Nicholas Spinelli on surprise WorldSBK win: ‘Maybe I was lucky, but I won’
Nicholas Spinelli took victory in a𓂃 wild Race 1 at ♚Assen, holding off title contenders Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista thanks to a red flag.
Nicholas Spinelli was the only rider on the grid to choose intermediate tyres on the front and rear of his Panig🔥ale V4 R.
Spinelli, who made his Superbike debut on Friday after stepping in for the injured Danilo Petrucci, then escaped at the fro🥀nt of the field.&nbsꦛp;
Heavy rain prior to the race meant a🐻 third consecutive wet session, after FP3 and Superpole were also heavily impacted by downpours just before the action got underway.
Andrea Locatelli was the only other rider to opt for the intermediate tyre, however, the Yamaha rider 𝐆chose to run a slick rear tyre.
At the front, Spinelli led at the e🍌nd of lap one before creating a gap of over 24 seconds.
It wasn’t until eight laps in that the blue skies started to create a crossover for the slick tyre runner🃏s.
Spinelli gꦦradually lost time before Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista had the Italian 🤪firmly in their sights.
But on the same lap that he would have lost the lead, aℱ red flag was brought out due to oil spilling onto the circuit, thus giving Spinelli the win as two-thirds distance was completed.
Speaking in parc ferme, an elated Spinelli said: “It’s incredible. I’m very happy because yesterday ꦑI tried the Superbike for the first time.
“When I tried it I said ‘Woah!’. This bike is incredible. Today, I did my firstꩵ ra𒊎ce and I won.
“Maybe I was lucky, but I won. I’m very happy f൲or the team and for everyone.”
While the tyre gamble ultimately paid off fo💖r Spinelli, the Italian admitted he relied upon the team for direction.
“I said w🧜ith my team that I didn’t know what the good tyre would be, so it was a team decision to go for the intermediate," said Spinelli.
"In the first laps, I rode very well♑ because I had a very big gap, up to 25 seconds, but in the latter laps, the gap got closer.
"When I saw four seconds on the last lap, I said, ‘it’s fini𓆉shed for me!’. Then I saw the red flags and for this, I’m very lucky, but this is racing.”
Barni Ducati team manager Marc Barnabo was ecstatic after Spinelli’s win saying: “We are very happy to have w🐟on this race. Obviously, ൲we are sorry that Danilo got injured and couldn't lead this race, for which he could and would have been a protagonist.
“Anyway, we are hap𒉰py because it is our first victory in the Super꧒bike World Championship.
“After Danilo got ♌injured, we had to decide whether to keep the bike off or put someone in his placeไ.
“We decided to have Spinelli, who had won the Ita✱lian Supersport with us and then for many re⛦asons we couldn't go on with him in other World Supersport seasons.
“So, we decided to give him this opportunity and to have won the race with him, who🦩 had never ridden a Superbike, and came here in really difficult conditions, it was very, very nice. Fantastic.”
