The FIM Superbike World Championship visited a new venue last weekend as the Cremona Circuit, Italy held Round 9 of the 2024 season. An unknown heading into the event, the circuit, located in Northern Italy, was packed with fans across the race weekend.
Stefano Manzi gave the full grandstands a reason to cheer on Sunday, as he took victory for Pata Yamaha Ten Kate in Race 2 for the Supersport World Championship.
In WorldSBK, Yamaha’s teams faced a more challenging weekend, with a best result of seventh for Andrea Locatelli despite enjoying his best qualifying of the season in fifth. However, with teams introducing the new aero-package featured on the 2025 R1, it was expected that it would take some time to ‘get it right’ with the changes made to the bike, as explained below by Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing and Research and Development Manager, Andrea Dosoli in this week’s Dosoli Debrief.
The grandstands were packed with fans in Cremona
“It has been quite a positive weekend for WorldSBK, discovering a new race track in Cremona. There were a lot of people here, confirming that our sport is popular in this region. For sure there are areas for improvement, but there was a great atmosphere here with packed grandstands, people so close to the action and such a compact track. I really believe this suits WorldSBK, where the proximity to the riders and the fans is key. The layout of the track, the way the paddock and grandstands are built is really helping to build this atmosphere, you can feel it around the track. For me, this is the direction for the WorldSBK calendar in the future. We strongly appreciate the efforts from the organisers and this is reflected in the positive attendance.
“It was also a very positive weekend in World Supersport, where finally Stefano Manzi returned to the top of the podium for the first time since Catalunya. He did not make a mistake this weekend and Race 2 was a masterpiece. He was the quickest rider on the the track and managed the race very well, decided the right time to push and the result is very well deserved for him and the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate team. Now P2 in the championship is achievable, and we must focus on this as the target for the remainder of the year.
“I also would like to mention the commitment of Lucas Mahias, who has really impressed me this weekend considering how difficult it was for him with the shoulder injury. He really has shown that he is a fighter and has a high level of motivation.”
Manzi won World Supersport Race 2
“In Superbike, it was an important milestone for us with the launch of the new R1 which allows us to use the new aero package. This is important, as it means we can test it in four different race tracks in racing conditions this season – of course it is not ideal scenario to implement new items, and we expected some difficulties in setting up the bike and this is exactly what happened. However, I believe this is the right way to go. We are not fighting for the title, so we need to use every single lap of practice and race left to explore these new items so we can improve for next year.
“Loka pushed every single lap, in Race 2 he could have had a better result without the racing incident with Iannone which cost him a few positions. But for sure he brought back a lot of information. I can say the same for Niccolò Canepa, who we did not expect a result from, but we were able to use him in his role as test rider to understand information from the bike.
“Remy Gardner had a difficult weekend. Since the first practice he was suffering with a lack of rear grip to the point that he had to stop during the Superpole Race, and this is of course compromised the performance of acceleration out of the corner. This was not the weekend we hoped for after the strong performance in the test. We have to sit down with the engineers and Remy to analyse what didn’t work so we can be better prepared for Aragon.”
Bradley Ray enjoyed his best weekend of the season
“This weekend saw the MotoxRacing team run two riders with Alessandro Delbianco joining for a wildcard, this made us the most represented manufacturer on the grid with seven bikes racing. It was nice to see them expand to a two bike team and congratulate them on the effort to make it happen. Their permanent rider, Bradley Ray also had his best weekend of the season, qualifying ninth and in the races he showed his speed.
“With two of our official riders out, it was not an easy weekend. We did not achieve the performance the bike is a capable of this weekend, but we are in the development phase of the package and we are determined to improve for the future. There is not long to wait for the next race, as we travel straight to Aragon for Round 10.”
