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Stefano Manzi wrote a page of Yamaha history at Phillip Island, taking the R9 to victory already in its debut race in the World Supersport Championship. It was a result that was difficult to predict, considering the eighth position on the grid from which the two-time runner-up of the category was starting. Manzi, however, proved once again that he is a real fighter and, with grit and determination, managed to beat Jaume Masia in a sprint and secure the win in the first race of the year.
"Now I can say I'm happy, but until this morning I wanted to pack it all up and go home, because it's not like I was really very happy," the Ten Kate team rider said with a laugh after these two days on the up. "We have a new bike, so it has to be developed and we still have to understand its strengths and weaknesses well. This is one of the areas where I struggled yesterday in qualifying as well, although it was a strange session where the gaps were very small and I finished eighth but a tenth and a half off the front row, so it's not like it was really that bad, but there is work to be done. I'm so happy with this win, but it's just one piece of the puzzle and to put it all together you have to work and stay calm. To start like this is great and I honestly didn't expect it either."
At some junctures the Rimini rider seemed to struggle with the top speed of his new Yamaha.
"It's the balance of performance that makes some bikes seem faster than others in the straights, but actually my bike doesn't go slow," he explained , " I think the aspect we need to focus on more right now is more the chassis. It's an area where we have some margin, because with the previous bike we knew perfectly how to act on each circuit, while with the R9 it's still all to be discovered."
Unlike Masia, who missed the podium because of a 3-second penalty given to him for leaving the pit lane early, Manzi and the Ten Kate team did not let the flag-to-flag betray them.
"I lost a little bit of time before entering the pit lane, but the tire change itself was perfect and I came out close to the riders I had gone back in with. I saw that Masia was way ahead but I didn't know about his penalty, they told me later. In any case, the only thing I was focused on was winning and in the end I crossed the finish line first anyway!" commented Stefano, who built his victory with an overtaking move on Masia on the last lap: "I was hoping to pass him in Turn 4, but I went long. Curve 6 was a point where I was struggling and throughout the race I struggled more to turn in the bike than him and the others, however I was doing very well in the fast section. At the braking in Turn 9 he went very tight and I almost crashed into him, and at that point I decided to go wider than him in Turn 10, braked hard to get the bike in and, even though I came a meter longer, I managed to make the turn!"
When did this decisive "switch" come about to take the victory?
"When I closed the visor before going to the grid," Stefano explained, "We made some changes to the bike compared to the morning, based on some certainties that we had matured in yesterday's tests and trials, and then we put some 'bad attitude' on it. In racing you need that too, otherwise you don't win."
