World Superbike: Jonathan Rea Continues To Set The Pace In FP2 In Portugal (Updated)

World Superbike: Jonathan Rea Continues To Set The Pace In FP2 In Portugal (Updated)

© 2017, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Autodromo Internacional Algarve

Portimao, Portugal

September 15, 2017

Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:42.621

2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:43.207

3. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), 1:43.310

4. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4 RC), 1:43.415

5. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:43.522

6. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:43.628

7. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:43.677

8. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:43.767

9. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:43.854

10. Stefan BRADL, Germany (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.957

11. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.170

12. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.462

13. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:44.592

14. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:44.632

15. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:45.111

16. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:45.284

17. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:45.775

18. Takumi TAKAHASHI, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:46.007

19. Anthony WEST, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:46.172

20. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:46.358

21. Alessandro ANDREOZZI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:46.399

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

Uphill climb for Althea BMW at Portimão

Portimão (Portugal), Friday 15 September 2017

The Althea BMW Racing team is at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve this weekend, the setting for round 10 of the 2017 Superbike world championship. After the first timed practice sessions, riders Jordi Torres and Raffaele De Rosa place eleventh and twelfth respectively, while in the Stock1000 series, Marco Faccani lies fourth after day one.

In this morning’s first timed session, and in dry and sunny conditions, Torres and De Rosa got down to work with their technicians, working to identify the ideal set-up for their S1000 RR bikes. Improving throughout the course of the 60-minute session, the Spaniard finished in eleventh place (1’45.140), the Italian fifteenth (1’45.570). Later in the day, the Althea BMW men were back out for session two. Conditions meant that were able to improve on their earlier results with Torres setting a best of 1’44.170 to finish eleventh and De Rosa closing the day in twelfth place after setting a fastest time of 1’44.462.

Meanwhile, in the Stock1000 camp, Faccani got off to a good start, placing sixth after first practice with a time of 1’46.867. The second session was interrupted by two red flags after a crash and engine failure for other riders but despite the distraction, the Althea BMW flagbearer was able to lower his time in the final seconds to close the day in fourth position with a best of 1’46.288.

Jordi Torres:

“It’s been quite hard today. The track, with all its undulation, is a tough one for us and I also needed a few laps to get to grips with it again having not raced here last year. We didn’t make a bad start but when the front guys start making their fast laps we feel the difference. The bike is wheelieing and so it’s difficult to accelerate and also to execute clean lines. We made a step forward in the afternoon but unfortunately just missed out on direct entry to SP2. Tomorrow we’ll do our best in SP1 in the hope we can progress to the second phase…”

Raffaele De Rosa:

“I’m gradually trying to improve, or rather adapt as best I can to the bike, working on my riding. The team is working hard to improve the bike, but I’m still struggling to manage it as it seems jumpy and I can’t seem to get the best out of it. We’ll continue to work of course, to be as prepared as possible for the races tomorrow and Sunday.”

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Rea Fastest On Friday in Portugal

Official Kawasaki WorldSBK duo Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes finished Friday’s free practice sessions first and fifth respectively in the rankings at a dry and windy Portimao circuit, located on the Algarve.

On the bumpy 4.952km long track layout Rea had been fastest in the morning FP1 session and Sykes was second at that stage. Rea went on to improve his final Friday best time despite the increasingly high winds in FP2. He finished 0.586 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Marco Melandri.

In concentrating on finding an optimal set-up for Saturday’s race Sykes had to rely on his FP1 performance for his fastest lap and ended up fifth overall on the day. Both KRT riders have automatically qualified for Superpole 2 on Saturday, a final qualifying contest which determine their grid positions for the first 20-lap race of the weekend.

Tom and Jonathan tested at Portimao earlier this season, with Rea finally using the settings he and his team found at that test. He also put in a long run today, to learn more about his Ninja ZX-10RR in simulated race conditions.

Sykes and his crew concentrated on gathering information to be ready for the first race of the weekend, which is scheduled for 15.00 local time on Saturday 16th September.

