Resch back for Valencia - and ready for a 'good workout'

Confident that he has recovered sufficiently from the broken collarbone he suffered at Phillip Island back in February, Roland Resch is preparing to return to the World Superbike Championship fray with Team Reitwagen BMW in Valencia this weekend

08 Apr 2010

Following a satisfactory test, Roland Resch will return to Team Reitwagen BMW for this weekend's third round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship in Valencia - and the young Austrian is anticipating a 'good workout' for his shoulder around the physically demanding Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Resch broke his collarbone in two places in a nasty accident during second qualifying for the 2010 curtain-raiser at Phillip Island in Australia - cruelly, only moments after he had set a lap time good enough to make it through to Superpole for the first time in his WSBK career - and was consequently forced to miss round two at Portim?o in Portugal a month later, where he was substituted by Makoto Tamada.

However, off the back of 40 laps of the Algarve track last week that displayed no ill-effects, the 25-year-old - who failed to trouble the scorers during his 'rookie' campaign in the championship last year aboard a Suzuki under the TKR Switzerland banner - is preparing to return, and eager to start his first race for Team Reitwagen BMW.

"After the Portim?o race weekend, I tried the bike on the Monday afternoon," Resch revealed. "The conditions were far from perfect, and although the track dried out in the afternoon, it was quite hard. Portim?o has a lot of ups-and-downs and is a very physical circuit, so it was a very good workout for my shoulder, but I had no problems and felt pretty good at the end of the day.

"I'm looking forward to Valencia, even though it is another demanding track. There are many slow-ish corners and not many chances to rest, so my shoulder is going to get another good workout! My aim is to do well in practice and qualifying and get good results in both races."

Team-mate Andrew Pitt, meanwhile, sought to stress the importance of qualifying well in Portugal as he bids to add to the brace of point-scoring finishes he picked up on home turf Down Under back in February, around a circuit that has shone upon him in seasons gone-by in World Supersport.

"I can't say that there is an awful lot to Valencia for us riders really," confessed the New South Wales native, "but it is a great track for the spectators. It's a track where you need [to have] a good set-up, do consistently good laps and conserve your tyres. Because it is tight and there are many second and third-gear corners, it is important to qualify well and get a good grid position. If you don't, it becomes very hard to get good results.

"Valencia is a track where you work very hard and because there is hardly any place to rest, it is physically very demanding. At the end of race day, you really know that you've done two tough races, but I feel fit and ready for the weekend. I've had podiums there before and a pole position, so it has not been a bad track for me in the past. This weekend though will be very different but, if we can get a good set-up and maintain a good level of grip throughout the race, I think we can get into the points again."