World Superbike: Jonathan Rea Leads FP2, Chaz Davies Still Fastest At Laguna Seca (Updated)

World Superbike: Jonathan Rea Leads FP2, Chaz Davies Still Fastest At Laguna Seca (Updated)

© 2017, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Defending Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea put in a lap of 1:23.436 on his Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10RR late to lead FIM Superbike World Championship Free Practice Two Friday afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but the 1:23.425 turned by Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Chaz Davies in FP1 stood up as the fastest time of the day.

Both riders were very close to Davide Giugliano’s Race Lap Record of 1:23.403, but Davies’ performance was notable as he broke a bone in his back when he crashed and was unintentionally run over by Rea during the preceding round at Misano just two weeks ago.

Davies’ teammate Marco Melandri was the only other rider in the 1:23 bracket with the 1:23.778 he did on his Ducati Panigale R in the afternoon session.

Eugene Laverty was quick on his Milwaukee Aprilia and did a 1:24.098 in FP1, but the Irishman was unable to improve his time in the afternoon as he was one of several riders who crashed during FP2.

Crashers included Althea BMW Racing teammates Raffaele De Rosa and Jordi Torres, Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes, and Red Bull Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Jake Gagne.

Bradl and Gagne both experienced identical lowside crashes entering the Corkscrew. Bradl’s crash came very early in the session, and Gagne’s fall came very late. Both men got up and walked away from their falls, but both crashes caused red flags.

Bradl and Gagne ended up 16th and 17th, respectively, in FP2 and are close together in the combined lap times with the German 14th at 1:24.928 and the American 17th at 1:25.618.


Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey, California, USA

July 7, 2017

Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:23.436

2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:23.778

3. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), 1:24.087

4. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:24.204, cash

5. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:24.242

6. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:24.253

7. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:24.330, crash

8. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), 1:24.388, crash

9. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:24.626

10. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:24.670

11. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:24.713, crash

12. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4 1000), 1:24.741

13. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:24.755

14. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:25.282

15. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:25.421

16. Stefan BRADL, Germany (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), 1:25.595, crash

17. Jake GAGNE, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), 1:25.618, crash

18. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:25.835

19. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 1:26.009

20. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:26.448

21. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), no time recorded in FP2

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

Althea BMW gets to work Stateside

Monterey (USA), Friday 7 July 2017

The Althea BMW Racing team is in California, at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where round eight of the Superbike World Championship got underway today.

Althea BMW riders Jordi Torres and Raffaele De Rosa were out on track for the first timed practice session this morning. In warm, dry conditions, Jordi worked well, using the first part of the session to get the measure of the American circuit, before focusing on lap times in the latter stages. A best time of 1’24.538, set in the final minutes, saw the Spaniard climb up to seventh on the timesheets. Raffaele, working to improve his feeling with both the BMW and the track, set several interesting lap times during the session. Thanks to a best of 1’25.012, the Italian closed the opening session eleventh.

Further improving during the afternoon’s 60-minute session (1’24.388) despite a crash in the final seconds, Torres closed in ninth position, therefore qualifying directly for tomorrow’s Superpole2. A crash for De Rosa unfortunately stopped him a few minutes before the end of the session. Having nevertheless lowered his time by three tenths (1’24.713), he closed twelfth at the end of day one and will take part in Superpole1.

Jordi Torres:

“We know this is a tough track and we need to work hard because our bike isn’t the smoothest to ride. So we’re working to find a set-up to suit the track and although we’re not quite there yet we have some ideas for tomorrow, when we’ll continue with the fine tuning. We’re not too far off, but we’re missing another couple of tenths if we want to be competitive in the races. I’m feeling quite confident anyway, and think we can improve further tomorrow…”

Raffaele De Rosa:

“We’ve changed a few things on the bike and it immediately went better for me today. In the afternoon, we tried to gain entry to SP2 but unfortunately a mistake on my part, and then a crash, prevented that happening. Despite this, I think we’ve improved, both me and the bike, compared to Misano. My feeling continues to improve though we’re still struggling to put it all together. I’m pleased anyway because the team always gives 100%.”…”

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

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Day One

Davies shows speed on return to action

Ducati rider dominates to end day one on top

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made a statement of intent with the fastest time on day one of the GEICO US Round, returning to action after his Misano injuries with a 1’23.425 time in FP1 to put him ahead of his rivals. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was second quickest thanks to a 1’23.436 lap in FP2, with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) third on the combined timesheets – with his best time (1’23.778) coming in the afternoon session.

It was a strong showing from Davies on his return to action, after thumb and back injuries sustained at Misano, which had kept him out of Race 2 at the last round.

Milwaukee Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty showed good pace to lap fourth best, his fastest time also coming from FP1, like that of Davies.