Before the first race gets underway, FP3 and then Superpole 2 will give Sykes and Rea the chance to refine their final machine settings. Should Sykes win the Superpole contest on Saturday, and take his career total from 42 to 43, it would make him the joint record holder in terms of all-time WorldSBK pole positions.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “It was so windy at times today, even more in the afternoon session than the morning. We have not made a huge amount of changes to the bike because there is a lot more I can change in my riding style here, simply because the track is so challenging. Where you put your bodyweight, how you brake, how you accelerate are key around here. So I came in after a few laps and said to my crew chief Pere Riba, ‘let’s put some tyres in and I will go and make a long run. I’m sure I will be able to learn something for tomorrow’.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “We ran out of time to put fresh tyres in at the last moment today. We had quite a lot of things to try in terms of set-up – just different balances and settings. We thought it was more beneficial to work on that, rather than focus on other parts of performance. We still have little things I want to find out and in FP3 tomorrow we will focus on our tyre combination. As of now it was just getting information and making sure we stayed inside the top ten. Tomorrow we can focus more on lap times but today we got a lot of good information to take into raceday with fewer questions to answer.”

More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team:

Bradl into Superpole 2 after encouraging Friday at Portimão

Portuguese Round

Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has completed the opening day of action at the tenth round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship, with Stefan Bradl rounding out the top-10 at the end of the two free practice sessions at Portimão and therefore qualifying directly for Superpole 2. His team mate for the Portuguese event, Takumi Takahashi, finished his debut WorldSBK day in 18th place.

Bradl got off to a good start this morning by setting the ninth fastest time of Free Practice 1. The 27-year-old German rider worked hard with his crew on finding the best set-up for his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 and was able to improve his performance on every outing. In the final minutes of FP2, Stefan moved back into the top-10 after breaking the 1’44secs barrier to log a final 1’43.957secs lap-time, which was enough for him to clinch a well deserved tenth place.

Takumi Takahashi had a lot of work to do in his first-ever day in World Superbike: not only the Japanese rider had to find his way around the challenging 4.592 Km Algarve track, but he also had to get to grips with the WorldSBK-spec version of the Fireblade and the Pirelli tyres, which he never used before. The Japanese made a significant improvement in the afternoon and he is now looking forward to more track-time tomorrow, starting from FP3 at 9:05 local time (GMT +1) and then moving on to Superpole 1 (11:00) and Race 1 (15:00).

Stefan Bradl 6

10th

It’s been a good day! It’s nice to be in the top-10 and therefore in Superpole 2. I’m happy with how the day went, because we consistently improved the bike in both sessions and in between as well. We are working in the right direction and to be lapping in the 1’43s is not too bad. Now we need to build up on what has been a positive day, have a good qualifying session and see how the rest of the weekend goes.

Takumi Takahashi 72

18th

Portimão is a great track but definitely not an easy one to learn! I still have to find the right line around it and it’s not easy when you’re not on the same bike you’re used to and especially with different tyres. So I’m planning to keep lapping as much as I can and once I get the right feeling with it, we will start playing more around the bike set-up. Tomorrow is race day already so the aim is to be as ready as I can for it.

Ronald ten Kate

Team Manager

We had quite a positive and productive day with Stefan. Right from the first outing we were around our target for the weekend in terms of positioning and we also managed to qualify straight into Superpole 2 which is good news. It’s been a good effort by the whole team so thanks to them. I think there’s still room for improvement and the gap from second place is not too big. The guys will now have a look at the data to come up with a plan for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be back in the positions we should be in. Takumi-san had a lot of work to do, but we already knew that. Learning the track is the biggest task for him, but let’s not forget the bike is different to the one he’s used to riding and the same applies to the tyres, too. He’s been chipping away at every session and the goal is to keep improving with no pressure.

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

Rapid Rea leads the way on day one

Reigning Champion fastest man in Portugal, ahead of Ducati pair

A late hot lap in FP2 on Friday afternoon at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal gave the reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) the top spot on the timesheet, more than half a second clear of his nearest rival.

