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The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship races at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola for the first time since 2018, with the 2019 race cancelled due to inclement weather conditions, and one of the few on the grid who knew the track was Marc Garcia (China Racing Team). He raced and won at Imola in 2017, the year he was crowned World Champion. Six years after that victory, he returned to the category with the China Racing Team for the rounds in Italy and the Czech Republic, and in his first weekend he became the first rider to score points on the Kove 312RR on the world stage.

WEEKEND IN REVIEW: a new manufacturer scores in WorldSSP300

The weekend started with a sixth position in Free Practice 1, the best result in any session for the Chinese manufacturer. In FP2, he improved his time by just over three tenths, but finished ninth in the session, which left him 11^th in the combined classification. His best time on Friday was a 2’07.771s, less than a second behind pacesetter and Race 1 winner Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha).

Despite the fact he improved his Friday time by six thousandths in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session, he could only take 19^th on the grid and started from the seventh row. His time was 1.310s down on polesitter Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing). Even starting so far back, in Race 1, he was able to climb back and fight in the second group for most laps; Geiger and Vannucci had broken away and fought for victory. He finished the race eighth, behind Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) and ahead of Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing), only 1.542s off the podium. On Sunday morning, he was eighth in Warm Up but he was unable to replicate the result in Race 2 where he finished 21^st.

Due to this result, the Spaniard was less satisfied than he should have been, clarifying that the bike has the potential to be higher. He said: “It could have gone better. The problem was the Superpole. In this category, you can be fast in all sectors, but when you get to the last one it becomes a funnel, and you cannot improve the lap. I was in the top ten all weekend, and in Superpole we could have easily been in the top five, but I couldn’t improve my lap and that hurt me all weekend. On Saturday, I was able to come back, but it is very difficult to start the race from so far back… We could have fought for the top five. On Sunday, it was the other around. Something happened with the bike and I couldn’t be fast.”

Garcia is, however, aware that this is common with a new manufacturer: “It is normal for these things to happen. We are the only team with this motorbike, and it is difficult to work like this. When the Championship started, there were 10 Yamahas, 10 Kawasakis and four KTMs. It’s very different to work with a single motorbike. You can’t compare data, and if there is a mistake, it’s just one motorbike. But the weekend was very positive, and I’m sure it’s going to be better at Most.”

TECHNICAL CONDITIONS OF THE 321RR: “Kove can get on the podium and win races!”

It was the first time Garcia had ridden the bike, although he was not the first Spaniard to ride the Kove, as Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing GR) achieved a double victory in Valencia in the ESBK Supersport 300 in May, when he raced alongside Junhao Zhan. After a weekend at Imola, Garcia explained the differences to the other bikes on the grid. Garcia also stated what he thinks the potential is: ““It’s somewhere between the Kawasaki and the Yamaha. The chassis is similar to the Yamaha, but a little stiffer, although it looks more like the Yamaha than the Kawasaki. Some aspects need to be improved, such as aerodynamics, but that requires time and mileage. Kove can win and get on the podium.”

ABOUT THE PROJECT: a possible future together

The China Racing Team has had three riders in four rounds. The first was Shengjunjie Zhou, who raced at Assen and Catalunya, while Junhao Zhan only participated at Misano, although he did not start the race as he was outside the 105% time in Superpole. For the Italian and Czech Rounds, the team has decided to field Garcia; an experienced rider with more than 50 starts under his belt, including seven victories, 14 podiums and the first WorldSSP300 Champion.

Discussing how he secured the seat for two rounds, Garcia said: “Jesus Rincon, the Team Manager, called me at the beginning of the year to do the entire season, but I had to reject him because I had something else quite advanced. He called me again because he needed a rider and, since I wasn’t racing this year, I didn’t even think about it. I already knew the team because I worked with them in 2019 with Kawasaki. They are an incredible group of people, the environment is healthy, there is a very good vibe and that helps a lot when it comes to working and making things work out as they should.”

Garcia also confessed that he’d like a long-term relationship with the team: “At first, it will just be Imola and Most, but I guess we’ll have to talk. Things are going well, and everyone is happy with me. I would like to finish the season here, and even continue next year with them. I can contribute experience and professionalism. Both the team and I want to win, but for that you need a good rider and a competitive bike, and to have a competitive bike you need an experienced rider. The level of competition is China is very different from what we have here, and so is the rhythm.”

Can Garcia push Kove further up the order? Find out at Most using the WorldSBK VideoPass!