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Yari Montella (3rd) on Axel Bassani who crashed: Knows how agonising it is

Yari Montella finished 3rd in the second main race of the Superbike World Championship in Misano. How a botched start threw his strategy overboard and why he could sympathise with Axel Bassani.

Superbike WC

14.06.2026 - 18:30

This article is an automatically generated English version. The original article was published in German.

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Before the start of the season, critical voices dominated, but the World Championship rounds so far have shown that the rule changes are delivering exactly what was hoped for: excitement right up to the final lap.

Yari Montella was clearly the third force behind the two Aruba Ducati riders Nicolo Bulega and Iker Lecuona at the Superbike event in Misano. He finished third in both Race 1 and the Superpole race and was also third in the second main race on Sunday afternoon, but this time he was a little lucky to finish on the podium.

Montella started the 21-lap race from third position. He was taken by surprise at the start by Bimota rider Axel Bassani. Montella turned into the first corner in fourth place and then followed Bassani for 17 laps without being able to make a serious overtaking manoeuvre. The two Ducati factory riders pulled away at the front. Five laps before the end, Bassani crashed over the front wheel in turn 8, Montella inherited third place, after which the Barni Ducati rider only had to ride home the podium, crossing the finish line 14 seconds behind Bulega.

"It was a tough race, which is why I'm a little tired," smiled the Italian in the media round afterwards. "I messed up the start. Axel overtook me, he blocked the line. Then I had a contact with Alex Lowes. From then on it was a different race. It was then all about closing the gap. I pushed the whole race and tried to catch Axel. When I was in his slipstream, the temperature of my front tyre went up. It was impossible for me to make an overtaking manoeuvre."

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Yari Montella fand keinen Weg vorbei an Axel Bassani
© Gold & Goose

"I prepared myself in my head to finish third. I tried to put pressure on Axel and drive him into a mistake," Montella continued. "I don't know if it worked or if I was just lucky. In the end he crashed. I'm very sorry for him because I know what it means to crash at a home race when you're fighting for a podium. However, I'm happy to have finished third. I hadn't planned on getting three podiums at home. I am very proud."

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Montella experienced the key moment at the start. "If I'd had a good start, it would have been a different race. Then I could have controlled the race," mused the 26-year-old. "But we have to be happy about what we have achieved. When I compare last year's Yari with today's, I can't believe it!"

In Yari Montella's first Superbike season last year, Danilo Petrucci was the leader in the Barni team, but this year is different. Montella is responsible for the results, Alvaro Bautista initially had problems, then the Spaniard suffered an injury. Has Montella changed the way he works this season? "No," he waved it off. "In the end, I don't have the pressure of being number 1 in the team. I'm just focussing on myself - to get better in terms of my riding style and my attitude. I worked on that last winter."

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