Speeding around the 4.592km Portimao track on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR with a best lap time of 1’42.621 at the end of the Friday afternoon session Rea outpaced his rivals, with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) the second quickest rider – a 0.586s gap down on the championship leading Northern Irishman.

Melandri did well in FP2 after missing much of the earlier Friday morning session due to a technical fault and the Italian was provisionally top of timesheet with his 1’43.207 lap, before Rea took over in the lead.

Third fastest was Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), just over a tenth of a second behind his colleague Melandri. It was also a good day for Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who performed well in third in FP1 before finishing the day fourth best overall after FP2.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was fifth, courtesy of a best time from FP1, after he was unable to improve in the afternoon.

In good weather conditions at Portimao Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia), Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) were also in the top ten.

On Saturday at the Prosecco DOC Portuguese Round the WorldSBK riders will start their day with FP3 at 9.05am local time, followed by SP1 at 11am and SP2 at 11.25am. Race 1 gets underway at 3pm local time at Portimao on Saturday afternoon.

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

Melandri and Davies respectively in 2nd and 3rd position in Friday’s free-practice at Portimão, home of 10th round of the WorldSBK Championship

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team took it back to the track today at Portimão (Portugal), home of the tenth round of the WorldSBK Championship, for the first two free-practice sessions. Both Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies enjoyed a positive first day on the Algarve track, closing respectively in second and third position on combined times.

The Italian, who could only ride a handful of laps in FP1 due to a technical problem, quickly recovered in the afternoon session to post a 1:43.207, +0.586 behind the provisional best time of 1:42.621. The Welshman, fourth in the morning, made steady progress to take four tenths of a second off his best time and finish +0.103 behind his teammate.

Both riders thus gained direct access to Superpole 2. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action tomorrow at 09:05 local time (CET -1) for FP3 in preparation of Superpole and Race 1, which is scheduled to start at 15:00 local time (16:00 CET).

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 1:43.207 (2nd)

“For sure it’s been a good day. It’s always special to ride at Portimão, it’s a wonderful place and the track itself is so much fun. We had to play catch-up after missing most of FP1 due to a technical problem, but my team has done a great job and we managed to start off on the right foot in FP2, making constant progress. We can still improve, especially in the last corner, and right now Rea has an edge on race pace, but we’re not far. The gusts have been an extra variable thus far, and the forecast says it’s going to be windy all weekend, so we’ll have to adapt as much as possible. I rode some strong races here in the past, and I want to take advantage of the experience gained with the Panigale R to do it again in the next couple of days.”

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 3rd

“It’s nice to be back on the track after our second summer break. Today was solid though not perfect. We tried what we needed to, going through the program, and tomorrow we’ll zero in on our race setup. I think we have a good handle of the direction in which we’re going, and we just need to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. In particular, we’ll focus on stopping the bike better under braking, using the rear more. Also, the track is bumpy, but today it was the wind creating a bit of a problem. It’s quite tough, you need to position yourself differently in some corners and always stay on guard because it can catch you with really strong gusts. We need a couple of small improvements to match the leading pace, but we’re not far and we just need to make a few minor adjustments so we’re confident.”

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Pata Yamaha Pushing Hard at Portimao

Free practice

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team enjoyed an encouraging start to round ten of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship on Friday despite tricky conditions due to high winds and a bumpy track at Portimao. Alex Lowes ended the day in seventh on the combined timesheets after showing good improvement in both sessions. His teammate Michael van der Mark also made good progress throughout the day to finish in ninth place, with both riders making it directly through to SP2 on Saturday.

Lowes, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Thursday, wasted no time in getting down to business on Friday morning in FP1 as he set the fifth fastest time of the session with a 1:43.995. The wind picked up in the afternoon and made it tricky for the riders in FP2 but Lowes still managed to knock another three-tenths off his time, setting a 1:43.677 to end the day seventh on the combined timesheets, and confident he can make more progress on Saturday.

