No podiums but Dutch WorldSBK “the best weekend” for one Ducati rider

Barni Ducati rider Yari Montella feels the Dutch WorldSBK was his “best weekend” despite not being on the podium.

Montella’s results were fairly underwhelming for the most part at the Dutch World Superbike round: 12th in Superpole, 11th in Race 1, and eighth in the Superpole race before a more encouraging fifth in Race 2.

This compares with his Australian Round that saw him on the front row in Superpole and on the podium in Race 1.

But Montella was pleased with his weekend in the Netherlands because of the way he worked through it.

 “It was a good weekend, overall, and a good Sunday because we build our Sunday from the Superpole Race that the target was to catch the top-nine to improve the Race 2 [grid position],” Yari Montella told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 at Assen.

“At the end, it was our target. 

“In Race 2 I started to overtake some riders and then when I was free I started to ride, I felt really good with the bike and I started to catch Alvaro [Bautista]. 

“At the end, I tried to stay with him and to overtake him for fourth, but I can’t because I struggled a little bit with the front tyre. 

“But anyway, a good weekend – I think the best weekend, if you saw from Friday to today how I improved, so happy about that.”

The Assen weekend was also a good one for the Barni team, since Alvaro Bautista was fourth in all three races.

When Montella was closing in on his teammate in Race 2, the nerves were high in the team, Montella said.

“Barni [Marco Barnabo], I saw him after the race and he was with a heart attack,” the Italian laughed.

“So, I think he enjoyed. At the end, was a bit nervous, but he enjoyed. 

“So, happy for him, happy for the team because we are a private team but we worked so hard, me at home and the team also at home, with the bike, with everything. We try to make everything at our 110 per cent, so it’s important for us to put two bikes in the top-five in Superbike.”