Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Imola Circuit

Imola, Italy

May 11, 2018

Free Practice Three Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:46.686

2. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:46.686

3. Marco Melandri, Italy (Duc Panigale R), 1:47.126

4. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy (Apr RSV4 RF), 1:47.396

5. Michael Van Der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), 1:47.461

6. Xavi Fores, Spain (Duc Panigale R), 1:47.529

7. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:47.550

8. Leon Haslam, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:47.563

9. Jordi Torres, Spain (MV Agusta F4 RC), 1:47.578

10. Michael Rinaldi, Italy (Duc Panigale R), 1:47.597

11. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Apr RSV4 RF), 1:47.663

12. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:47.737

13. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:47.739

14. Loris Baz, France (BMW S1000RR), 1:48.287

15. Roman Ramos, Spain (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:48.416

16. Leandro Mercado, Argentina (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:48.535, crash

17. Yonny Hernandez, Colombia (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:49.355

18. PJ Jacobsen, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), 1:49.478, crash

19. Ondrej Jezek, Czech Republic (Yam YZF-R1), 1:49.737

20. Jason O’Halloran, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:50.259

21. Vladimir Leonov, Russia (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:50.974

22. Jake Gagne, USA (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), crash, no lap time recorded

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

Baz and Delbianco 14th in practice at Imola and optimistic for tomorrow

Imola (Italy), Friday 11 May 2018

Round five of the 2018 Superbike world championship is underway at the Imola circuit in Italy, and the Gulf Althea BMW Racing team is present and correct with both Loris Baz, in the Superbike class, and Alessandro Delbianco, in the Stock1000 category, despite the latter having only fractured his shoulder one week ago during testing at Magione.

SBK: Frenchman Baz was out on track for the day’s three timed practice sessions. Having not ridden at Imola since 2014, he spent the morning’s session getting reacquainted with the circuit. A best of 1’49.806 saw him place 17th after session one. Continuing to work on the set-up of his BMW during the subsequent sessions, Loris made continuous progress in terms of lap times. A best of 1’48.745 in session two, followed by a 1’48.287 in the last of the day’s sessions saw Baz close this first day on track in 14th position.

STK1000: Delbianco took things a little easy in the opening session, having only undergone surgery on his right shoulder four days ago. Despite limited shoulder movement, the Italian was able to complete 10 laps, the quickest of which a 1’53.249, to position thirteenth at the end of session one. Able to improve on his best time by almost one second in the second session (1’52.311), Alessandro concluded day one in 14th place.

Loris Baz:

“I still think the step we made with the electronics at Magione last week has helped, but we lost time in sessions one and two setting up that same configuration for this track, which is of course very different to the Umbria circuit. In the final session, we were able to do more but we’re just a little too far from the rest of the pack. We’re missing grip and there’s a lot of wheelieing which is hard to control here. It’s not easy, but I was pleased with my best lap in the last session, as I couldn’t have done more with the bike in that particular configuration. I just hope we can find some grip for tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Aprilia:

Promising pace for Milwaukee Aprilia in Imola Free Practice

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 11 / 05 / 2018

Free Practice Report

Milwaukee Aprilia showed good pace in Friday’s Free Practice sessions at Imola with Lorenzo Savadori making Superpole 2, ahead of Round 5 of the WorldSBK championship.

Taking advantage of the mid-season concession parts rule that allows teams limited upgrades on their bikes, the team arrived in Imola with an improved and more powerful engine and an upgraded Akrapovic exhaust system on the Aprilia machine.

Lorenzo Savadori finished the day a strong P4 in front of his home fans, his fastest effort of 1’47.396 securing him a place in Superpole 2 for the fifth successive round in 2018. Lorenzo used Friday to focus chiefly on race pace, the technically challenging Imola circuit making race strategy a crucial element of practice.

