Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti moved up to second place in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup after a dramatic race in Imola. The 19-year-old from Como finished the race fourth but was moved up to third following the exclusion of race winner Luca Scassa (MV Agusta) for a technical infringement.
Corti made a good start from fourth on the grid, lying in second place to in the opening laps. While Scassa was able to pull away up front and take the flag by over two seconds, Corti slipped back into a thrilling five-way battle for the remaining podium slots, which was eventually won by Australian rider Brendan Roberts (Suzuki).
Corti raced elbow-to-elbow with series leader Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) on the final lap and although the Yamaha man tried to overtake his fellow Italian for the final podium position on several occasions, he could not quite force his YZF-R1 SP past his more experienced rival.
With Scassa's exclusion, Roberts was declared the winner and Polita's second position seals the championship in his favour. Corti moves up to second place, 26 points behind the champion. Ironically, had Scassa not been excluded Corti would have gone to Magny Cours with the slimmest of hopes of winning the title.
Despite being unable to win the title at the final race Corti will be looking to retain a top three position in the championship, his initial target after moving up from the 600cc class he won last year.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I started very fast but found myself slipping back into the pack after a few laps. I was able to recover and tried very hard to pass Polita on the final lap. He defended his line well and seemed to be able to accelerate out of the slow corners a little bit more quickly than me today. Probably our set-up wasn't quite as good as it could have been today but it's a good result and we're now second in the championship, so I am happy."
Circuit Length: 4959
Temp: 23
Crowd: 86500
Weather: Sunny
Superstock - Race 1 - 12 Laps:1 Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 23'4.667
2 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'0.538
3 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0'0.624
4 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 0'2.939
5 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'6.047
6 Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 0'10.025
7 Roberto Lunadei Yamaha ITA 0'15.101
8 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 0'15.527
9 Leonardo Biliotti MV Agusta GER 0'15.907
10 Gilles Boccolini Kawasaki ITA 0'16.449
11 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'16.585
12 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0'18.130
13 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0'22.745
14 Arne Tode Suzuki GER 0'23.202
15 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 0'26.382
Best Lap: Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 1'54.426
Rider Standings 01/10/2006: 1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 157
2. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 131
3. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 122
4. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 118
5. Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 87
6. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 72
7. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 71
8. Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 58
9. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 48
10. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 45
11. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 41
12. Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 39
13. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 30
14. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30
15. Ivan Silva Kawasaki ESP 27
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006: 1. Suzuki 189
2. MV Agusta 153
3. Yamaha 149
4. Kawasaki 86
5. Honda 45
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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