Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Eurospeedway/Lausitzring

Lausitz, Germany

September 16, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:37.449

2. Markus REITERBERGER, Germany (BMW S1000RR), 1:37.483

3. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.557

4. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), 1:37.656

5. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:37.713

6. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Yam YZF-R1), 1:37.753

7. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:37.805, crash

8. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta 1000 F4), 1:37.809

9. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), 1:37.868

10. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.996

11. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:38.002

12. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:38.356

13. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:38.575

14. Anthony WEST, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.790

15. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:39.037

16. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Duc Panigale R), 1:40.031

17. Pawel SZKOPEK, Poland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:40.060

18. Josh BROOKES, Australia (BMW S1000RR), 1:40.336, crash

19. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:40.362

20. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (BMW S1000RR), 1:40.618

21. Gianluca VIZZIELLO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:40.924

22. Peter SEBESTYEN, Hungary (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:41.543

23. Dominic SCHMITTER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:41.602, crash

24. Saeed AL SULAITI, Qatar (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:42.294

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Motors Europe:

KRT Riders Return To Action At The Lausitzring

Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea ended their first day of practice at Lausitzring in third and 11th places respectively, after a tight opening day of qualifying at the 4.265km circuit in Germany. Sykes has already qualified into Saturday’s Superpole 2 while Rea has to finish first or second in Superpole 1 to join Sykes in Superpole 2.

The first day of track action at Lausitzring proved to be tough and competitive from the start and was held in warm and dry conditions. Not present on the WorldSBK calendar for almost a decade, Lausitzring proved a tough challenge for all on day one, leading to some unusual results in the overall timesheets.

With no full test sessions on their Ninja ZX-10R machines at Lausitz in the summer months, just some track time on street or lightly modified street machines, much of today was taken up by finding optimum gearing and race pace on the full WorldSBK machinery. Tom and Jonathan competed for their best early lap times on a track surface that has proved to be bumpy in places.

Sykes improved his pace at the end of the second hour of free practice to go third overall. He was just 0.108 seconds from the best time. One optimum lap was enough to put him into the leading mix on the time sheets and he now looks to extend his win tally for the season, starting on Saturday.

Despite being only 0.547 seconds from the top Friday qualifying time championship leader Rea finished up 11th, leaving him one extra Superpole session to complete before going for his final grid position in Superpole 2.

Soon after Superpole Tom, Jonathan and all their peers will be taking on the challenge of race one on Saturday afternoon, with race two following on Sunday – as per the 2016 weekend schedule. Jonathan has scored eight race wins so far this year and Tom five.

Tom Sykes, stated: “We have made so many changes today. We had a test here on a standard Ninja ZX-10R, which was useful in a way, but as soon as I jumped on the racebike this morning the circuit was so much different. That said, in some ways it was easier than I expected on the racebike. I struggled at times to find speed this morning but in the end we found something and we have to be happy with the set-up we have. It is great how close and competitive the field is today. I feel we are quite fast and quite consistent, and I am looking forward to tomorrow. Unfortunately it looks like we have some bad weather approaching. If that is the case we will start again with set-up tomorrow in the wet. We already have good feeling in the dry, so we will be ready for the races.”

Jonathan Rea, stated: “It is not an ideal position to start the weekend from because it makes it more difficult tomorrow, having to go through Superpole 1 first, but it is how it is. I did not have the best feeling when I got here and the bike is not turning so well in the long corners. We have tried some things but I do not think this position is a true reflection of our overall race speed. I feel quite comfortable and we just need to find some improvements in turning to be right at the front. I am half a second off the front and in 11th position. It looks like it will be a competitive weekend, which is good. There should be a lot of people in the mix. Tonight, when we have more time to understand our data and my comments, we can make some positive changes to be ready for tomorrow.”

Behind the leading two Ninja ZX-10R riders in the field today, Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) was 14th and Roman Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) 19th. Gianluca Vizziello (Grillini Racing Team) placed 21st, Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Kawasaki) 23rd and Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team) was 24th.

More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:

EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Davide Giugliano is 13th

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team resumed action at EuroSpeedway Lausitz (Germany) for the 10th round of the WorldSBK Championship. At the end of the first two free-practice sessions on the German track, the only novelty in the 2016 calendar, Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano sit in 4th (+0.207) and 13th (+1.126) position respectively in the combined rankings.

In mild climatic conditions (with temperatures around 25 degrees) Davies gained direct access to Superpole 2, improving his lap times by about seven tenths of a second and missing provisional first row by only 0.099 seconds while posting the fastest ideal time. Giugliano, on the other hand, encountered some unexpected difficulties and, also due to particularly narrow gaps in the time sheets (with only four tenths of a second separating the 10 fastest riders) and some traffic encountered during his last exit on new tyres, will take part in Superpole 1.

