IN
THE
WIND
P36
CANEPA READY FOR THAILAND
T
eam Hero EBR's Niccolo
Canepa got his World Su-
perbike season off to a good
start with his new team, show-
ing good pace on the EBR 1190
RX. Unfortunately for Canepa
the weekend took an unpleas-
ant turn, as he was plagued with
mechanical woes and an ankle
injury after crashing out of race
one. The injury forced him to sit
out of race two, resulting in no
points scored at the opening
round. The good news, howev-
er, is that it is not fractured and
the former Superstock 1000
Champion will be ready for the
next round on March 22.
"I have a broken ligament in
my left ankle but nothing too
serious, because I do not need
any surgery," said Canepa. "No
fractures, which is good. It will
be 100 percent for Thailand, so
I am quite happy. I am resting
right now and then there will
be some physiotherapy for a
while, but I am already training
at the gym, so I will be ready for
Thailand."
Canepa's disappointment
not to ride on race day and also
lose the possibility to score
relatively well in Australia was
soothed by the fact that his
2015 prospects should only be
enhanced as the year goes on.
"I think we can improve the
bike through the season, so I
am quite positive for the rest
of the year," said the 26-year-
old Genovese. "We did quite a
good job in testing and we can
make that kind of performance
again. It makes me confident for
the rest of the season."
With an all-new circuit for
everyone to face in Thailand in
a few weeks time, the multiple
unknowns for all may even help
Canepa and his crew, as none
of their rivals will have any more
data or circuit knowledge than
the all-new EBR squad. Add
to that, Canepa says he is not
scared of facing a new circuit.
"I am happy, because usually
I am very fast at new tracks,"
said Canepa. "I remember in
2012 when we went to Russia
for the first time, in Moscow,
I made my best result of the
season. I feel more comfortable
in new tracks. We can't use any
data from last year, because
the bike is different, different
electronics, so we have to start
from zero every time we go to
a new track. All the other bikes
have the data from last year and
the year before. So this is the
first time, the only time in 2015,
we will start at the same point. It
is a good opportunity for us for
sure."
Gordon Ritchie
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
Niccolo Canepa
says he'll be ready
to go for World
Superbike round
two in Thailand.
