The Cremona Circuit in Italy today staged the second day of action making up round nine of the Superbike World Championship. Yesterday was a day to remember for Tito Rabat and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, in that the Spaniard finished practice in fourth position with a time of 1’29”976. Today, in cool, sunny conditions, Tito was out for Superpole, the session that sets the grid positions for the weekend’s first two races. Able to improve on his best time by a second (1‘28”921), Rabat closed qualifying in tenth place. This strong result meant that he lined up on the fourth row of the grid for the afternoon’s 23-lap race.
The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider made a very fast start and was not far from the frontrunners when he was unfortunately forced to run wide to avoid a rider ahead who braked early. This caused the Spaniard to crash at turn 10 and unfortunately, he was unable to rejoin the race. A real pity because Rabat had shown that the potential to score a good result.
He will try again tomorrow in the Superpole Race and Race 2.
Cremona Circuit – Italy
Superbike World Championship
Superpole: Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Iannone (Ducati) – 3) Petrucci (Ducati) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 6) Lowes (Ducati) ……..10) Rabat (Kawasaki)
Race 1 – 1) Petrucci (Ducati) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Bautista (Ducati) – 4) Lecuona (Honda) – 5) Bassani (Kawasaki) – 6) Vierge (Honda) ………. DNF) Rabat (Kawasaki)
Tito Rabat
“I started well, but at turn 10 a rider in front of me braked too early and forced me off the racing line. My tyre ran over some dirt and I crashed, unable to return to the track. I’m really disappointed because I wasn’t able to express my full potential, or that of the bike, but we’ll try again tomorrow.”
