Brendan Roberts now leads the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup by one single point after a stunning ride at Brno in the Czech Republic, finishing second in the 12-lap race behind Max Berger. Roberts riding the 1098R for the Ducati Xerox Junior Team rode an extremely thoughtful race to take a confident second place, 0.05 in front of Alessandro Polita.
Roberts who qualified on pole position on the Ducati was eager to secure a strong result at round six of the fiercely fought out series. The young Australian got a terrible start and was sitting in seventh position into the first corner, he worked his way through to fifth by the end of the opening lap and was keen to get in the mix and fight for a podium position despite the poor start.
It was a fraught race and the riders were changing positions on every lap, Roberts wanted to make sure that he stayed in front Xavier Simeon, who lead the Championship going into the round at Brno, Simeon eventually finished the race in fifth position allowing Roberts to take the lead in the Championship.
On lap nine of the race Roberts suffered with tyre problems and after working extremely hard to make his way through up to a strong second position, sadly a mistake, forcing him to run wide and losing him three places saw the youngster have to do all the hard work again to regain his position. Battling hard he knew that he would have to pull something out the bag to gain a podium position. A couple of last lap manoeuvres thankfully pulled off for Roberts and he secured second place in the demanding tough race.
Brendan Roberts:"I'm really pleased with the result that I got today as I knew I'd struggle with tyres during the race. The new surface on the track isn't very forgiving with the tyres and so I'm pleased that they went the distance when it mattered the most. I got a really bad start and fell back through the pack and knew that I would have my work cut out. I dug deep and was locked in a tight battle for the entire race; I had to work hard to get the result I did. I had a bit of a moment in the later stages and lost a few places, I had to make a couple of interesting passes on the last lap but luckily it paid off and worked in my favour. The team have worked really hard this weekend and it's great to go away leading the Championship, even if it's only by one point! The next two rounds are Brands and Donington so I'm hoping my previous knowledge from my time in the British Championship will become of benefit there."
Race Result: 1. Berger - Honda
2. Roberts - Ducati Xerox Junior Team3. Polita - Ducati
Championship Standings: 1. Roberts 962. Simeon 95
3. Berger 84
4. Polita 83
Related Link:www.brendan-roberts.com
