The first race of the seventh WorldSSP championship round at Donington Park in the UK brought positive results for PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders Kaito Toba and Luca Ottaviani despite earlier setbacks.

Having crashed in yesterday’s Superpole, substitute rider Ottaviani knew that he needed to maximise this morning’s warm-up track time. The Italian, who is riding at Donington for the first time, was able to improve on his practice performance and gain confidence ahead of the day’s race. Toba also enjoyed a constructive session and felt prepared for the first of the weekend’s 19-lap WorldSSP races.

Despite having qualified for Race 1 in twenty-first position, Toba was unfortunately forced to start from the back of the grid (thirty-third), penalised for having seemingly not respected the yellow flag procedure in Superpole. A real pity considering his hard work on Friday. This starting position meant that Kaito had his work cut out as the race got underway. Straight up into twenty-fifth, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda rider pushed hard to gain ground as quickly as possible. Showing impressive pace, the Japanese rider continued to work his way up the field, reaching the top twenty by lap four. Making up a total of sixteen positions over the course of this 19-lap race, Toba crossed the line an admirable sixteenth, just outside the points zone.  

Substitute rider Ottaviani lined up in thirty-first position, having been passed fit to compete following Friday’s incident. Soon making up two positions, the Italian did his best to establish a rhythm and stick with the group immediately ahead. Twenty-fourth by the mid-race point, Luca was able to manage the final stages of the race effectively and make up another three places to close twenty-first, an encouraging result considering that this was Ottaviani’s first race with the CBR600RR.

Kaito Toba #27

“We made some minor tweaks to the bike’s set up during morning warm up, to confirm the plan for the race. Unfortunately, I was handed a grid penalty and had to start the race all the way from the back, despite my efforts in Superpole. I made my way up through the field step by step and got as far as sixteenth position. We still have work to do to improve our pace though. We’ll check the data and see if there is anything we can come up with before tomorrow’s race.”

Luca Ottaviani #12

“It was a difficult race and unfortunately my back is very painful following yesterday’s crash. But we’re not giving up and will do our best again tomorrow. I want to say a big thank you to the whole team for all their hard work so far. Let’s see what Sunday brings.”