Both riders will be back on track at 08:45 local time (CET) tomorrow for the third and last free-practice session. Race 1 is scheduled for 13:00.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) 4th

“This morning, we started off a bit cautiously because I had a few issues with my back the last time I rode and I wanted to make sure everything was OK. Then, we got back into it and managed to make a good progression. The tests here were useful because it’s not easy to find your way around the bumps. The end of FP2 was a bit busy, everybody was looking for someone to follow and I couldn’t get a ‘clean’ lap but I’m reasonably happy with our setup and pace on race tyres.”

Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) 13th

“Today proved to be more difficult than what we expected. The Lausitz track is quite peculiar, both in terms of the layout and tarmac conditions. Despite the tests done here, we’ve encountered some issues with the overall balance of the bike. We’re looking at the data to bring out once again our strong suits, which allowed us to make a difference many times in the past. Tomorrow the weather could change and, given also our competitiveness in the rain, things could turn into our favor.”

More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing BMW:

The Althea BMW riders make a great start to the race weekend at home track Lausitzring

Klettwitz (Germany), Friday 16 September 2016

After what has been almost a two-month break, the Althea BMW Racing team was back on track today for round ten of the Superbike World championship. The SBK circus is back at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz for the first time in nine years, and the Althea BMW squad, back to full ranks with riders Jordi Torres, Markus Reiterberger and Raffaele de Rosa, enjoyed a very good first day on track.

SBK riders Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger completed the day’s two timed practice sessions with very positive results. Jordi immediately proved to be at ease on the German track. Lapping with consistently fast times this morning, the Spaniard set his best in the final minutes of the session, with an extremely impressive 1’37.775 that saw him top the timesheets at the end of first practice.

Reiterberger, having now recovered from the compression fracture to his D12 vertebra that forced him to miss the Laguna Seca round, took things slowly in session one, working to regain feeling with his BMW S 1000 RR. He nevertheless finished in seventh place, with a time of 1’38.309.

Later in the afternoon, in the second practice, both Torres and Reiti continued the set-up work on their BMWs. Markus again worked systematically throughout the afternoon, improving by almost a second on his earlier time thanks to an excellent lap that he put together in the final seconds of the session that saw him move up into second place with a time of 1’37.483. Unfortunately, Jordi was not able to lower his earlier fast time but was nevertheless lying seventh at the end of the session thanks to his best time of the morning.

In the Stock1000 category, Althea BMW representative Raffaele De Rosa put together two solid sessions.

During the morning he focused on bike set-up together with his technicians, closing third (1’40.035).

The afternoon session saw him turn his attention to lap times, gradually lowering his times and taking a full second off his morning’s best to set a 1’39.020. Thanks to this time, Raffaele secured third position at the end of day one.

Markus Reiterberger:

“It’s nice to be back with the team and on track again. In the first practice I tried to get back into the swing of things and was seventh in that session, after which we did some work on the suspension and electronics. We also worked on the race pace which was all OK but we have more work to do tomorrow. At the end of the afternoon session we took the softer tyre, as did a number of riders, with which we were able to make a good lap and set a fast time. That’s just one lap though, and we need to focus on race distance, but I think if we continue like this we can make two good races – I just hope the weather cooperates. I also want to thank everyone who has helped me during my recovery.”

Jordi Torres:

“We started out well this morning, immediately finding good feeling, also thanks to the fact we recently tested here I think. In the afternoon we worked on a couple of technical aspects, to see if we could improve in particular areas. We also tried a different tyre but unfortunately this left us with some chattering and so we had to work to resolve that, which took a little time. My final exit went quite well, and it looks like we’ve solved the chattering issue, but I made a few mistakes and so unfortunately I couldn’t improve on my time. Anyway the important thing is that we start tomorrow with good feeling.”

More, from a press release issued by Honda WorldSBK Team:

Productive opening day for the Honda WorldSBK Team in Germany

Round 10 – Germany

Lausitzring, Germany

The Honda WorldSBK Team has completed the first day of action for the German Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship, with both riders able to qualify directly to tomorrow’s Superpole 2 at the Lausitzring. Nicky Hayden was fifth in the combined times of the first two free practice sessions, while his team mate Michael van der Mark rounded out the top 10.

The two Honda standard bearers made good use of the two-day test – performed last month at the same track – as they were able to turn their attention more on race pace and tyre evaluation. Great weather conditions allowed both riders to put in a considerable amount of laps and, as the second session went underway, the battle for the fastest lap heated up. An ultra-close FP2 ended up with the top 10 covered by 0.478s.

The tenth-round Superpole 2 will begin tomorrow at 10:55, with race one scheduled at 13:00 local time (GMT+2).

