Team Guandalini Racing - Misano Adriatico - Races - 21 June 2009
The morning’s twenty-minute warm-up was hindered by pouring rain. Jakub Smrz’s prospects for the race seemed very promising after he completed nine laps and registered the third fastest time, maintaining a very quick pace while Gregorio Lavilla finished in fourteenth place.
Misano Adriatico - RACE 1
Jakub Smrz had a strong start in front, right behind Byrne’s Ducati for the first few laps, while teammate Gregorio Lavilla was in tenth after the first lap. When the weather conditions changed unexpectedly after five laps, the “flag-to-flag” regulation was put into practice for the first time in Superbike, with a rapid changeover of bikes. One after another, riders came into the pits to change bikes, Jakub swapping after 15 laps and returning to the track in seventh position. Gregorio Lavilla came in on the eighteenth lap with severe tire damage. On exiting the pitlane, his bike came to a halt due a technical malfunction costing him precious seconds and many positions. Jakub Smrz put together a series of very fast laps, including the fastest lap of the race, and with this was able to catch the Ducati 1198 of Michel Fabrizio . Smrz finished fourth, losing out on a podium spot by only 50 thousandths of a second. Due to problems with the second bike, Lavilla closed the race in twenty-second position.
The race was won by the American rider Ben Spies (Yamaha) ahead of Shane Byrne and Michel Fabrizio on the Ducatis.
Misano Adriatico - RACE 2
In contrast to Race 1, the weather was much improved, with a dry track and an air temperature of 26°C and 39°C on track. This time the battle was between protagonists Jonathan Rea (Honda), the two Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio , and Jakub Smrz who kept pace with the frontrunners for seven laps until he slid and lost several places in the process. Overtaken by Byrne, Checa and Haslam, Jakub had to fight hard to regain the lost ground and by the end of the race, he was up in fourth, just managing to pass Carlos Checa on the final lap. With today’s results Smrz has moved up a place in the classification and is now ninth, just one point behind Checa in eighth. Lavilla gained one more point with his fourteenth place finish in Race 2. The Spanish rider didn't do as well as he had liked due to the technical problems at the front of the bike and with the clutch.
The race was won by Jonathan Rea, followed across the line by the Ducati Xerox team Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga.
Donington Park – Race Preview
Now Misano is done, the trucks are loaded and the championship moves directly across the Channel, to England and the Donington Park circuit for the only British round now that Brands Hatch has been cancelled. Team Guandalini is spurred on after Smrz’s pole at Misano and by the points attained over the recent race weekend. Gregorio Lavilla is expected to perform well as he has achieved some excellent results at Donington in the past and the squad hopes that Jakub Smrz will continue to impress in both the practice sessions and the races.