Rider Eugene Laverty made a welcome return to the team at Imola, after missing rounds in Spain and The Netherlands due to injury sustained at the Thailand Chang circuit in March. Eugene just missed out on a top 10 spot and finished the day an encouraging P11 with a 1’47.663, less than 0.3 behind teammate Lorenzo.

Free Practice 4 takes place at 08:45 CET (GMT +1), ahead of Superpole at 10:30 and Race 1 at 13:00.

Lorenzo Savadori #32 – Aprilia RSV4-RF

FP1: 1.49.382 – P13

FP2: 1’47.407 – P3

FP3: 1’47.396 – P4

Combined result: 1’47.396 – P4

Superpole 2 automatic entry

“It was a positive for us today, P4 is a good result and I’m happy to make Superpole 2 again. We need to make some changes overnight still and I am missing a little bit of rhythm.

We tried a few different race simulations, Imola is a challenging circuit and not simple to get the perfect set up. The bike has updated engine and exhaust parts which have improved the speed, it feels good and with more practice tomorrow I’m sure we can improve.

It’s good to have Eugene back also, and it’s really nice to be racing in front of my home fans. The weather should be good all weekend and I’m looking forward to working again tomorrow.”

Eugene Laverty #50 – Aprilia RSV4-RF

FP1: 1.48.810 – P8

FP2: 1’48.085 – P8

FP3: 1’47.663 – P11

Combined result: 1’47.663 – P11

Superpole 1 entry

“Firstly I feel good physically. In the first session I got straight back to it, I don’t like going slow and I wanted to see what I was capable of. I had a bit of pain in the second session as expected but after some physio I felt strong again. It will be tough over a race distance I’m sure, but today has been a good start.

Imola is such a different track to the previous rounds this year, you need to be able to attack the bike and have the brakes working really well. I was disappointed to miss out on the top 10, but we did a reasonable job today considering I haven’t ridden the bike since March and it’s unchanged.

I was able to make an improvement on lap time session by session, and we have some more time in the morning and a shot at the top 10 in Superpole 1, so I’m just focusing on that ahead of the race.”

Keep up to date with the Milwaukee Aprilia team on their website, and Facebook, Twitter & Instagram channels

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

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team target improvements after tough first day at Imola

Italian Round

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy

After a tough start to the Imola WorldSBK round, the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team are confident that there are improvements to be had over the rest of the race weekend as Jake Gagne and Jason O’Halloran continue their familiarisation at the technical Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

In his first ever outing at the challenging Imola circuit, Gagne was able to improve his lap time throughout the first two sessions of the day, but a crash at turn 12 at the start of Free Practice 3 meant that the American rider was unable to further improve his position in the final session. Gagne finished the day in P17 overall with a personal best lap time of 1’49.024, 2.3 seconds off the benchmark time of the day.

Stll recovering from broken ribs sustained in the Aragon round last month, Leon Camier bravely went out on track in Free Practice 1 and 2 to assess his physical condition on his return to track action and although able to set a competitive time over a single lap, his current physical condition meant completing the full race distance of 23 laps of the Imola circuit wasn’t feasible. As a result, it was decided to withdraw Camier from the remainder of the race weekend with his place filled by reserve rider Jason O’Halloran. The Australian rider got up to speed quickly in FP3 on the WorldSBK-spec CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 and he ended the day in 21st position overall with a best lap time of 1’50.259.

Today’s result means that both Gagne and O’Halloran will take place in the Superpole 1 Qualifying session tomorrow at 1030 local time (GMT +2) with the top two riders from that session graduating to Superpole 2. Race 1 will start at 1300 local time.

Leon Camier 2

I was looking forward to riding today to see how I would feel on the bike as my recovery has gone quite well to this point. In the first session I was cautious to start with and although I was still in a lot of pain, I was still able to find a way to set a decent lap time although it was clear that I was still feeling the effects of my injury. However ,I thought I’d give it another go in Free Practice 2 with the purpose of seeing how I went over a longer run and it quickly become apparent after doing eight laps in a row that completing a race distance here at Imola this weekend just wasn’t possible. It was a tough decision to withdraw from the weekend but definitely the right one to make and I’ll now focus on trying to be ready for my home race at Donington in a couple of weeks time.