Van der Mark eased his way into FP1, building his feeling on his R1 around the bumpy and undulating 4.592 Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in the windy conditions. He finished FP1 in seventh-place after setting a 1:44.452, but there was more to come in the afternoon. The 24-year-old Dutch rider made a breakthrough in his setup towards the end of FP2 to improve dramatically to a 1:43.854, just 0.177s behind his teammate Lowes, and finished the day in ninth overall, happy with the progress made.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team are back in action on Saturday at 9:05am local time for Free Practice 3, with SP2 scheduled for 11:25am and the 20-lap Race 1 at 3pm. Click here for the results.

Alex Lowes

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 7th – 1:43.677

“To be honest, we are struggling a bit to find the right setup for the track and the best balance with my R1. I need to improve my feeling with the bike, so we have a lot of work to do tonight to try and find a slightly better direction. It has been one of the more difficult Fridays we have had, but it is always like that at this track, especially after a few weeks off the bike. Hopefully, we can make a big step for tomorrow morning!”

Michael van der Mark

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK – 9th – 1:43.854

“P9 looks worse than it is, especially because this afternoon I struggled with changing direction on the bike but towards the end, we made a good step and I managed to improve my lap time quite a lot. We just need to find a little bit more pace and to improve the grip with the rear, if we can do this we are able to do quite a good and consistent pace. I am happy to be in SP2 again and I think we can be reasonably satisfied with today, but looking for more tomorrow.”

Paul Denning

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal

“It’s great to be back at Portimao, one of the most exciting circuits in the world. It looks a little bumpier than we were here last and that combined with the very, very strong winds this afternoon made for difficult conditions to find the best balance with the YZF-R1. There is more performance to come from the bike and the riders -. we need to make the bike a little easier to ride in certain sections of the track, in order to build the rider’s confidence and allow them to flow and improve their pace and consistency. We have 25 minutes on Saturday morning to evaluate the solutions the team engineers come up with this evening and we will do our best to make absolute positive use of that time and then qualify the bikes as well as possible. A small step forward in performance will see us in the hunt for good positions tomorrow.”

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

TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE CLOSE TO THE TOP 3 ON OPENING DAY IN PORTUGAL 

The 10th round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship got underway today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, with Leon Camier ending up 4th in WorldSBK free practice combined timesheet and PJ Jacobsen closing 5th in WorldSSP class.

WorldSBK – FP1, FP2

Leon Camier showed a solid and positive feeling with the MV Agusta F4 RC set by the MV Agusta Reparto Corse men, a sign that the road taken with the bike development is moving on the right direction.

At the end of the FP1, Camier was able to close in 3rd position, in front of his fellow countryman Chaz Davis; the MV Agusta F4 RC is the fastest Italian bike of the session. For a long part of the second session, Leon continued to lap in the top3 area, but the British rider was forced to give up up one position in the final stages, closing 4th (1’43,415s) at the end of the day.

WorldSSP – FP1, FP2

The MV Agusta Reparto corse WorldSSP teammates, PJ Jacobsen and Alessandro Zaccone, were both involved in the two free practice heats of the day, with the American ending with a solid 5th final position, only 0.5s farfrom the top3 and Zaccone closing 2nd in the ESS (20th in WorldSSP chart).

Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – Honestly, I am very happy with this result, this was definitely a positive day both for me and the team. The feeling with my bike was really good and I managed to do some consistent laps in both the session. It won’t be easy to close the gap with the top 3 guys but we have some data to analyse and I am confident tomorrow we can show some improvement.

Patrick “PJ” Jacobsen #99 WorldSSP – Today was definitely not so bad for me. We improved a lot in the second session and I think hopefully tomorrow we can improve and make a good job for the superpole. The bike is working good and it would be great to be on the front row of the Superpole. We will try our hardest tomorrow.

Alessandro Zaccone #61 ESS – During the FP1 I tried to find the right feeling with the bike and the track and, after a few laps, we managed to consistently lower our lap time. Unfortunately, in the second session I immediately had a problem with the bike and I couldn’t get on the track. We are working hard to fix the bike and get back for tomorrow’s qualifying sessions.

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