SBK, SS300: Garcia triumphs at Imola, snatching the win from Coppola

The Supersport 300 races are great. Riding the small, single-cylinder factory derivative bikes are young riders that are ready for anything. The category is somewhat reminiscent of Sport Production in the ’80s and ’90s, a “factory” that turned out a lot of champions, including Max Biaggi and Valentino Rossi… and even with the engines off, the way these kids behave seems more libertine and spontaneous than modern professional riders.

At Imola, these small bikes took a quarter of an hour to get through the straights (top speed was 180 km/h, the same speed a Superbike does in first gear) but on the corners they were quick as a flash. After a battle from the first to last lap, it was Marc Garcia who won, snatching victory from Alfonso Coppola on the very last corner. Third place went to Ukrainian Kalinin, after Sanchez was penalized a position for cutting a corner. It was an all-Yamaha podium today at Imola.

Behind Sanchez came daredevil Giuseppe De Gruttola who battled for the podium all the way to the last metre. Sixth place went to South African Loureiro astride an R3 ahead of San Marino rider Bernardi. Paolo Grassia finished his race in eighth place, riding his Ninja 300 hard. The current leader in the standings Deroue finished far from the podium today in eleventh place ahead of the wild Ana Carrasco. Brit Murley collected the last point up for grabs.

Out of 36 riders on the grid, only three did not finish the race: Patova, Ferreira and Giacomini.

Rider standings: Deroue 55, Coppola 41, Sanchez 39