Motorcycles and news

In the first race of the day Regis Laconi scored a season best result, with Nieto eighth. Walker crashed out of contention on lap ten, after an early run with the front group.

In the second 25-lap contest, Walker rode his heart out to stay in contention for a podium finish right until the last lap. Nieto scored points for his 11th place finish but problems for Laconi dropped him right down to 19th.

CHRIS WALKER: DNF & 4th - 64 Points, 9th Overall: “I wanted to wait until the last lap, because there was only one place where I was quicker than him, but Kagayama was coming and I couldn’t wait. I shot the bolt a bit early. We changed the bike a small amount for race two and it was the best it has ever been. We are nearly there.”

FONSI NIETO: 8th & 11th - 61 Points, 10th Overall: “I used a 200 tyre in the first race when Regis used a 190 with a hard compound. Based on that, I decided to use a soft 190 in race two, but I could not get it to work the way I wanted. Butthe problem is mine. I still have to learn how to ride a big, powerful bike, on a hot track, when the rear starts sliding. I hope we can test things like that when we go to Germany for the tyre tests soon.”

REGIS LACONI: 6th & 19th - 52 Points, 13th Overall: “Not so bad in race one but I went straight on at Tramonto in race one after I had a bit of a problem with the gears in race two. I am disappointed because I was riding close to the front but the big problem for me was that I could not find a way to use the big tyre at this track. I was first to use it last year, so I am surprised. With the small one I had a little less grip on the fast lefts.”

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP

SACCHETTI OUT OF MISANO RACE AFTER JUMP START

PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Superstock rider Denis Sacchetti had to retire from the Misano race after being adjudged to have jump started, and then experiencing a braking issue after a stop/start penalty. He was confident of a good result and was moving through the field when Race Control pulled him in.