These last two weekends were defined by unpredictable weather, at times sweltering, at times humid, two races where we had to play catch-up, but let’s start from the beginning… We faced the Silverstone Gp without Lunetta, who fractured his left wrist and collarbone while was training on the Ohvale. At the last minute, he was replaced by the Malaysian guy Daniel Syahmi, a rider who is attracting attention in the CEV. He was in Malasya when he received my call about replacing Luca, and as soon as he hung up he was already on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to London. He did his job, without causing any issues, and for that we could not be more grateful.
To prove that “where there is a will, there is a way”, less than two weeks after surgery the doctors declared him fit to race at the circuit of Spielberg. But as soon as he got on the bike, he took two penalties, he must have really missed them (He deserves a good talking-to!)
Farioli, not to be outdone, made contact with another rider and he also received two long lap penalties. If there were a championship for penalties, we would win it hands down (Did I mention he deserves a good talking-to?)
Due to the storm that hit the circuit shortly before dinner we risked to see again our hospitality directly in Aragon, but in the end, we managed to get through Saturday.
Lunetta had an amazing race, he finished 17th despite the two long lap penalties, after an amazing comeback. He was impressive, he never gave up, he never complained about the pain, he set very good lap times, we can only hope he fully recovers by the end of the month.
As for Farioli instead, we did not have the time to say “3,2,1…go!”, that he crashed during the second lap…but he got back up, showing great determination and he continued the race with a top-ten pace. It is a tough time for him, but the way he reacted, the fact he got back up and then he was fast during the race… I saw it as a “time of change”. He has the spirit, he is fast, I congratulated with him at the end of the race, he proved to be a good rider. Could this unfortunate crash have been therapeutic?
MotoE: our seasoned Roccoli, a rookie in this category, once again did a good performance and he is getting more comfortable with the bike each time. He managed to set good lap times and he qualified 9th, staying very close to those leading the front group.
Manfredi, on the other hand, is going through a “mental crisis”, this has been an unlucky period for him. We are looking forward to Misano to end the year with a good performance.
As for me, I’m back home, where it is a gloomy and cool Italian afternoon, while testing is underway in Austria. Honda has brought something new to try out. Although they’re always a bit slow in making decisions, it seems like something has started to change. Who knows, maybe these changes will close the gap with KTM…
As we ponder this, we are eagerly waiting for the penultimate Spanish gp, that will take place among the corners of the historic and isolated Aragon.
-PaoloSic58-