The Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda team embarked on its 2014 European Superstock championship campaign this weekend with the opening round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and the FIM European Superstock 600 series.
On Sunday, British rider Kyle Smith took a superb third place behind winner Leandro Mercado on his Racedays Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP, having started in seventh place on the grid.
His Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda team-mate, Josh Day, had a good start from the third row of the grid but ran wide on the opening lap, and rejoined in last place before battling back to take 11th at the flag.
Earlier, in Saturday’s Superstock 600 race, 2013 European Junior Cup champion, Jake Lewis, finished just outside the top ten on his Honda CBR600RR machine, while team-mate Kevin Manfredi – another EJC graduate from last season – took ninth place. The team’s third rider, Harry Stafford, finished 28th.
Rider quotes:
Kyle Smith – FIM Superstock 1000 Cup:It was a bit a lonely race because I wasn’t catching the guy in front and no-one was catching me. But I managed to match the pace of the leaders and turn in some consistent laps. It’s turned out really good after we worked on the bike all weekend, concentrating on the front end mainly. There’s some more to do because I like the front end to be loaded a bit but it seems to be working. We made a big change for warm-up but probably went too far but, we’ve only had a couple of days with the CBR. The others out there have had a couple of seasons already!
Josh Day – FIM Superstock 1000 Cup:I had to work for that. I was running with the front five but they seemed to brake a little early and I had to run off on the back section of the track. It’s upsetting because I felt good at the start and on the first part of that opening lap. I think for Assen we can definitely be up there where Kyle ended up finishing. I’m pretty happy to come back from last place to get some points – we’ll move on from here and try to improve the bike for Assen.
Kevin Manfredi – FIM European Superstock 600It was a pretty good race but it was important to stay in the top ten and stay within the limits, taking some points for the championship. We haven’t really tested but for Assen we will be more competitive to stay closer to the front three.
Jake Lewis – FIM European Superstock 600:It was a great race to start the season with Racedays Honda. We kept progressing throughout the weekend and we’ll just keep working with a target of getting to the podium later in the season. I’ve ridden 600s back home in New Zealand but the Superstock 600 is definitely step up from the European Junior Cup. The bike the team is great but the racing is even more fierce and you’re going twice as fast! I’m really looking forward to Assen.
2014 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup – round 1
Motorland Aragon, Spain (5.344km), results:1 Leandro Mercado (ARG) Ducati2 Lorenzo Savadori (ITA) Kawasaki3 Kyle Smith (GBR) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda4 Cristoffer Bergman (SWE) Kawasaki5 Federico D’Annunzio (ITA) BMW6 Matthieu Lussiana (FRA) Kawasaki7 Simone Grotzkyj (ITA) Kawasaki8 David McFadden (RSA) Kawasaki9 Kevin Valk (NED) Kawasaki10 Romain Lanusse (FRA) Kawasaki11 Josh Day (USA) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
Championship points after first round:Mercado 25, Savadori 20, Smith 16, Bergman 13, D’Annuzio 11, Lussiana 10, Day 5
Next round: Assen, Netherlands – 25-27 April
2014 FIM Superstock 600 European Championship – round 1
Motorland Aragon, Spain (5.344km), results:1 Marco Faccani (ITA) Kawasaki2 Andrea Tucci (ITA) Kawasaki3 Wayne Tessels (NED) Suzuki4 Niki Tuuli (FIN)Yamaha5 Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) Kawasaki6 Luca Salvadori (ITA) Kawasaki7 Stefano Casalotti (ITA) Yamaha8 Gauthier Duwelz (BEL) Kawasaki9 Kevin Manfredi (ITA) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda10 Adrian Nestorovic (AUS) Yamaha11 Jake Lewis (NZL) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda28 Harry Stafford (GBR) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
Championship points after first roundFaccani 25, Tucci 20, Tessels, 16, Tuuli 13, Mikhalchik 11, Salvadori 10, Casalotti 9, Duwelz 8, Manfredi 7, Nestorovic 6, Lewis 5.
Next round: Assen, Netherlands – 25-27 April
