FIM Cup Superstock 1000 - Portimao • Ondra Jezek #69

Three-day programme of FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in Portimao was closed by a race. Ondra Jezek achieved an improvement compared to qualifications and finished the race on 12th place.

14.04.2010 (15:34), admin, Articles, commented 0×, viewed 205×

With a brand new bike Ondra Jezek rolled to the start of opening free practice. In a nice sunny day Ondra was starting slowly. The new engine required a richer fuel map and of course it had an impact on its performance, especially acceleration. In the first afternoon qualifying Ondra went to secure a decent position on the provisional grid, meaning worst eighth place. Although constantly improving it was not enough for better than the fourteenth place.

Saturday's free practice began promisingly. Ondra was able to improve and it seemed that the motorcycle is well prepared for the final afternoon's timed practice. But the opposite was true. During qualifications the chassis of his Aprilia behaved unpredictably, which was the result of high-speed crash in the eighth round of training and end to all hopes of a decent starting position. Luckily the rider survived a dangerous crash unscathed.

On Sunday at 5:30am summer time, both Ondra´s mechanics laid down for a short nap after repairs of the motorcycle, crashed yesterday in qualifying. Therefore the warm-up was primarily an operational test if everything is okay. And it was not. Ondra had to ride with the traction control off because the sensor scanning wheel speed was damaged. Problem was solved before the race and Ondra could attack from unfriendly nineteenth position. Aprilia worked well and in half of the race he has moved to 13th position. Thanks to the disappearance of another competitor he was finally at the finish line 12th. The bonus in the end was the first victory in competition where Pirelli awards the race jumper, ie. rider which is catching up on most positions from the start to finish line. In Ondra´s case it was seven positions. Team MS Racing travels to Valencia, where it will be testing from 30th to 31st of March.

Ondra Jezek:
„The first race is behind us. I can´t be satisfied with the 12th place but when I take into account the problems that surrounded us this weekend, these are valuable points for me. Before the race I was determined to attack and win the PIRELLI prize. Start was not optimal but the first turns
I managed it well through the crush and after the first lap I was sixteenth. During the first half of the race my bike worked quite well and I improved my qualifying time by almost 1.5 seconds. I was within the reach of 9th place. At the end of the race my back tire was overused so I had to slow down and
moved down to 12th position. In the finish, I found out that I got the Pirelli prize, so at least a small patch on the foiled weekend. I would like to thank the team, especially my mechanics Michal Knezinek and Honza Muller who really labored to redemption this weekend. With Aprilia we have yet to learn but I
still believe in its great potential and tracks will come where we will definitely grow better. I'm looking forward to Valencia.“

FIM SUPERSTOCK 1000 Race (12 laps, 55,104 km)
1. A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia STK BMW 21'18.245
2. M. BERGER FRA Ten Kate Race Junior Honda -2.744
3. L. BAZ FRA MRS Racing Yamaha -13.154
12. O. JEZEK CZE MS Racing Aprilia -29.915
20. M. SALAC CZE MS Racing Aprilia -55.497