The fifth round of the Supersport World Championship is underway at the Misano World Circuit. With Can Oncu out of action after sustaining injury during the Assen round, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is once again fielding Lucas Mahias aboard its ZX-6R at what is the team’s home round.
The Misano event is a home round for Manuel Puccetti’s team, the ideal occasion to meet with sponsors and greet the fans. This weekend, all the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing bikes are out on track with the historic ELF livery that celebrates the partnership between Total Italia and the Italian team.
During this morning’s free practice, the French rider (who took part in the recent tests at this same track with the Ninja SBK) first had to readapt his riding to the Supersport bike. With a time of 1’39”791, he placed seventeenth at the end of FP1. The work of the rider and team paid off during the afternoon’s session, when Mahias stopped the clock on 1’38”803, moving up into thirteenth place overall. A significant improvement that bodes well ahead of tomorrow, when Lucas will be compete in the Superpole followed by the first race of this fifth championship round.
Misano World Circuit – Italy – Supersport World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Corsi (Yamaha) – 3) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 5) Montella (Ducati) ………. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)
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“It hasn’t been an easy day for me, as it comes on the back of the recent test with the Superbike and now I’m back on the ZX-6R. In the first practice, I tried to readapt my riding style to the Supersport but my lap time was underwhelming. In the afternoon the situation improved significantly, and I was able to lower my lap time to position thirteenth. It’s not a negative result if we consider the difficulties we had, and the gap to the front is not so much. I’d like more time to test my bike but tomorrow we immediately have Superpole and Race 1. I’ll try to do my best as always, also to repay the team for all their hard work.”
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