Superstock 600 Champions Feature
Using the class-leading Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, the Team San Carlo Italia squad scored their second successive championship win in the hotly contested Superstock 600 European championship class at the Spanish circuit of Jerez last weekend.
With only one round to spare, and after five wins in six races already this season, Marco Faccani was crowned European Champion, just like Franco Morbidelli was last year, on the same model of Ninja machine and with the same team.
Faccani from Ravenna took his Kawasaki, expertly prepared by Puccetti Racing, to the title after only his sixth ever Stock 600 race, with no blemishes on his finishing record since he started where Morbidelli left off as champion last year.
A latest start-to-finish win at Jerez, despite constant pressure from the chasing pack, showed just how well the very stock Kawasaki 600 works with only a few modifications for race use.
For Faccani winning the race at Jerez was the culmination of a plan that began back in Motorland Aragon at the first round in April. He won that race, and others at Imola, Misano, Portimao and now Jerez.
“Jerez was perhaps the most difficult race of the season, very tight, with competitive times and always with Federico Caricasulo close behind. It has not been easy, but I wanted to win the race and with it the championship. We did it and I am so happy, you could not ask for more. I would like to thank the whole team for this wonderful season. Now we go to Magny-Cours for fun at the final round.”
Himself a racer of great talent, Cristiano Migliorati, now the Sports Director of Team San Carlo Italia, was full of praise for not only this year’s achievements, but also the results for the team in recent Kawasaki-equipped seasons as well. “After such a day, we can be nothing but excited about what we were able to realise. In the last 16 races, with three different riders, Team Italia has won 10 races – but no rider has surprised me so much as Marco Faccani. He is accurate, fast all year and has never crashed. He also always gives the impression of having more margin to spare.”
Faccani is the latest in a line of riders to win races on the Ninja ZX-6R in recent seasons. American Josh Day (Racedays Kawasaki) won two races on the latest model machine in 2011, Franco Morbidelli (2), Alessandro Nocco (3) and Christian Gamarino (1, for the Team Go Eleven Kawasaki Team) all won races last season on their Ninja ZX-6R machines. Faccani has aced them all, with five so far this year alone.
Will there be another win for Faccani at the final round in a month’s time?
Or will his team-mate Andrea Tucci step?
Or maybe any one of the ten or more riders in the Stock 600 entry who rely on Ninja power?
Only the last race of the season at Magny Cours in early October will tell.