Jake Gagne 45

Imola is a really fun circuit with lots of different types of corners and elevation changes – its unlike any track I’ve ever ridden before. We made some good progress in the first two sessions of the day and changed some settings on the bike and each time I felt better when I headed out. I was looking forward to improving again in FP3 but unfortunately on my first flying lap I had a crash which was a shame as the bike felt really good and I’m sure I could’ve made another step. The good news is I didn’t hurt myself in the crash and I’m looking forward to getting back out there in FP4 and Superpole and hoping I can challenge for some points in Race 1.

Jason O’Halloran 20

It was definitely a challenging way to enter a world championship weekend starting off in Free Practice 3 at a circuit I’ve never ridden a Superbike at and with a new team, but thankfully the team has been great and my initial feeling with the WorldSBK-spec Fireblade was really good. We stuck to using the one set of tyres for the whole session and didn’t make any setting changes – the bike was still set up for Leon – just so I could get used to everything, but I was able to steadily improve throughout the session and set my fastest lap on my very last lap. I can now sleep on what I learned today and tomorrow we can set the bike up more for me, so I’m confident we’ll be able to improve things tomorrow. My goal is just to keep progressing every time I get out on the bike.

Kervin Bos

Team Manager

The day started with Leon and Jake both riding, for Leon we knew it would be really tough for him as it’s only been a month since his crash at Aragon but he was quite brave to ride in the first two sessions, but in the end doing a race distance here at Imola isn’t possible for Leon, so we decided to not risk anything and instead look ahead to Donington which is his home race. Leon’s place was taken by Jason for FP3 and he had a good solid start, using only one set of tyres for the whole session and could set a respectable lap time so he’s doing a good job for us. Jake had a really good start to the day at a track he’s never ridden before, he continued to drop his lap time in the first two sessions but unfortunately had a crash at the start of FP3 which stopped his momentum. We have a few things to try for tomorrow for both riders; we’ll just keep pushing and I am confident we can do better tomorrow after a difficult first day.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

 KRT Riders Complete Early Imola Preparations

Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes arrived at Imola for the fifth round of the WorldSBK Championship after a recent two-day test at Brno and worked on finding ideal race set-ups during the opening day. Rea was equal fastest after the three sessions and Sykes was sixth in Friday’s combined timesheets, ensuring that each made it directly through to Superpole 2 on Saturday.

The warm and slightly humid conditions that graced the first day at the classic Imola circuit allowed Rea to capitalise on the results of recent Brno tests. He eventually set an identical leading lap time of 1’46.686 to Chaz Davies. Rea was officially ranked second in the final time sheets and now looks forward to the first race of the Imola weekend with a positive approach.

Having chosen the optimum front tyre for his riding style already he will now decide on his rear option for race one on Saturday, after championship single make supplier Pirelli brought a new and bigger rear tyre to this round.

Sykes worked through several machine set-up and tyre possibilities but was not able to go for his best possible time as a result. He was ranked sixth today but is confident that he and his technical crew will pool their Friday data and make real advances in pace for the first 19-lap race on Saturday the 12th of May.

In his wildcard return to WorldSBK action at Imola, regular BSB Rider Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was eighth on day one, making it through to Superpole 2 on Saturday like the official KRT riders.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “It was a positive day and we basically just continued on with what we worked on in the recent test at Brno. We arrived here with the Brno-based bike we finished that test with. It kind of worked straight away at Imola. Pirelli has brought two different spec rear tyres for the race; one is a standard size and one is a little bit bigger, which changed the gearing and the ride height. We worked through that aspect of the set-up with Pere. Electronically we are fine-tuning the bike now.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “We got a lot of information after a busy day. Now we will focus on getting the best from the bike and me for tomorrow’s first race. We will put it all together tonight. We did a number of things today, including trying out two different front and two different rear tyre options. We worked on weight distribution, a different suspension set-up and some gearing options. It is a lot to do in three sessions. A couple of guys have really strong pace but I am sure we can find something for race one on Saturday. We will not be too far away, and over the last few rounds we have always been there. Tomorrow we will go for it.”

