In the first home race for the Kawasaki WorldSSP Team at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’, both riders scored championship points despite the hot and steamy weather conditions.
The first chance to score WorldSSP Championship points at Misano was taken by both Dominique Aegerter and Jeremy Alcoba, with Dominique 13th and Jeremy 14th on their Ninja ZX-6R 636 machines.
Having started 18th on the grid, Aegerter was able to improve on his grid position in the final analysis, scoring three points for his 13th place at the flag.
Alcoba was just 0.272 seconds behind his team-mate Aegerter after 18 intense laps of the 4.226km long Italian circuit, taking away two points after crossing the start/finish line in 14th position.
The air temperature in the first WorldSSP race got up to 30°C, with the track temperature reaching 52°C.
The final race of the Misano weekend will take place on Sunday 14 June, and is once again scheduled for 18 laps. It will start at 15.15 on Sunday, however, not 14.00 as in Race One today.
Manuel Puccetti
“In Race 1 today we were able to score points with both our riders, despite starting further back on the grid. Being able to do that in such a hard-fought, high-level race was not a given. It’s clear we have bigger goals, but we also know that our bike suffers in the high temperatures and this penalised us. Aegerter, who took part in his 400th world championship race today, was able to finish ahead of Alcoba and this confirms his progress. We hope to do better in tomorrow’s race, also as a way of thanking all our fans and sponsors who are here at Misano.”
Jeremy Alcoba
“We were struggling a bit from yesterday and we have not found the right way at the moment. I pushed and had a nice battle with Dominique. I think both of us were struggling this weekend, also with the hot temperatures, which are also not the best for our bike. I am disappointed, because for sure we want more, and especially here in the home race for the team. But that gives us a fire to push again tomorrow, so for sure we are going to try to find one or two steps and try to fight for the top ten on Sunday. Thanks to the team for the nice work today and tomorrow for sure we will have more.”
Dominique Aegerter
“I got to finish in the points today, for 13th place. It was very hot and the team made a very good job with the bike, so I felt good. It is just that we are on the limit in every corner so I hope we can improve a little bit in Sunday morning warm-up. I tried my best but for sure the position we started in did not help to make for a better result. I worked very hard on my side and the crew also worked very hard to try to improve the package. I made 400 World Championship race starts today, so a big thanks to my sponsors, supporters, teams and machinery suppliers who have helped me.”
