The rumors regarding Althea Racing would be pulling out of the Superstock champion after just two races have now been officially confirmed and we didn’t even have to wait for Friday morning.

Here’s the laconic press release from the team that cites Federico Sandi’s bad luck on the Ducati 1199 Panigale and a challenging workload that forced Genesio Bevilacqua to make this decision.

With the conclusion of the recent Assen event, Team Althea Racing and rider Federico Sandi end their brief Superstock experience. Unfortunately bad luck conditioned the first two races, foreseen as a trial period, preventing Federico from fulfilling his potential and the potential of Borgo Panigale’s new bike. The fact that there was such a short time available to prepare at the start of the season, combined with the challenges and workload that an important and complex programme such as Superstock involves, means that the Civita Castellana-based team will be unable to continue with the project for the rest of the season.

Continue reading: Althea Racing confirms World Superstock pullout

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Rumors from Italy are reporting that Genesio Bevilacqua’s World Superstock 1000 squad is withdrawing from the championship and will not be at Monza this weekend.

Federico Sandi debuted at Imola qualifying 11th, but he DNF’d in the race after coming into contact with Jeremy Guarnoni at the first turn of lap one and at Assen he suffered anengine failure sparking the rumor that the Ducati 1199 Panigale has teething issues,which is sort of strange, as Barni Racing Team Italia’s Eddi La Marra seems to be doing okay for the moment.

Sandi got his last minute ride with Althea Ducati after Effenbert Liberty decided to drop out of the STK 1000 championship prefering to field a fourth Ducati in their Superbike effort and promoting the now injured Brett McCormick.

To find out if the rumor is true, we will just have to wait until Friday morning’s practice session at Monza.

Source | motociclisti.myblog.it

http://motociclisti.myblog.it/archive/2012/04/30/stk1000-ducati-panigale-non-competitiva-si-ritira-ducati-alt.html

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When Effenbert Liberty decided to expand their World Superbike team to four riders by adding Brett McCormick to their already three rider strong line-up and shut down their Superstock effort, Federico Sandi (son of legendary crewchief Giovanni) was left without a ride.

With just a few days before the Imola round, the Italian will be returning to action having found a ride with Genesio Bevilacqua’s World Superstock team and will be riding a Ducati 1199 Panigale under the banner of Althea Racing.

For Sandi it will be a welcome return to Althea Racing team after having competed for the squad during the 2011 CIV season.

Source | motociclisti.it

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A little more than 24 hours after confirming that Brett McCormick would be riding for their Superbike team, and that “Federico Sandi remains the Effenbert Liberty Racing Team’s ace in Superstock and I am sure he will give us very good results riding the competitive Panigale 1199. Our active engagement in this direction remains intact,” Effenbert Liberty has just announced that they will be no longer be taking part in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.

“It’s a company decision and should be interpreted as to enhance the energies of Effenbert Liberty Racing Team to better support our four World Superbike riders, Sylvain Guintoli, Jakub Smrz, Maxime Berger and Brett McCormick, “said Team Owner Mario Bertuccio. “Therefore we are releasing young Federico Sandi, but to which we will give our support as we strongly believe in his promising talent. “

So there goes the Raffaele de Rosa rumor to Effenbert Liberty team… and we have to add another unemployed rider before the Imola round and Ducati will have two less 1199 Panigale’s on the Superstock grid.

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This week’s private testing at Phillip Island wasn’t only for World Superbikes, but it also included Effenbert Liberty’s Superstock team with Federico Sandi and Brett McCormick.

The two riders shared the debuting Ducati 1199 Panigale in Superstock trim under the watchful eyes of Ducati engineers. The Panigale suffered some teething problems on the first day - the engine stopped and started billowing smoke - but testing went well, despite McCormick having come down with an intestinal virus that wiped him out on the first day.

“After four months of inactivity I’m back on track and as you can guess it wasn’t easy getting back to the top, but I am happy about the lap times and the work we carried out. Despite McCormick and I having to share the only bike available, were able to take turns over the two test days,” said Sandi. “Here in Australia it was all new for me, from the Panigale which proved to be very different from the Superbike I rode last year, and the same goes for the type of tires that are very different than what I’m used to. The first impression however was positive, the bike was very fast in direction changing and precise in corner entry and with a very performing engine. I focused most of my attention in finding the right set-up that will allows us to be as fast as our our rivals. ”

Unofficially Sandi’s best lap was 1.37.8 while McCormick set a 1.38.2.

Three teams will be using the 1199 Panigale this season in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup: Effenbert Liberty Racing, DMC Racing with Kev Coghlan and Alexey Ivanov, Barni Racing Team with Lorenzo Savadori and Eddi La Marra at the helm.

Source | motoblog.it

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Effenbert Liberty has decided to add another rider to their Superstock line-up. Team owner Dr. Mario Bertuccio and Superstock Team Manager Natale Egi have decided on CIV rider Federico Sandi.

If the last name sounds familiar it’s because Sandi is Max Biaggi’s former crew chief Giovanni Sandi’s son, and according to gossip the reason why Sandi left Aprilia in a huff after the Italian manufacturer refused to give his kid an RSV4. Sandi also tested Grillini’s Gapam CRT bike at Valencia.

Sandi spent a season riding in the Italian CIV championship with Althea Ducati Team, where he finished third overall and won a race in Vallelunga. He also has experience from participation in the World SBK Championship in Superstock FIM Cup in 2009 on an Aprilia and has taken up the challenge to race as a wild card rider on several occasions in Superbike Championship in 2010 and 2011. Last, but not the least, the eager youngster has raced in 125cc and 250cc classes in Moto GP world championship from 2005 until 2008.

Continue reading: Federico Sandi joins Effenbert Liberty's Superstock team

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This weekend’s World Superbike round at Imola, will be bolstered by three more riders on the grid coming from Italy’s Superbike Championship (CIV) and all three ride Ducati’s.

Federico Sandi (Max Biaggi’s crewchief’s son) who rides full time for Althea Racing in the Italian series this year after switching from Gabrielli Racing with an Aprilia (they wildcarded last year at Monza), and Ducati Barni Racing team’s Matteo Baiocco and Alex Polita.

Baiocco and Polita have already wildcarded this year in World Superbikes. Baiocco took part in the Misano (12th and a DNF) Brno rounds (DNF and DNF), while Polita only at the Italian double header (13th and DNF).

Baiocco currently leads in the CIV Superbike championship with 145 points while team mate Alex Polita is second with 129 and with one race left on the calendar

Source | bikeracing.it

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Aprilia is set to take part in this year’s edition of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup with a factory team. The Italian manufacturer, which has just returned to Superbike after a six-year absence, will be tackling the highly-competitive Superstock championship for the first time.

The Superstock version of the RSV4 machine will be run by the JiR team, which raced in MotoGP for a number of years with Honda RC211Vs. Aprilia and JiR will have two ambitious young riders within their ranks: 19 year-old Federico Sandi, and 20-year Federico Biaggi.

Sandi already has some international racing experience behind him having taken part in the 125GP and 250GP Road Racing championships for a few seasons.

Continue reading: Aprilia to take part in Superstock 1000 FIM Cup

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