The Prometeon Italian Round marks the second visit to Italy for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in 2023. Last time the Championship travelled to Italy, the passionate crowd had plenty to cheer with Ducati wins, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claiming a podium and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) taking a huge step forward. The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola hosts Round 7 of 2023 and in Race 1, the Italians were on form again but narrowly missed out on a rostrum… can they celebrate in style on Sunday?

COULD A TYRE CHANGE HELP LOCATELLI? Used SC0 in Race 1, most rivals use SC1…

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) got off to an incredible start as the lights went out. He blasted into the lead of the race, and he held it until Bassani came through on Lap 2 but took full advantage of his rival’s wobble to re-take the lead before being demoted to fourth as the race progressed. Locatelli and Bassani were the only riders who started on the front five rows to opt for the SC0 soft, and the Yamaha rider discussed whether this cost him a podium.

On his tyre choice and previewing Sunday, Locatelli said: “Maybe the choice of tyres we made for today was wrong because I started to feel a lot of closing and pushing on the left, because this track has a lot of chicanes. It was good race, P4, and not too far from the podium. Maybe, tomorrow, we can get the podium especially in the Superpole Race. We can be strong for 10 laps and then we will see, but we need to be happy because it’s my first time here at Imola with this bike. Battling with Bautista and Toprak is one target we can have. Tomorrow, I would like to fight. I think we have a good chance to fight with them.”

WILL RINALDI’S LUCK TURN? “I will try to improve my speed so I can fight for the podium.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was declared fit to ride on Friday following his Donington Park crash and showed good pace from the start. In Superpole, he was set to move to the top of the timesheets, but yellows flags meant his best time, when he was up on the fastest time of the session, was lost. In the race, he battled from eighth to fifth but was able to make progress despite closing in on Locatelli.

Looking ahead to Sunday, Rinaldi stated: “I started from eighth and I pushed a lot from the beginning. I needed to fight with some riders and spent a lot of energy. In the end, I wasn’t able to have enough to for a higher position even if I closed the gap. We were unlucky in Superpole because I had four yellow flags and one was when I was doing the best lap. I didn’t want a non-score in Race 1 or make crazy moves. I want to have a good Superpole Race to start in a better position for Race 2. I will try to improve my speed so I can fight for the podium.”

“THE FEELING WASN’T GOOD”: leading laps but dropping back

Bassani led a lap of Race 1 at Imola when he overtook Locatelli but a huge moment on Lap 3 dropped him down the order. He was unable to fight back and finished the race in seventh place, the last of a quartet of Italians from P4 to P7. After an emotional home podium at Misano the last time WorldSBK raced in Italy, Bassani will be hoping he can repeat that on Sunday.

Discussing where he’s looking to improve, Bassani commented: “Not the race we wanted. I started well but after two laps, the feeling with the bike wasn’t the same as free practice. I started to have a lot of problems with the front tyre. I tried to manage to finish the race. The feeling wasn’t good. I don’t know. Now we will try to understand why. The bike was the same as practice, the tyres were the same. We’ll look at the data and try to understand what we can do tomorrow. I think we have the potential for a podium. We are really fast. We will try to start Sunday with a good feeling and battle for the podium.”

PETRUCCI AIMS FOR ANOTHER ROSTRUM: “A podium in Italy would be great!”

Full of confidence after his podium at Donington, Petrucci is looking to repeat that in Italy. He missed out on a home rostrum at Misano when he crashed while chasing Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) but, in contrast to Locatelli and Bassani, had to fight his way up the grid. He started tenth and moved into the top seven with rapid end-of-race pace to finish sixth; five seconds from Locatelli. Could a good Tissot Superpole Race – and a higher starting position for Race 2 – propel Petrucci to the podium?

Petrucci said: “Finishing as top Independent is a good target for us. We made a good step forward at Misano. I’m happy about this but the Championship is so competitive, you always have to be on top. It will be very tough tomorrow because we have two races. The Superpole Race will be very important to maybe gain some positions for the Race 2 grid. A podium in Italy on my home soil would be great. Today, we were quite far from the podium, but we started in the middle, so I need to gain some positions.”

Can the home heroes score an emotional podium or win on Sunday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass!