Near miss for Foggy PETRONAS Racing at Imola
Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders Craig Jones and Steve Martin
narrowly missed out on points-scoring finishes at the 11th
round of the Superbike World Championship in Imola, Italy.
Craig continued his recent improvement with a battling 17th
place in the first race and Steve followed that with 16th
in race two.
But both riders also suffered mechanical problems, with Steve
forced to retire after two laps of the first race and Craig
lasting just six laps of race two before an oil leak caused
him to pull in.
Alex Barros won his first World Superbike race and Troy Bayliss’
fifth place was good enough to secure the championship before
he resumed his domination by winning the second race.
Craig said: “Until half-way through the first race
everything was pretty good. My times kept coming down and
I got into a rhythm. I was behind Rolfo, pushing really hard
and chasing a points-scoring position. Then four or five little
problems cropped up which amounted to a big disadvantage so
I backed off to make sure I finished. The second race was
really disappointing for everyone but, considering this was
my first visit here, the weekend fills me with confidence
that I could run near the front next year.”
Steve said: “I did the best that I could in the second
race. A lit bit more power would have made a big difference
but the bike was handling well. However, it was misfiring
for the first few laps, which cost me a few spots that were
difficult to regain. Then, once I had passed Chili and Brookes,
it was a lonely race. In the first race the bike suffered
a wheel speed sensor failure, which wasn’t apparent
on the warm-up lap. It was causing the bike to misfire and
it was impossible to ride so I had no option but to pull in.”
Race two results, Superbike World Championship round
11, Imola, Italy: 1 Bayliss; 2 Barros +1.413; 3 Kagayama
+4.355; 4 Pitt +5.387; 5 Toseland +6.418; 6 Haga +9.615; 7
Lanzi +12.429; 8 Muggeridge +14.895; 9 Corser +19.708; 10
Laconi +20.577; 11 Abe +23.473; 12 Nakatomi +25.368; 13 Nieto
+31.340; 14 Walker +32.993; 15 Rolfo +34.596; 16 Martin (Foggy
PETRONAS Racing) +41.830
Race one results: 1 Barros (Klaffi Honda);
2 Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) +4.351; 3 Pitt (Yamaha
Italia) +6.809; 4 Haga (Yamaha Italia) +11.179; 5 Bayliss
(Ducati Xerox) +11.537; 6 Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) +20.974; 7
Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki) +23.055; 8 Muggeridge (Winstin Ten
Kate Honda) +23.747; 9 Abe (Yamaha France) +27.289; 10 Laconi
(PSG-1 Kawasaki) +29.160; 11 Nakatomi (Yamaha France) +30.792;
12 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) +32.109; 13 Clementi (Team Pedercini)
+38.537; 14 Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) +45.410; 15 Brookes
(Kawasaki Bertocchi) +48.494; 16 Chili (DFX Treme) +48.656;
17 Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) +1:00.950
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