Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 19 MAY 12, 2015 P85 in fourth place, to jump up to 17th in the table after only one round of competition for him. "I'm really pleased with the podium, which on a personal level is like a win for me," said an emotional Italian in front of his home crowd. "After the first 'heat' I was already tired and the second part of the first race was extremely difficult, I couldn't have done any more." Aprilia Racing's choice of Jordi Torres to partner Haslam was seen as either a stroke of genius or madness last winter. But he has been fast, occasionally fast enough for a podium. Although he inherited his first third place in World Superbike in race two (after the demise of Davies' machine with an oil leak) he was still value for it at a track that worried him the first time he rode it on Friday. Torres admitted his misfor- tune in race one was matched by his good fortune in race two. "I had two false neutrals in race one and it became too hard to ride," Torres said. "My team made great work between two races because they changed the complete engine in only one hour, or hour and a half, so this is incredible. Thanks to all the team. We had some luck in race two because this podium was for Chaz [Davies] or [Davide] Giugliano, or maybe for [Leon] Haslam, so I had a lot of luck." Having crashed out of race one, part one, Torres was not allowed to start the second-race one, so his eventual full distance podium was all the sweeter. Briefly... World Superbike return next year. The idea had less appeal when it was confirmed that Pata has a deal with Honda through to 2016. The loss of the EBR team left the World Superbike grid at Imola down to a rather paltry looking 22. The Team Toth BMW entry looks to be permanent backmarkers now the EBR has gone and Grillini has a rider like Niccolo Canepa on board. They were the only two bikes not to make it into Superpole 1. FEEL GOOD FACTORY The ephemeral 'Feel- good' factor was back in the paddock this weekend at one of World Superbike racing's most gloriously at- mospheric venues—Imola. Helped along by the rapid return of local hero Davide Giugliano and the recent performances of the Ducati Panigale (which is made just up the A14 Au- tostrada near Bologna after all) the crowd even on Friday had exceeded expectations. A busy paddock is easy to simulate in a long, narrow tarmac covered back-of-pitlane area, hemmed in as it is by the river Santerno, running just behind the pits. But there was something more this year, the feel- ing that people really wanted to be there, really wanted to see World Superbike in full effect and really wanted Ducati to win again, as Chaz Davies had done in Spain a month before. Imola intoxicates with atmosphere. Its winding ribbon of tarmac running uphill and down, between houses in places, and through the center of the life of this historic town slap bang alongside the famous Via Emilia. Owned by the city, the Imola racetrack is definitely an asset to the city. As its original marketing spiel described it decades ago—a mini-Nürburgring. It still is. That is a double-edged sword, of course, but with much more run-off, and one less chicane, Imola could be the perfect example of a pure and classically sculpted racetrack. The weekend attendance was claimed to be 65,005, with nearly 30,000 on raceday. The atmosphere was electric at the legendary circuit nestled in the Italian city of Imola.

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