After a mixed weekend at Estoril, the GMT94 team arrived at Misano (Italy) with the ambition to get back on the podium.
On Friday, the team took the good decisions for the set up. The riders wanted to work on their race pace so they decided not to put on new tyres in order to complete an 18 laps run. They finished 6th and 7th respectively, less than three tenths behind the leader. With nearly 20 riders in one second, the times were exceptionally close. Indeed, most of the riders and teams carried out their winter tests on this track.
During the Superpole, Jules Cluzel finished 4th, one tenth from the pole, Federico 11th, two tenths behind. The races were to be crazy.
In the first part of race 1, Jules Cluzel was in the leading group and virtually on the podium, before slowing down in the final laps to secure the points and not take too many risks. He finished 4th.
Federico crashed while trying to catch up with Jules Cluzel’s group.
In race 2, Jules Cluzel fought for the victory until the last two laps, before being overtaken by a rider. He took the third step of the podium, and gained points on some of his rivals in the championship.
Following the red flag, Federico Caricasulo unfortunately had to start with five laps of used tyres, following a different strategy from Jules during practice. Indeed, following his qualifying and his lack of front feeling, the team decided to make him use one more new tyre than the others. It was necessary for him to work on the bike during the warm-up. Federico finished 9th.
Jules Cluzel: “I’m happy with this podium, because the two races were really close. New riders were able to join the battle, and despite that we scored 29 points in both races. Now we have a month’s break to continue to improve and try to get the first win of the year. We were five seconds away from victory on Saturday, we finished less than a second away on Sunday. A step has been taken, and I am now coming to circuits on which I feel particularly comfortable. “
Federico Caricasulo: “I am disappointed with this weekend because I was never able to feel comfortable on the bike. We tried different things, and after the red flag it would have been possible to see our progress. Unfortunately I was missing a new front and rear tyre. We will analyze all this with the team because I want to do better from Assen“.
Christophe Guyot: “We leave Misano in the top positions again, as we did in Aragon. Jules has achieved a podium at every circuit we have been to. We are obviously aiming for victory at Assen, which is quite achievable. Both of our riders rode extremely well there two years ago. We had to use Federico’s spare tyre during the warm-up to test new settings. He had finished in 3rd place with a very good time. The red flag put him at a disadvantage compared to the others. “
The next round of the World Supersport Championship will take place on 23, 24 and 25 July at Assen (Netherlands).
13 June 2021
