Donington Park, and the firth round of the World Superbike Championship, proved to have some mix results and fortunes for the Alstare Ducati team. Wet and windy conditions in the qualifiers made for difficult racing for everyone however the Ducati trio of Carlos Checa, Ayrton Badovini and the wildcard selection of Niccolo Canepa all finished the qualifying race the wrong side of 10th place. With just 2˚C on the track and howling wind and rain then it certainly made for very difficult conditions. That being said, the actual race itself in Derby proved to be more successful for one half of the Ducati team at least. Canepa, a wildcard choice for the Alstare Ducati team and who was on board the 1199 Panigale, finished a commanding eighth place and had a very solid race. The 25 year old Italian, who won the 2007 Superstock 1000 F.I.M. Cup, qualified in 9th place and had a very good weekend in what proved to be quite difficult racing conditions for the qualifiers but it soon improved for the actual races themselves. However, much was made of a mistake that Canepa made on the first race. After he went long mid way through the first race he ended up in 13th place and found it difficult to regain his position and never really threatened to get back into the mix. Things seemed to get even worse for the team as Carlos Checa, winner of the 2011 Superbike World Championship, pulled out after the first race citing severe shoulder pain. While, at the half way point, things were looking down and out for the Ducati team the weekend actually finished on a high.Canepa finished the second race strongly with an overtaking of Cluzel being the highlight and ended up in 8th. Ayrton Badovini, who admitted himself that he had made too many mistakes throughout the race which resulted in him losing places, suffered a crash that, fortunately, he was not hurt from however did spell an end to his time at Donington Park. Even with the disappointment of Badovini and Checa, Alstare Ducati can be pleased with Canepa's wildcard performance and the overall experience will bode well for the next race in Portimão, Portugal, next month.
