Yari Montella produced one of the most dramatic moments of the Estoril WorldSBK weekend before his Saturday became increasingly frustrating. During FP3, the Barni Ducati rider lost the front of his motorcycle at Turn 1, recovered it, and then had to deal with the rear stepping out as well. The Ducati’s tail moved from one loss of grip to another while Montella worked to keep the bike underneath him, turning what could have been a heavy crash into an extraordinary save.

Montella later called the incident “the video of the year”. He said it looked even more spectacular on television than it had from the seat because the slow-motion replay showed every movement of the motorcycle. At the same time, he described the moment as enjoyable in its own way: he had been pushing while trying to understand how the tyres behaved over repeated laps, and the recovery ultimately left him standing rather than in the gravel.

A front-end save followed by a rear slide

The problem began when Montella reached the first corner carrying more speed than normal. He knew he was slightly faster as he approached the turn-in point, but believed he could still make the corner and committed to the entry. Heavy braking then caused the front to fold. He managed to recover it, only for the rear to begin losing grip immediately afterwards.

That second phase was particularly alarming because Montella feared the rear would suddenly regain grip and launch him from the Ducati. His own description was that he felt “f***ed” in that instant, but a sequence of corrections brought the bike back under control. The save was the high point of a day that ended with sixth place in qualifying and eighth in Race 1 after contact with Lorenzo Baldassarri.

The Superpole lap that never happened

Montella’s qualifying session was affected by a problem during his second run. He returned to the pits, the damaged part was replaced, and Barni Ducati sent him back out for one final attempt. There was not enough time, however: he crossed the line only a few seconds after the chequered flag had fallen on his out-lap, so he never set a time on that second run.

Montella was also unsure whether the extra attempt would have changed his grid position. Estoril was giving the SCQ qualifying tyre an unusually short performance window. In his assessment, the tyre offered all of its available grip for one lap, while the drop-off began on the second. That made the timing of the run crucial, and meant that simply getting back on track did not guarantee another competitive lap.

Tyre caution cost positions in Race 1

The rear tyre influenced Montella’s race from the opening laps. During FP2, the team had seen too much wear from the rear, so he started Race 1 with the concern that an aggressive approach would destroy the tyre. He deliberately rode smoothly while other riders pushed harder, but later judged that he had overreacted. By the time he changed his approach, he had already lost a significant number of positions.

Contact with Baldassarri then removed the Ducati’s aerodynamic wings and cost Montella more places. Without them, his braking references changed, and he ran wide at the first turn while adapting to the altered behaviour of the motorcycle. He made another mistake in that corner, but continued to build his race step by step and recovered some positions before the finish. Eighth place was still well short of what he wanted from the day.

Montella said Barni Ducati is third in the championship and that the team’s ambitions extend beyond a single podium. His priority for the following race is to adopt a more attacking approach without going too far, while keeping an eye on the direct rivals. The Estoril weekend therefore left two contrasting impressions: an exceptional piece of bike control in FP3, followed by a result shaped by a qualifying interruption, tyre concerns and the consequences of contact.