Parkes climbs a “podium mountain” at Imola

The undulating Imola circuit was a tough challenge for Broc Parkes but his day ended in a third
place finish, with his team-mate David Salom fifth, and closing in on a top placing of his own.

Parkes had to fight against some issues with his machine set-up under braking but he held on well and as other riders also encountered trouble or fell, he pounced when required and took his fourth podium of the season, and his first since his race win at Misano in June. He is now fourth in the rankings, three points and one place behind his team-mate Salom.

David had his own issues to deal with while running a full fuel load but some outstanding final laps took him to a top five finish and he could have improved on that with a few more minutes of track time, such was his rate of forward motion. He is now third overall and still has a slim mathematical chance of catching championship leader Chaz Davies, who was forced out of the running while leading at Imola.

Vittorio Iannuzzo from the Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki team rode well to record his best finish of the year in seventh, as his team-mate Massimo Roccoli was finally forced out when he fell on lap 17 of 19. Roccoli had a dramatic race all round, running onto the gravel at one stage then recovering to a top seven place before finally falling, remounting and retiring in the pits.

Broc Parkes: “It was a little bit difficult for me as I struck trouble during the race. My brake was
inconsistent and I was adjusting it all race long. Unfortunately I could not brake later than the others everywhere and I adjusted my riding to suit.

I fought it out in what turned out to be my own race-within-a-race and luckily I got the best of it on the last lap and ended up on the podium. That was a good result for the team and me and it was also good to get a lot of championship points. I can look forward to the next one.”