Ducati rider “super proud” after milestone Czech WorldSBK podium

Barni’s Yari Montella completed a Ducati podium lockout of Race 1 at the Czech WorldSBK in what was a milestone result for the Italian.

Montella was also on the podium in Race 2 at Balaton Park on 4 May, meaning his Czech podium today (16 May) was his second in a row, something he hadn’t done in WorldSBK before.

Montella’s gap to the leaders in Race 1 was over 10 seconds, but he was also four seconds clear of Garrett Gerloff in fourth, so the performance was something to be pleased about.

“I’m super-proud, super-happy for the work that we’ve done,” Yari Montella told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 at Most.

“At the end it was a good Saturday because this morning I felt really good on the bike, during Superpole I was able to push close to the first because at the end I finished two-tenths from the first. It was not bad, my feeling.”

Montella added that he had been struggling with some instability during the race.

“During the race, I know that it will be different because the pace would be different,” he explained.

“I tried the first laps to follow the first guys – Iker [Lecuona] and Nicolo [Bulega] – but at the end I struggled a little bit because I’m struggling during the race with some movement on the bike, it was always like a boat. 

“So, it was important to finish the race to have data for tomorrow, to analyse and understand what we can do to improve this feeling. 

“For sure I need to work also my riding style, probably, on my lines, so we’ll see. I need to analyse, to see the data, to see the race, and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Looking to Sunday, Montella is aiming to continue in his current vein of consistency while also trying to close the gap to the two leaders compared to Race 1.

“The way is to be consistent as much as possible, and try to make our best,” he said.

“We know that the first two official guys, they have something more, but I have to work, to improve, to understand what they made. 

“Fortunately, we have data to compare, so we need to be smart to understand what they made and try to copy, try to improve and try to close the gap.”

The Italian is now only one point behind Sam Lowes in the riders’ standings in the battle for third place. Montella is expecting a strong Lowes on Sunday after he was taken out by Alberto Surra in Race 1, but is nonetheless confident of his chances of repeating his podium performance from Saturday.

“I know that tomorrow Sam Lowes will be one that can fight for the podium, but at the end my feeling is that I can do more or less the same,” he said.

“I have data of today to improve [for] tomorrow, and why not? We’ll see tomorrow. It will be nice to fight for the third position in the championship, but we need to think race-by-race and try to do our best.”