During the third WSK Super Master Series event in Muro Leccese, the local idol Alex Irlando struggled with a bad backache.
It was his home race, but the pain won out him. Alex Irlando started the weekend in perfect shape with the third time in qualifying, 2 tenths slower than Paolo De Conto. On Saturday climatic conditions changed significantly: the weather got blustery and Alex’s set-up was no longer perfect. He took home a fourth and a fifth in the first two heats, trying to find the perfect balance. Before the start of the third and last manche, during the warm-up lap, Alessandro Giardelli hit him benting his rear axle and preventing him to start the race.
This pushed Alex down into the overall classification after heats: 14th on grid for the prefinal. After the warm-up in the morning, he started suffering a bad backache. After the prefinal, finished in 7th, Alex felt a lot of pain. In the final he started behind his teammate Anthony Abbasse, who closed the door to the Apulian driver in the last corner before the main straight during the first lap. The following lap Alex got the better of him and started chasing Riccardo Longhi, who defended his position for three laps. Alex’s pace was good and he recovered up to 4th ahead of his former teammate Bas Lammers. Unfortunately, after few laps, his back was causing him too much pain and it slowed him down forcing him to 7th.
“It’s a shame, I finally found the right set up during the prefinal. My speed was really good, but my back caused me a lot of pain and in the final race I wasn’t concentrated enough to race. I was almost crying in my helmet… I need to recover from this injury as soon as possible, I will fight against Paolo in Sarno for the title.”
Alex is now second in the championship behind Paolo De Conto and they will fight for the championship in the last two rounds in Sarno. Here are full results.
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