Strong Second for Roberts
Brendan Roberts now leads the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup by
one single point after a stunning ride at Brno in the Czech
Republic, finishing second in the 12-lap race behind Max Berger.
Roberts riding the 1098R for the Ducati Xerox Junior Team
rode an extremely thoughtful race to take a confident second
place, 0.05 in front of Alessandro Polita.
Roberts who qualified on pole position on the Ducati was eager
to secure a strong result at round six of the fiercely fought
out series. The young Australian got a terrible start and
was sitting in seventh position into the first corner, he
worked his way through to fifth by the end of the opening
lap and was keen to get in the mix and fight for a podium
position despite the poor start.
It was a fraught race and the riders were changing positions
on every lap, Roberts wanted to make sure that he stayed in
front Xavier Simeon, who lead the Championship going into
the round at Brno, Simeon eventually finished the race in
fifth position allowing Roberts to take the lead in the Championship.
On lap nine of the race Roberts suffered with tyre problems
and after working extremely hard to make his way through up
to a strong second position, sadly a mistake, forcing him
to run wide and losing him three places saw the youngster
have to do all the hard work again to regain his position.
Battling hard he knew that he would have to pull something
out the bag to gain a podium position. A couple of last lap
manoeuvres thankfully pulled off for Roberts and he secured
second place in the demanding tough race.
Commenting afterwards, "I'm really pleased with the result
that I got today as I knew I'd struggle with tyres during
the race. The new surface on the track isn't very forgiving
with the tyres and so I'm pleased that they went the distance
when it mattered the most. I got a really bad start and fell
back through the pack and knew that I would have my work cut
out. I dug deep and was locked in a tight battle for the entire
race; I had to work hard to get the result I did. I had a
bit of a moment in the later stages and lost a few places,
I had to make a couple of interesting passes on the last lap
but luckily it paid off and worked in my favour. The team
have worked really hard this weekend and it's great to go
away leading the Championship, even if it's only by one point!
The next two rounds are Brands and Donington so I'm hoping
my previous knowledge from my time in the British Championship
will become of benefit there."
Race Result
Berger Honda
Roberts Ducati Xerox Junior Team
Polita Ducati
Championship Standings
Roberts 96
Simeon 95
Berger 84
Polita 83
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