Saturday

Manzi finishes second in hard-fought Race 1 at Autodrom Most, Navarro battles to P9

Stefano Manzi finished second in the first World Supersport race at the Autodrom Most on Saturday afternoon. The Italian had to fight hard for it but in the end managed to get his tenth podium finish of the season. Jorge Navarro was classified ninth in this race after a fierce battle for a place in the top six.

After a good Friday at the Autodrom Most, the Superpole session was on the programme for Ten Kate Racing on Saturday morning. Stefano Manzi managed to qualify in second place while Jorge Navarro took seventh and crashed hard. Fortunately, the Spaniard was unhurt and was able to start Race 1 in the afternoon.

Due to an incident just after the start, the red flag was waved after which the race was shortened to 12 laps. Manzi started well and tried to take the lead but had to relinquish it. The Italian was then attacked by four other riders but managed to stay ahead. Manzi crossed the finish line in second place, scoring his tenth podium finish of the season.

Navarro had a strong start to this first race of the weekend and, despite his heavy crash earlier in the day, managed to move into the top six. On the straight, however, he couldn’t defend against the Next Generation bikes and the Spaniard had to give up some places. In the end, Navarro crossed the finish line in eighth place but due to exceeding the track limits on the last lap he was demoted one place.

Stefano Manzi – P2: “We were lucky today with the weather because just over an hour before the race it was still raining. It was not a bad race, unfortunately it was shortened by seven laps. That was not an advantage for us because usually we are stronger at the end of the race. However, it was good to finish on the podium again. Hopefully we can race the full distance tomorrow and try to fight for the victory.”

Jorge Navarro – P9: “It has not been an easy day today. This morning in Superpole I had a big crash and I hurt my leg, fortunately there is no big damage. This reduced my confidence for the race a bit, I didn’t have the greatest feeling in these conditions. Anyway, we had quite a good fight but didn’t get the result we aimed for. We keep working and believing, I think tomorrow can be a very good day if we can show our pace.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “It was a positive day for Ten Kate Racing. Stefano was on the podium again and Jorge rode a very strong race. Unfortunately we didn’t quite have the pace for the win and overall we need to see if we can improve our bike by one to two tenths. We know the R6 is very strong in the second half of the race so with the shortening of the race we had a disadvantage. Over full race distance, I expect Stefano to be able to compete for victory tomorrow. Jorge continues the upward trend despite his big crash this morning. So in the end we can be satisfied with these good results, besides that the Yamaha Thailand Racing Team also finished in the points. We are looking forward to tomorrow.”

Sunday

Disappointing Sunday in Most for Ten Kate Racing with two DNFs

Ten Kate Racing failed to score at the Autodrom Most on Sunday. In a chaotic race at the Czech circuit, in which heavy rain started to fall halfway through, Stefano Manzi and Jorge Navarro both did not finish.

The beginning of the race was very good from both riders. Navarro started well and managed to gain several positions. The Spaniard rode a good pace but made a small mistake when it started raining hard on the Czech circuit. With slicks on a wet track, Navarro slid off and saw a possible first podium finish with Ten Kate Racing slip out of his hands.

Manzi was able to follow the pace of championship leader Nicolò Bulega after the start and put the heat on his compatriot. As rain started to fall, the Italian took over the lead on lap seven before deciding to dive into the pits for rain tyres two laps later. Soon after, Manzi faced a technical problem which forced him to retire his machine. With Bulega also failing to score, Manzi remains on 262 points with 46 points behind the championship leader.

Stefano Manzi: “It was not the Sunday we hoped for. This morning we had to miss the warm-up session because of the tyre sticker rule this championship has. In the race I started well and I was in second place, fighting for the lead. Then it started to rain heavily so I decided to come in for rain tyres. Not long after that I had a technical problem which ended my race, that was a big disappointment. However, we will keep working hard to be as strong as possible when the season resumes in September.”

Jorge Navarro: “We were not very lucky today. I was doing a very good race and I was able to be aggressive make some overtakes. I was in third place and catching the two riders in front of me and then I saw the first drops of rain coming. The track was still dry at that point but in sector 2 it was raining a lot heavier, so when I arrived to that corner I lost the rear. It is a shame that I crashed because today we were very competitive and I enjoyed the race a lot. I think it was my best race of the season so far. We need to remain positive and take the things we learned here to the next round. I want to thank the team for all their hard work, we will keep going.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “For Ten Kate Racing, it was definitely not the Sunday we were hoping for. Because of the regulations regarding tyre stickers in this championship, we could not let Stefano and Jorge ride in the warm-up session in wet conditions. Anyway, both riders started the race very strongly in which Stefano was fighting for victory and Jorge for his first podium finish.

When the rain came, a small mistake by Jorge was immediately punished, preventing him from finishing his best race of the season. After the tyre change, Stefano unfortunately faced a technical problem that he could do nothing about. That was tough luck and something like that can happen, it’s the first time in 2.5 years that we have had something like that. We are looking ahead again to what awaits us after the summer break and will be back at the start as strong as possible then.”

Despite not racing for five weeks now, that does not mean Ten Kate Racing will be sitting still for the coming period. In the weekend of 11-13 August, the team will make its appearance at Jack’s Racing Day at the TT Circuit Assen with Stefano Manzi and Jorge Navarro and ride a number of demos there. In addition, Ten Kate Racing will test at Motorland Aragón on 31 August and 1 September in preparation for the race weekend that will take place there later in the month.