Nicky Hayden 69

5th / 1’37.713

It’s nice to be back on the bike and with the team! The day has been fairly productive; we haven’t had to make too many changes, just running with what we got. We tried a couple of different tyres to understand which one is better for the race. So far so good, although I wasn’t as consistent as I would have liked to be: I made a couple of mistakes under braking. At this track, braking is really crucial because that’s where you make your lap time. The track is quite bumpy so it’s easy to make a mistake, but at least the bumps are always in the same place, not like dirt track – where they move from lap to lap and from heat to main. I need to smooth out a bit, get my braking under control and go for it tomorrow.

Michael van der Mark 60

10th / 1’37.927

We started really well this morning: our speed was good from the first moment we went out on track. For this afternoon, we decided to play a little bit with the setup but in the end we couldn’t find a big improvement. Our pace on the distance is really good, but we need to find some more speed on the single lap and – most of all – some more grip for tomorrow. Luckily enough we made it through for Superpole 2 and that’s probably the best thing that could have happened today. We’re not too far from the top and I’m sure that, with some tweaks to our Fireblade, we will be able to go a bit quicker tomorrow.

Pieter Breddels

Technical Manager

What we did today was basically to start with the base setup we found last month here and build from there with some fine tuning. No major changes then, just some tweaks especially with regards to suspensions. It took a little bit more time than usual for Nicky to get up to speed but with 20 minutes to go during FP2 he was able to take the lead. He was then passed towards the end of the session by some riders but overall his performance has been very positive. Michael was really quick straight out of the box in both sessions. His race pace is really good but unfortunately he wasn’t able to put everything together on the single lap and, in the end, he had a small problem with the bike. Still, he is in Superpole 2 and that’s really good news. His tenth position doesn’t tell much of his potential, which is much higher.

More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta Reparto Corse:

TOP 10 FOR CAMIER ON OPENING DAY AT EUROSPEEDWAY. CLUZEL MISS THE TOP 3 IN WORLDSSP FOR ONE POSITION 

16 SETTEMBRE 2016

After the long summer break, Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse is finally back on track at the EuroSpeedway circuit, in Germany, for the 10th round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.

WorldSBK FP1-FP2

Leon Camier had rode at the EuroSpeedway circuit only during the test in July, but thanks to the long experience and the excellent feeling with his MV Agusta F4 RC machine, the British rider has quickly adapted to the new circuit, finishing in 3rd position after the FP1 session with a 1’37.914 lap time. In the second and final session, Leon stopped the crono at 1’37.809, qualifying in 9th position at only 0,360s from the first.

Leon Camier is currently 8th in Championship Standings and tomorrow will be back on track for the Superpole 2 (10:55) and for the first race of this WorldSBK German Round (13.00).

WorldSSP FP1-FP2

Despite a difficult start in FP2 due to a problem with the oil radiator, Jules Cluzel was able to bring his MV Agusta F3 675 in 4th position, less than 1 second from the top rider, entering the tomorrow’s Superpole2 session. Cluzel’s teammate Lorenzo Zanetti finished the FP2 with a 1’42.531 lap time, ending up 13th, ready to comeback from the Superpole1.

Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – Second session didn’t really go as planned, we had a little problem at the bike setting but at the end of the session we understood what was wrong. If the rest of the weekend will be dry, we can start from when we left this morning and we can surely show something good

Jules Cluzel #16 WorldSSP – We had a problem at the oil radiator that made us waste most of the session, and this influenced a lot my performance. I’m quite satisfied since in the end I had the chance to ride a single lap with the new tyre and despite this I was able to finish 4th. I’m sure if I had had the chance to ride some more laps with that tyre I would have done even better.

Lorenzo Zanetti #87 WorldSSP – We started with some difficulties this morning but we are working hard to close the gap with the top 10. I missed the Superpole2 by a whisker and tomorrow I am going to give my best to get a good grid position.

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

Lausitzring: Day 1

Savadori Heads The Charge

– The rookie leads the way to Tissot-Superole 2 shoot out –

Savadori shows his potential

WorldSBK rookie Lorenzo Savadori (IodaRacing Team) gave a glimpse of what could come ahead of the weekend’s races, by topping the timesheets on Friday afternoon at the Pirelli German Round. Local hero and Althea BMW Racing Team rider Markus Reiterberger made a solid comeback from injury to come home in second position, while Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes put in a strong lap to round out the top three.

“I’m happy because it’s the first time I’ve been to this track”, said Savadori after topping the timesheets. “It’s difficult to make an objective for the race because I don’t know the track that well, I still hope to improve my feeling with the track and with the bike for tomorrow.”

