WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 51 ISSUE 27 JULY 8, 2014 P103
ing the effects of the impact as
he was spat off his bike; and then
two smaller but painful impacts
from both his own and Guintoli's
sliding machines on the acres of
the wet Portimao run-off tarmac.
After the collective disbelief
had dissipated, Guintoli got go-
ing again to finish seventh - a mi-
nor miracle in its own right with
one footpeg off and after losing
20 seconds or more of time.
Briefly...
"I will make a big example - Max Bi-
aggi. For me, a rider who I have got
along with, no problem. He had a lot
of success and I could name several
riders who would always try to bring
him down. Now it is the same for me.
I am not bothered. I am from York-
shire and my skin is too thick to ab-
sorb any of this information. It is what
it is and I'll go now and focus on my
own issues."
Leon Haslam had a new engine
spec to test at Portimao and, along
with an improved series of chassis
and electronics settings, it brought
the British rider back into the top
levels of performance he has been
missing recently. He only tripped up
in Superpole when his machine de-
veloped some misfire problems that
spoiled his two best possible laps.
Core PTR Honda's Ratthapark
Wilairot was given four penalty
points after he was judged to have
been riding on the racing line at the
wrong pace in practice for the World
Supersport class and had to start the
race from the back of the grid.
Aprilia will have a full revamp on its
RSV4-Factory machine in Superbike
in 2015. Although the bike is expect-
ed to be a full V-four and based on
the current model, it is expected to
have a host of improvements, partly
to meet the needs of the new tech-
nical regulations and partly because
the model is now one of the older
ones on the Superbike grid.
Luca Scassa attempted to ride for
his Team Pedercini Kawasaki Evo
squad at Portimao, but was out after
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