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In the FIM Europe Supersport Cup, the sub-category of World Supersport, it is Italian Alessandro Zaccone who continues to lead the standings after the opening four rounds. In what is his debut season in WorldSSP, it started in fine fashion as the 17-year-old finished inside the top five of the overall race at MotorLand Aragon.

Ahead of his home event at Misano next weekend, Zaccone speaks with WorldSBK.com.

“I did not expect to make the debut I did in Aragon,” he confesses. “We got to the first race and were already fighting with some established names at the front of the World Supersport field. We really didn’t expect to start so well. Having said that, we did work very hard over the winter and we were rewarded for that.

“It’s my first year of riding a Kawasaki. It’s a fantastic bike and I really feel comfortable riding it; I’m able to improve lap by lap. I previously rode a Honda for three years, so of course you need some time to adapt. What helps a lot is that the team works in a magnificent way. The ZX-6R responds very well under braking, which is my strong point. It’s a flexible chassis with good power delivery, which I like. I’m sure it is one of the best bikes in the series.”

The FIM Europe Supersport Cup (ESS) follows precisely the same technical regulations as the overall World Supersport category, meaning on paper that competitors such as Zaccone are eligible to contend for overall race victories and indeed the world title, despite being less likely to achieve this by virtue of competing at only the European events. However, he does not doubt the importance of sharing the track with some famous names.

“You learn a lot from riders like Sofuoglu, Cluzel and Krummenacher,” Zaccone continues. “The big difference is that they go fast straight out of the blocks; they just have this extra pace, even on the first lap. This surprised me at first, but now I am trying to learn from them to improve myself. At the first race it was strange to see their names on the same timing screen as my own! Kenan Sofuoglu in particular is an extremely experienced rider. He’s 34, which is double my age and double the experience! He’s won four world titles. There is so much you can learn from people like him.”

Furthermore, Zaccone’s bike is run by the same Puccetti Racing team which engineers World Champion Sofuoglu and his team-mate Randy Krummenacher.

“Puccetti has won a lot,” he continues. “What we do is go out onto the track using Kenan’s setup as the base setting: a winning setting. Then what I try to do is not change the setup, but adapt my riding style to his; this is a really positive thing because it’s making me evolve my riding style. What also helps is working with Cristiano Migliorati, who is an ex rider. He helps me a lot.”

Next weekend, the teenager will face the pressure of a home crowd but hopes to translate this into added motivation:

“I’m training a lot for it because it is bound to be hot there. There are going to be hoards of fans, which is even more of a reason to work hard right from the start of the weekend. It’s a circuit I know well, so I’m hoping for my best result of the season. We will try to remain focused and just continue to do what we have already done so far this year. The aim for the season is to finish on the podium. This could be my moment to do it. It’s a big goal and achieving it in the Supersport World Championship will not be easy, but I see it as a realistic goal considering we have already had a couple of fifth place finishes. If we work well, it’s not impossible.”

Heading to Misano, Zaccone leads the ESS standings by five points from team-mate Axel Bassani, with DS Junior Team’s Illia Mikhalchik a further one point in arrears.