Imola sees Luke P15 in World Supersport – now fifth overall in the WorldSSP Challenge

Scorching temperatures of almost forty degrees did not slow Aussie teen Luke Power this past weekend at Imola, Italy, in the latest round of the FIM Supersport World Championship.

The #68 Motozoo ME AIR Kawasaki rider quickly learned the undulating and technical track on Friday improving his lap time significantly in the second free practice session before a series of yellow flags and a red flag prevented his fastest lap in Superpole from being counted.

Saturday’s opening race saw Luke immediately gain places and after an intense seventeen lap race he crossed the line nineteenth to secure his best result of the season and his first world championship top twenty finish.

Another step-in terms of pace in Sunday morning’s warm up was a confidence boost ahead of race two which began with an air temperature more than thirty-eight degrees! Again, gaining places off the start Luke was soon battling for the top twenty and as the race entered its final third, he was running eighteenth. As the temperatures continued to rise Luke’s times remained constant and after posting a best lap faster than he had qualified he crossed the line to take a well-earned first world championship point in fifteenth.

The result is impressive given the fact that it was only the fifth #WorldSSP event of his career, and he had never raced in such hot and humid conditions. He moves on to the next round of the series at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic in a fortnight.

Luke now sits P5 in the 2023 FIM WorldSSP Challenge.

Luke Power:

“I am really happy with how things went at Imola, the team’s home race. It started a little slower than I had expected but we worked hard and made good steps throughout the weekend. I achieved my first top twenty finish of the season on Saturday and in Sunday’s race was able to lap faster than I did in Superpole despite the extremely hot weather conditions and was able to score my first world championship point. It was the hottest weekend of my life but to bring home a point for me and the Motozoo ME AIR is satisfying, and I am proud of what we achieved. The next race is at Most Autodrom at the end of the month, and I am looking forward to carrying this momentum to the Czech Republic.”