In fifth place was Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), just ahead of Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team). Rounding out the top ten and therefore going straight into Tissot Superpole 2 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca were Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and Alex De Angelis (Pedercini Racing SC-Project).

The red flag came out early in the FP2 session after a crash for Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) at the top of the Corkscrew, whilst there were also crashes for Laverty, Lowes, Torres and Raffaele de Rosa (Althea BMW Racing Team) in the afternoon run.

Earlier in the day Davies’ rapid FP1 time saw him lead that session by a significant +0.673s margin ahead of second best rider Laverty, with Melandri in third place.

The action at the eighth round of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continues on Saturday with FP3 at 9.15am local time, SP1 at 11am, SP2 at 11.25am and Race 1 at 2pm.

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

 The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team on the attack in Friday’s free-practice sessions at Laguna Seca with Chaz Davies 1st and Marco Melandri 3rd

After a two-week break, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team resumed action at Laguna Seca (U.S.A), home of the eighth round of the 2017 WorldSBK Championship. On the iconic track where Ducati holds the record as the most successful manufacturer with 12 wins, the Italian squad played a protagonist role with both its riders in Friday’s free-practice sessions.

Davies, coming back from an injury that forced him to skip Race 2 at Misano (Italy), took many people by surprise to post the best provisional time with a 1:23.425 despite not having been able to train in the past couple of weeks. The Welshman set his best time in FP1 then focused on race pace during FP2 in weather conditions that should mirror those of the races (with track temperatures of approximately 50 degrees).

Melandri, third in the morning, took about four tenths of a second off his best time in FP2 to finish with a 1:23.778, only 0.353 seconds behind his teammate. The Italian also focused his work on overall pace, riding on used tyres at length before performing the usual “time attack” with positive results.

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action on Saturday at 09:15 (CET -9) for the third and last free-practice session ahead of Superpole and Race 1 (scheduled to start at 14:00).

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 1:23.425 (1st)

“My ambition was to just build into the weekend, but things felt quite good right away this morning and we got off a good start. In higher temperatures, like in the afternoon, I think we still have a little bit more work to do, but overall it’s been a good day. It’s so much fun to ride here at Laguna. We need more grip from the rear, both entering and exiting corners. It’s the first test I’ve given my body since Misano, and things felt quite normal aside from getting a little bit of back ache as the day went on. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will make me feel refreshed for tomorrow. We’ll take it lap by lap and see how it goes.”

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 1:23.778 (3rd)

“It’s always nice to be here, it’s amazing to ride on this track. This morning, I was struggling a little bit because the surface is quite bumpy and also it was my first time with Ducati here so I had to adjust to different gears compared with what I was used to in the past. The team once again did a great job and gave me a bike that allowed me to ride with more confidence on the front in FP2, so we improved our lap times. We just need to make another step forward for Superpole, which is very important since it’s difficult to pass here, and improve tyre wear for the very last laps of the race, but we’re close and I’m confident. If we can ride consistently, I believe great results are within our reach.”

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Rea And Sykes Open Their Laguna Accounts

The eighth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship got underway at Laguna Seca on Friday 7th July in dry and warm conditions, with Jonathan Rea and his KRT team-mate Tom Sykes finishing up second and fifth fastest respectively.

Despite an FP2 session which overran significantly, because of the aftermath of two rider’s separate crashes at the Corkscrew chicane, official Ninja ZX-10RR riders Rea and Sykes easily qualified for Saturday’s Superpole 2 contest.

Both Tom and Jonathan were able to complete their main preparations for Saturday’s first 25-lap WorldSBK race and have one more free practice session, of 25 minutes duration, in which to make their final machine set-up to tackle Superpole 2 and then race one at the undulating 3.610km circuit.

Rea was only 0.011 seconds from the fastest rider Chaz Davies after the two opening practice sessions, making good progress in the afternoon after some challenges to overcome in the opening session.

Having missed his ideal opportunity to set his very best lap time after the second red flag incident of the afternoon, Sykes went fifth overall but is confident there will be more to come from both man and machine set-up on Saturday.

Sykes and Rea got to sample the two development SC0 rear race tyres that were brought to Laguna this weekend and will make their final choices on Saturday morning.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “Today was good and I think we are ready for tomorrow’s race. We have not so much to change on the bike but I need to improve myself in a few areas. The bike is feeling good but this morning we had a problem with a faulty sensor, so the data was quite strange to look at and we did not make much progress in the first session. In FP2 we went back to pretty much what we started with, made a rhythm on track and changed the bike settings. I evaluated both front and rear tyre solutions, so we have an idea already of our race package. The track is in decent shape and the base package of our bike is not so bad. I am generally satisfied with our day’s work.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “There was quite a lot of wind today which was potentially blowing some dust around and we saw a lot of crashes in the last moments of FP2. I think it is the wind maybe just catching people out. Fifth is not fully what I wanted but we tried a couple of things and cleared everything out in readiness for tomorrow. We did not get too much consistency going but tomorrow is raceday so I need to bring something extra, like always. I feel like after a good chat with the team tonight we will put the bike in the ballpark, and tomorrow is another day. I am looking forward to race one. This circuit changes its conditions pretty quick so I think we will be able to put an even stronger package together for tomorrow. Today is just the first day and tomorrow we have Superpole and then the first race.”