The pressure is on for German Reiterberger, as not only is it his home race, but his first weekend back from injury. “Overall I’m very happy to be back on my Superbike”, said Reiterberger after the first day. “For sure the pressure is high with everyone here but i enjoy it a lot. I try to focus for the race. I just want to finish the race in a good way.”

“I struggled to find speed all day”, said Sykes after a tough session. “In the end we found something and I think we have to be happy with the setup we have. I feel that we’re quite fast and consist so I’m really looking forward to the weekend.”

Lausitzring proved to be a challenge for the field in both practice sessions with riders falling victim to notorious turns 6 and 12. The session was red-flagged with 21 minutes to go because of debris left on the track after Josh Brookes slid out at speed on turn 12, damaging his Milwaukee BMW. Thankfully the Australian was able to walk away unscathed.

Meanwhile, Aruba.it Racing-Ducati’s Chaz Davies stayed consistent over the day to come home in fourth ahead of Kentucky Kid Nicky Hayden in fifth, for the Honda World Superbike team. Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team’s Sylvain Guintoli indicated he’s back in action after finishing in sixth position in the combined times and comfortably graduated to Tissot-Superpole 2.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) once again proved to be a solid contender ahead of the weekend’s races by leading for most of the second session in the combined times, before being knocked out of the top spot to finally come home in seventh.

Recently turned 26 year old Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) was an early victim of the bumps at turn 6, having suffered a crash midway through the session but still finished eighth in the combined standings. MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Leon Camier – one of the only riders who didn’t test at the Lausitzring over the summer – brought his MV Agusta home in ninth, proving that rider talent will play a big role in qualifying and the races at the new circuit. Honda World Superbike Team’s Michael van der Mark put in a solid effort to round out the top ten and automatically graduate to Tissot-Superpole 2 on Saturday morning.

Reigning Champion Jonathan Rea struggled throughout the session and was knocked out of the top ten to finish in 11th. This is the first time the Northern Irishman has finished Friday outside of the top ten this season.

The Top Ten will be back in action on Saturday morning at 10:30am local time (GMT+2) for the Tissot-Superpole 2 shoot out.

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:

Strong Return Sees Guintoli in German Top Six

Free practice

Sylvain Guintoli returned to the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with a strong performance aboard his YZF-R1 across Friday’s free practices, concluding the opening day at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz sixth in the combined times. His Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK teammate Alex Lowes also shone in the German round’s opening session, claiming second after the first hour, before finishing eighth at the close of play to ensure both riders are through to Saturday’s second Superpole qualifier.

Thoroughly enjoying being back on his Yamaha Superbike after a five-month intermission due to injury, Guintoli initially began his comeback session with caution. Familiarising himself with the 2016 calendar’s new circuit while he reacquainted with his race bike, the Frenchman was comfortably inside the top ten after Friday’s morning practice. Continuing to impress as the times improved, the 34-year-old dropped six-tenths in the mid-afternoon session, sitting second in the closing minutes to conclude the day sixth overall with a 1’37.753.

Proving his recent demanding schedule has done nothing but lift his performance levels, Lowes immediately got up-to-speed at the Brandenburg circuit. Topping the times at the morning’s mid-point with a 1’37.872 he circulated with consistent pace for the remainder of the session to sit second after the first hour. Returning to the track as the afternoon heat peaked at 26°C, the Briton quickly improved again, setting a 1’37.805 on his fourth revolution to retain position before a mistake at turn-six called time early. However, with the fastest 12 riders all within a second, Lowes’ efforts remained enough to keep him firmly inside the top-ten and confident there is more to come tomorrow.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team return to the Lausitzring for the final free practice session at 08:45 local time ahead of Saturday’s Superpole 2 at 10:55 and the opening race of the German WorldSBK weekend at 13:00.

Sylvain Guintoli

6th / 1?37.753 / 44 laps

“I’ve really enjoyed getting back on the YZF-R1 today. Five months is a long time to wait between racing and I’ve really missed it. It’s been a positive, solid, first day, my feeling was good on the bike and I’m learning the track quickly – and to be straight into Superpole 2 on my return is great! The test here helped us with track knowledge but it was more of a shakedown for me as my first time back on the race bike. However, today I really pushed myself with the lap-times and everything is working well. I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend, but we will just have to see what the weather does tomorrow.”

 Alex Lowes

8th / 1?37.805 / 33 laps

“I really enjoyed being back on the Superbike today but I’m really disappointed with the second session. I made a small mistake, tucked the front, and because we can’t use the spare bike I ended up losing most of the session. I showed some really good speed, good pace and have a good feeling with the bike so I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend. If it’s dry I think I have a very strong pace but we will have to see what happens with tomorrow’s weather. I’ve enjoyed being back with the guys and I’m looking forward to the race – to lose 85% of the second session and still be in the top ten shows the pace we have so I’m happy enough.”