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Alfa Romeo, GQ
Italia and Italian veteran rider Giovanni Bussei teamed up
during the weekend's wet and cold Superbike World
Championship double header at Donington Park. The famous
former rider recaptured a long-gone motorcycle racing era as
he trailered his Ducati 999F06 bike to the track behind an
Alfa Spider, where it was run by Team Sterilgarda GMB with
on-track technical assistance provided by Luca Gasparro, who
is responsible for Ducati SBK and GP development.
This was the
first of a two round programme in the Superbike series for Bussei
with Team Sterilgarda GMB, as he will enter the next series
round at Valencia in Spain, again with the support of Alfa
Romeo and GQ Italia. However this weekend provided a strong
showing on his return to the series and it ended with the
former Superbike rider finishing in the
points zone in both the races, and it seems, in the eyes of
the team, that he will comfortably improve his performance
in time for the next round in Valencia. At the UK track his
Team Sterilgarda GMB bike carried Alfa Romeo decals, with
particular reference to the Alfa 159, as the sedan was being
used as the safety car for the weekend as part of a deal
that sees it being the official vehicle in this capacity for
the whole series.
"I set the wrong rear tyre for race
one, too much
soft, and I couldn’t do anything," said Bussei
afterward. "In race two my start
wasn’t good and I couldn’t drive for the first 15 laps.
When the tank was lighter things got better and I drove
fast during the final laps. Unfortunately today I paid
for my lack of experience with Pirelli tyres and for the
only few km of test with this motorbike. Well, I also
have to say that it went not so bad and I will try to do
better at Valencia."
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A Turin rider
with a long, acclaimed motorcycling career behind him,
Giovanni Bussei has returned to racing on the occasion of
two exceptional events. |
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The sporting
spirit and passion for bikes that have always been part of
Giovanni Bussei’s make-up have now infected Alfa Romeo
Automobiles and GQ Italia, who have been the main proponents
of the veteran biker’s return to Superbike. |
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There was great
satisfaction and a bit of regret for the Team Sterilgarda
GMB at the end of the English round at Donington track.
While Bussei recorded two sold finishes, in race two his
team mate Ruben Xaus brought his Ducati 999F06 home to a
great 4th place finish for the team, which is
managed by Marco Borciani, proving that he is ready to make
the transition to finishing on the podium. The Spaniard was
closing to achieving this target in race one as he was in
fifth place before he tumbled just two laps from home.
"First of all I want to
thank the Mobile Clinic because they allowed me to
conclude both the race even after a week down with the
flu," said Xaus. "I’m really very happy for race two, the 4th place
lifts our spirit and it’s a good incentive to work more
and more in order to go near the officials. It’s a pity
that Laconi stopped me like a cork, but that is, at the
start we pay the more acceleration of the 4-cylinder
engines. Another pity for race one, I was fighting for the
5th place, I was tired but pretty self-confident,
unfortunately the steering closed and I was on the
road." The two races were won outright by James
Toseland and Noriyuki Haga.
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