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

8 July 2017

WorldSBK 2017

Bradl and Gagne working hard at Laguna Seca on day one

USA Round

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, United States

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has completed the first day of action for the eighth round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship, which is currently underway at the Laguna Seca raceway in California. Stefan Bradl and new recruit for the American event, Jake Gagne, were 14th and 17th respectively in the combined times of today’s two free practice sessions and will therefore start tomorrow’s qualifying from Superpole 1.

Bradl got an OK start to the round by completing the first session in ninth place on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machine. In the early minutes of FP2, however, the 27-year-old German tucked the front-end of the bike entering the Corkscrew; he then slid onto the gravel side by side with his motorcycle and ended up back onto the track. After the crash, red flags were deployed and not long after the restart – given the limited damage taken by the bike – Stefan was able to return to the track. Bradl could not improve on his morning’s lap-time and therefore ended the day in 14th place.

Bradl’s team mate for the US Round, Jake Gagne, made his much-anticipated World Superbike debut and used the majority of the track time getting to grips with the WorldSBK-spec version of the Fireblade as well as the Pirelli tyres. The 23-year-old American steadily improved lap after lap throughout the two sessions but he also ended up crashing unhurt – in the final minutes of the Free practice 2 – at the Corkscrew, with the dynamic of the accident that it was almost identical to the one occurred to his team mate earlier on.

Stefan Bradl 6

14th

It was obviously not an easy day at the office. This morning we started off pretty well: I really love this place and enjoy riding around here for the first time after a few years! We did OK in FP1 but we were having some issues on corner entry and eventually we found out what we needed to do. We made some changes for the afternoon session but I wasn’t having the same feeling with the bike as before, so we tried to do some more tweaks. Tomorrow morning we will start back with the FP1 configuration and let’s see what the progress will be tomorrow. This afternoon’s crash was just a small one and didn’t really cost us any track-time, because there was very little damage to the bike. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow!

Jake Gagne 45

17th

It was a good day! There was a lot to learn and a lot of things to figure out with tyres, electronics, suspension and so on. Everything was kind of new to me, but we made some progress outing after outing. Unfortunately I had a small crash towards the end of FP2 but I was pushing trying to find the limit and the feeling for the front tyre. Again, I’m happy: the team is great and super supportive and they are all trying to help me move forward. So the goal stays the same, we will trying to make some more progress and see where we end up.

Pieter Breddels

Stefan had a solid start to the day and he was in the top-10 after the first free practice. We were forced to make some changes though after the session and the feeling this afternoon was not there anymore and therefore he could not improve his lap-time. Tomorrow we will go back to the same package of the morning and we should be able to make a step forward. Jake did a good job today. There were so many things that were new to him so he had to basically get to grips with the whole package first. We did work on the riding position especially at the front-end because he wasn’t perfectly comfortable with it. We helped him out with our knowledge of the track and the bike and he was able to build speed upon speed and the lap-times were improving. Unfortunately just at the last outing of FP2 he had a small crash, but it was his first time with a harder front-tyre and he wasn’t used to it. Overall it was a challenging day so let’s see what tomorrow brings.

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

TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE PLEASED WITH THE P7 OF LEON CAMIER ON DAY 1 AT LAGUNA SECA 

Round 8 of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship got underway today at the Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway circuit, close to Monterey (California, USA), with Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse getting a positive results in the opening timed practice sessions.

Starting with the FP1 track session, the MV Agusta Reparto Corse British ace was able to find a positive rhythm on the iconic 3.610km-long track, setting a solide pace on his MV Agusta F4 machine and closing with the 5th session’s time (1’24.283).

Despite he wasn’t able to lower his impressive FP1 lap time, at the end of the next session on track in the afternoon Leon ended up 7th in the combined timesheet, getting direct access to the Saturday’s Tissot-Superpole2.

Tomorrow the Italian squad will be on track again for the FP3 at 09.15 local time, followed by the Tissot-Superpole 2 at 11.25 and Race1 at 14.00.

Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – This morning the feeling with the bike was very positive but in the afternoon the track temperature was really high and we struggled to have the same rhythm of the FP1. Anyway, I am quite happy with this result, we just have to understand what we can do to work better in the hot temperatures, because the race weather conditions will be similar to this one.

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