Superbike, Baldassarri: "The jump start? I can't explain it. The podium was a big deal!

If someone had told Lorenzo Baldassarri that he would step onto the podium in his debut race, he would have burst out laughing. Instead, he was the breakout rider at Phillip Island. He’s now fourth in the world standings, with the regret of a double long-lap penalty in Race 2 for a jump start.

The Go Eleven team is clearly over the moon and doting on a rider who has brought them calm and results. Of course, it’s far too early to declare victory: even Andrea Iannone shone at Phillip Island and then faded. But Balda is different. Apart from being much younger, he’s also—above all—more motivated. Andrea had already raced in MotoGP, ridden for factory teams, and become a star: for him, Superbike with Go Eleven was a fallback. For Lorenzo, though, this is the chance he’s been waiting for his whole life. The garage hadn’t seen this much enthusiasm in ages, and even the troubled Race 2 was taken with humor, though Balda doesn’t hide a certain regret.

"The jump start? Honestly, I can’t explain it, but what can you do? - Lorenzo Baldassarri tells Corsedimoto - They told me that unfortunately I moved, that I was slightly in motion when the red light was on. I watched the video a thousand times and it doesn’t seem so to me. I saw that my launch was identical to the others. There was a slight movement at 0.5 km/h, 0.25? Who knows, but whatever. Unfortunately, the race result was ruined. I put in a good performance on the edge of the top 10, whereas I could have done one on the edge of the podium—and that’s different. But that’s how it went."