MV Agusta Race Report From Phillip Island

The Team Reparto Corse MV Agusta’s 2015 season began with a legendary one-two finish in World SuperSport. Not since 1973 (Imatra-GP in Finland – 1st Agostini, 2nd Phil Read ndr) had the manufacturer from Varese achieved a similar result to put in its trophy case. Jules Cluzel won a race that he dominated from the second turn when, in the braking section before the southern loop, he got the better of Kenan Sofuoglu on his Kawasaki who had taken the lead at the start from the second spot on the grid. From that point on the Frenchman was all alone until the chequered flag, demonstrating his clear and undisputed superiority.

Things were a bit more complicated for Lorenzo Zanetti, starting from the third spot on the grid. The rider from Lumezzane, after dropping five positions at the start, began a furious comeback. In the third lap he moved back into fourth place and in the next lap he set his sites on Kyle Smith’s Honda, overtaking him on the inside at turn 9 (Lukey Heights). In the fifth lap he repeated the move on Gino Rea, thereby eliminating the last four-cylinder ahead of him.

Lorenzo continued to push his MV Agusta F3 hard, repeating the time of 1’33’588 he had put on the sheets during qualifying and coming to within one second of his team mate by the tenth lap. The Frenchman responded immediately, pushing hard again until his time dropped to 1’33.684 in the fifteenth lap. The order remained the same all the way to the chequered flag with Cluzel repeating his 2014 performance, Zanetti coming in second 3”84 behind him and Rea and Smith riding their Hondas across the line 8”63 later. This is a gap that shows the difference in performance between the bikes built in Schiranna and those of the rivals.

Jules Cluzel #16: The Frenchman completely dominated during the Australian weekend, consistently faster from the first tests and pole position winner (1’33”305):
“I knew I was fast and I pushed hard from the start to try and pull the pin with my pace. I’m pleased that I was able to repeat last year’s win and now I am thinking about winning the title.

Lorenzo Zanetti #87: “I pushed to the limit and I am very happy about the result. Going any further was out of the question because there was nothing left in the tires. I’d like to thank the entire Racing Department. They put me on an excellent bike from every point of view.”

In Superbike English rider Leon Camier improved consistently throughout the weekend. Qualifying with the 14th best time, he battled and wore down the resistance of Bayliss, Baiocco and De Puniet, finishing Race 1 in tenth place. As proof of his perfect race strategy, Camier put his best time on the sheets, 1’32”99, in the last lap.

In Race 2 he jumped up another two positions, getting the better of Ramos and Baiocco in the finale and crossing the line in eighth place, also improving his lap time: 1’32”866.
The WSBK Reparto Corse team will return to Italy with a bounty of 14 championship points which put them in seventh place for the overall standings, an excellent start for the débutante MV Agusta F4 RC.

Leon Camier #87: “I tried to be as smooth as possible, looking after the tires and saving them for the end and it turned out well. I’m quite pleased because the F4 RC responds well to the adjustments and that’s why were able to improve and bring home this big little result: coming in firmly in the top-ten”. A big thank you to my team as well. They did a really great job.”

The CEO Giovanni Castiglioni was not at Phillip Island but he followed the team’s success live and had this to say: “This is a day to remember. We knew we were competitive in WSS, after all last year Jules won with the F3 and this year he repeated the performance in an even more authoritative way, supported by a very skilful Zanetti. In WSBK Leon showed his skill managing the potential of a bike, the F4 RC, making its début on the track. Starting off in seventh place in the top class at the end of the first round can only give us high hopes for the rest of the season.”