More, from a press release issued by Barni Racing Team:

Tricky friday for Barni Racing Team at Imola

Imola (BO), 11th May 2018. A tricky friday ended at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola for Xavi Forés and Barni Racing Team. The Spaniard was seventh after the third session scoring his best time in 1’47.529, 0.843 s far from the pole position. He proceed automatically into the Superpole 2 but he’s not completely satisfied by his best lap due to some issues in the right moment. On the one hand he faced traffic in Rivazza, than a yellow flag in variante alta. Both of episodes prevent him to cut down the time in the last sector.

Forés started well in the first session being fourth in FP1 (1’47.759), than he was moved down in FP2 testing different type of tyres in different setting conditions on his Ducati Panigale R. Again the best independent rider out on track, Forés was sixth for the late Free Practice. Tomorrow morning at 10.55 Xavi will fight for a good position in the starting grid of race 1 ( 13.00 CET).

Day 1 ended also for Superstock riders after two free practice sessions. Despite a complicate beginning both of Barni Racing Team rider Matteo Ferrari and Samuele Cavalieri managed to ride their Ducati 1999 Panigale R into top 10.

Cavalieri was ninth, improving a lot from the morning he scored a best time of 1’51.799, but he had his best lap cancelled due to exceeded track limit. At the end of his 23 laps he could be among the best six riders. Ferrari was soon behind his teammate. He suffered a technical problem in Free Practice 1 and he wasted half part of the session, than he had only a slight improvement in the FP2 still looking the best setup on the machine. He made totally 16 laps and he posted his best lap in 1’51.822.

MOTUL FIM WorldSTK qualifying session will start tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Marco Barnabò, Principal Manager

“We tested different tyres in different setting condition and finally we believe we have found the right way to follow in order to improve our race pace. The best time is not enough good as we expected but the most important thing was to understand which was the line. We did it”.

Xavi Forés, #12

“We tested the new tyre but in the last session we reconsidered the old one. That’s to say we didn’t find immediately the right solution, but when we decided to go back I re-found the feelings I had in past race. Because of this I’m confident for tomorrow. We can improve a lot and I think we can do a good qualifying session”.

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

Strong start for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team at Imola: Davies 1st and Melandri 3rd in Friday’s free-practice sessions

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team enjoyed a strong start at Imola (Italy), home of the fifth round of the 2018 WorldSBK Championship and the squad’s “home race”, as Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri posted the first and third time respectively. Both riders finished each session in the top three, and the Welshman was able to mount one final attack on used tires to post a 1:46.686, with the Italian only 0.440 seconds behind.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi also had a positive first day with the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team. Despite a small technical issue in FP1, the young Italian managed to progressively climb the rankings to take tenth provisional position. All three riders thus gained direct access to Superpole 2. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team and the Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team will resume action on May 12th at 08:45 for the last free-practice session ahead of Superpole and Race 1, scheduled to start at 13:00 local time.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 1:46.686 (1st)

“I’m really happy to have finished day one like that. We sort of let the track come to us, without rushing things or making too many changes. The plan seems to have worked quite well, and we still have room for improvement and changes to come up with ahead of tomorrow. So, overall I’m pretty satisfied even though we’re still looking for the last extra tenths. At this level, it’s a small-step process. At the moment, Rea and I seem to have something extra but you never what’s going to happen come race time.”

