MANFREDI DOMINATES THE COMEBACK AT MISANO
- Jul 27
- 3 min read
Misano Adriatico hosted the fourth round of the Italian Speed Championship, featuring the most anticipated event of the season: Racing Night.
Year after year, this race draws an ever-growing crowd, offering the unique thrill of watching Race 1 on Saturday evening at 9:40 PM, with the pack of riders racing down the track illuminated by the headlights of their motorcycles.
For Kevin, it was an uphill weekend, partially compromised by some technical issues that disrupted his entire work schedule. However, determination, commitment, and professionalism made the difference, allowing him to complete two incredible comebacks and once again bring the Atomico Racing Team's Ducati V4 into the top 10 in both races.
From the first free practice sessions, where he finished 12th and 11th, and then in the two qualifying sessions, where he finished 15th and 16th, the La Spezia-born rider struggled to find the right feeling with the bike, unable to express the speed he expected.
A small improvement came in the second qualifying session on Saturday morning, where Kevin improved his time by almost six tenths, but it wasn't enough to rejoin the top positions, relegating him to 18th on the starting grid.
After the second qualifying session, following a lengthy briefing with the technicians and the team, it was decided to make drastic changes to the bike, modifying some aspects that were compromising the riding experience. This decision proved to be a winning one right from Race 1, where everything finally began to work as expected.
Kevin: “It was a complicated weekend. Our expectations, after two sixth-place finishes, a fifth, and a second-place finish, were certainly not what they had been at the start of the weekend: during all the sessions, problems emerged that we had never encountered in the first two races of the season, compromising much of the weekend.
Fortunately, after Qualifying 2 on Saturday, we analyzed the situation in even more detail and decided to revolutionize our V4 in some respects. These changes proved effective, and in Race 1 I finally got back to feeling the bike as I was.
In Race 1, I started from 18th place and completed a great comeback that took me to 10th place, with a top-5 pace.
In Race 2, on Sunday, we thought we could replicate Saturday's performance; instead, a few minutes before the start, a mechanical problem suddenly emerged, forcing us not to line up on the grid, forcing me to start from pit lane.
At the first corner, I was last out of 31 riders. Participants, but I felt good on the bike and, lap after lap, I managed to catch up and overtake my opponents, securing an excellent 8th place finish.
There's a bit of disappointment, because we demonstrated in both races that we had the lap pace to stay in the top 5. We have great potential, which, unfortunately, we were unable to exploit too late this weekend.”
Kevin Manfredi leaves Misano with two new top 10 finishes and 7th place in the championship standings.
Now the La Spezia-born rider enters the month of August, a period of break and training essential to recharge his batteries for the final part of the season. His return to the track brings great challenges: first, the legendary 24 Hours of Bol d'Or, the final round of the Endurance World Championship, scheduled for September 19-20, and then the CIV grand finale in Vallelunga, scheduled for October 10-11.
Kevin thanks all the sponsors and technical partners of the 2026 season.
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