Luke bounces back with WorldSSP Challenge Top 3 finish after being taken out in race one

The 2024 FIM Supersport World Championship resumed at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” this past weekend and Luke Power once again put in a strong performance aboard his ME AIR Motozoo MV Agusta, racing to another top three in the WorldSSP Challenge.

A challenging opening day saw the #68 crash without serious injury early on in Superpole after a technical glitch in Free Practice limited his time on track.

Confident for both races Luke made an excellent start in Saturday’s opening race, passing more than six riders in the opening two laps alone. Unfortunately, he was taken out by another rider, who to his credit publicly apologised on social media after also doing so in the gravel trap.

Sunday was a new day and Luke concluded morning Warm Up by setting his fastest lap of the weekend and when the lights went out at the start of race two, he made another impressive opening couple of laps. Fighting his way through the pack he was soon inside the top twenty with a potential top fifteen finish in his sights when the race was stopped due to an on-track incident.

Third overall in the WorldSSP Challenge and race pace that gives confidence for the remaining races was a satisfying way to end the #EmiliaRomagnaWorldSBK round in Italy.

Luke remains inside the top three overall in the championship after technical issues and crashes ruled out his main rivals in both races!

The next round of the series takes place at Donington Park in the UK in early July.

Luke Power

“It was a positive end to the weekend in Misano, the team’s home race after a challenging start on Friday. We had a small problem in FP1 which stopped me from getting any real laps in and a mistake on my behalf in Superpole, which resulted in a crash, and put me on the back foot. The team and I worked hard to find a setting to allow me to fight in the first race. It was good and I had made up six or seven positions in the first lap and was feeling good with a good pace when at the start of the fourth lap I was taken out. It’s unfortunate, these things can happen, and we have to put it down to bad luck. The rider who caused the crash apologised which I accept, and we put it behind us and focused on salvaging something on Sunday. The objective for race two was to finish, collect some data and rebuild a bit of confidence which we did. I was aggressive, gained positions in the early laps, as I had done on Saturday and improved on some things that I have historically struggled with in the past. We had two solid starts and fast first laps but given the circumstances to finish just outside the points in race two was the best we could have achieved. Now it’s time to rest a little, heal up and come back like we did in the opening two rounds when we race at Donington Park. I want to thank everyone in my corner, my team for rebuilding the bike twice after two big crashes, my manager for all the work he is doing behind the scenes, my mum and dad, all my supporters and the fans this weekend. The atmosphere trackside was insane, and I cannot wait to get going again in the UK which is like a home race for me.”