Go Eleven team principal Denis Sacchetti fears the heat will discourage Superbike fans. Forty degrees expected…
Marianna Giannoni / Corsedimoto.com
Hot week, in every sense of the word. Only a few days left before the Italian round of the Superbike world championship, an event eagerly awaited by the public, the Italian teams and the riders. If, in the paddock, the transfer window gets carried away, the weather is worrying. Not the rain which led to the cancellation of the Superbike race in 2019, but the torrid heat with temperatures which could reach and even exceed 40 degrees…
To Denis Sacchetti, Team Manager Go Eleven, it will be his home race and he hopes to see many spectators: “ Imola is a circuit spectacular,” he told Corsedimoto, “ iconic, old-fashioned: it's one of my absolute favorites. We have been waiting for this meeting for years. People are eager to see Superbike again at the Santerno circuit. Among other things, there will also be the Placebo concert on Friday evening, which gives added value to the event. I only fear the weather, which may discourage fans, especially families with children. The weekend promises to be extremely hot. The risk is that many prefer to go to the beach and watch the race on television rather than come to the circuit. I hope the stands will be full. »
Bautista doesn't particularly like the Imola circuit. Will he still be the favorite?
« It's a very special circuit and those who already know it have a slight advantage. It is difficult to interpret because there are a lot of elevations, descents and a series of particularities that can make the difference. I think the favorites are the usual ones: Bautista, Razgatlioğlu and even Rea can achieve a good result. I hope there will be outsiders, maybe Italians like Petrucci, who is doing very well lately, Locatelli, who is always consistent, or even Bassani. »
Let's take a look inside Go Eleven. Is Philipp Öttl (15th, 305 points behind the leader) on the rise?
« We started very well, then we had a decline, but we are on the way up. We are very fast, the only problem is qualifying and the first two laps. In terms of pace we are there, but if you start a little behind it is very difficult to make a difference and overtake. For the rest, I think Öttl is a great driver and a very good guy, he just needs to take one last small step. Unfortunately, he has never raced at Imola and it will be difficult for him at first. The important thing is that the first approach is immediately positive. »
There is a lot of talk about the transfer window at the moment. Can you tell us about it?
« We are fully focused on the Imola round, where we will have a lot of guests. After the Italian round there will be a series of meetings to try to define different things. Everything is moving very quickly, but we still need time to define things, so it's better to talk about it later. »
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Marianna Giannoni
