluzel 42 after finishing 15th and scoring a point. Lorenzo Zanetti won his home round of the World Supersport Championship. Sylvain Guintoli (50) was fifth and third in the two races.