Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) has high expectations for the fourth round of the FIM Supersport World Championship, scheduled for May 8-10 at Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. After a strong opening round at Phillip Island, followed by three not so competitive showings at Buriram, Aragon and Assen, the 27-year-old Italian is looking to bounce back to the front of the field, knowing he has to make up ground to the top.

“We had an excellent start to the season and we knew Thailand wasn’t going to be our best track,” Zanetti tells WorldSBK.com. “Then again, there was a chance for a strong result at Buriram too, at least before the crash. Once back to Europe, we struggled more than expected. Imola has to be our turning point; we need to step up our game to keep our chances alive, even though (Kenan) Sofuoglu has somehow pulled away on everyone else already.”

Despite the fond memories of last year’s maiden World Supersport success, Zanetti does not want to underestimate the challenge: “I have always done well there and I’m excited of racing in front of my home crowd. Having said that, the goal is to do well there like on any other track. Given last year’s win, maybe people are expecting a bit more from me here.”

After two years on Honda machinery, Zanetti has had a fairly smooth transition to the Italian 3-cylinder machine but reckons there is still a lot of work to do: “This bike can be competitive on every track this year - now it’s up to us to ride it to the front. After all, (team-mate Jules) Cluzel is always up there fighting for the win. I gelled immediately with the bike in Australia, despite the lack of track time during the winter. In the following round, we simply lost the way a little bit with the setup. The plan is to return to Phillip Island’s settings and to start from there, focusing mainly on my riding.

Anyway, I’m happy about being with the team and I’m really proud of representing such an iconic brand.”