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 1:47.126 (3rd)

“It was a good day for me. The test we did in Brno gave us a lot of answers and we did a good job with the team today, working with a more stable bike and being able to focus only on race pace. The race isn’t going to be easy because Rea and Davies seem to have a slightly better pace, but hopefully we’ll be able to make some improvements overnight. Also, the home crowd always gives us extra horsepower. I’m sure the first few laps will be crucial to stay at the front, so we need to be ready.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team #21) – 1:47.597 (10th)

“I’m quite happy with how today went since we gained direct access to Superpole 2, even though it wasn’t easy. As I never rode a Superbike here, we struggled to find a competitive setup at the very beginning. In the afternoon, the feeling improved significantly and we managed to be more consistent. We still need to work and FP4 will be crucial to be ready for Superpole, but I’m confident.”

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

#ImolaWorldSBK Day 1: Davies and Rea tied with identical lap time in Italy

Championship top two match times to a thousandth of a second at Imola

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped the time sheets around historic Imola

It was shaping up to be a Free Practice treble by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at the end of the third session at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship took to the track on Friday. The three time World Champion had dominated the first two sessions and was on course to taking the third, before a final flying lap from Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) left both men with the exact same personal best.

Winner for the last two years here, Davies put in 51 laps over the three sessions which was more than any other rider on track. But it was his final lap – as Rea was already back in pit lane – that shot Davies to the top, a 1’46.686 that perfectly matched his title opponent’s best time. Davies officially takes first place due to his second-best lap (1’46.737) being faster than Rea’s – by one thousandth of a second.

Behind the two Brits, Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) scored the third fastest time across all three sessions, 0.440 seconds off the leading pace. In fourth, Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) improved his FP2 time and proved that he is ready to push up with the Kawasakis and Ducatis.

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) improved throughout the day to take fifth, with his teammate Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) unable to make it into tomorrow’s Superpole 2 directly, taking the twelfth best time.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was one of only three riders unable to improve their FP1 and FP2 times, but it was still enough to slot him into sixth. Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team), again the best independent rider out on track, had the seventh best time of the sessions, sixth for the late Free Practice.

Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) made the best out of his WorldSBK return, coming consistently amongst the top 10 riders before, eventually, finding the pace to record the eighth best time of the day. Haslam, who throughout the weekend is paying tribute to his father Ron Haslam by wearing a replica of the former racer’s helmet, has shown little signs of rust and would be expected to put up a challenge in tomorrow’s Superpole.

Behind Haslam, Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) completed the top ten who will go through to tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole directly. Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), amongst the fastest riders on track all throughout the day, could eventually only come in in eleventh when the dust had settled.

WorldSBK bikes will now prepare for a busy Saturday around Imola, as the bikes take to the track from 8:45LT, before Superpole at 10:30 and Race One at 13:00.

More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:

Pata Yamaha Show Promise on Friday at Imola

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team enjoyed a positive start on Friday at a hot and humid Imola, Round 5 of the 2018 FIM Motul Superbike Championship. Michael van der Mark displayed good pace throughout the day and finished fifth fastest on the combined timesheets with a 1:47.461 to make it through automatically to Saturday’s SP2. His teammate Alex Lowes also showed strong pace and towards the end of FP3, he set a time good enough for fifth on the timing screens but, unfortunately, he had it taken away for exceeding the track limits by the tiniest of margins at the final chicane. This meant he ended Friday in 12th overall with a 1:47.737 but he will head into Saturday’s SP1 looking to make the most of the extra track time and with the confidence he has the pace to make it through to SP2.

The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari has always been the toughest track for the Yamaha YZF-R1 since the manufacturer’s return to the WorldSBK Championship in 2016 but on Friday they went some way to banishing this and showcasing the progress the Pata Yamaha team have made. Van der Mark arrived in Imola off the back of a double podium in Assen and riding the crest of a wave of confidence. The 25-year-old Dutch rider set out his stall in FP1 by ending the morning in sixth place with a 1:48.232.

In FP2 he focused on finding a good feeling with his Pata Yamaha R1 around the demanding rollercoaster of a circuit and while he didn’t manage to improve his time, the work put in would come to fruition in FP3. Sitting in tenth with just five minutes to go in the final session of the day and on the cusp of having to go through to SP1, the 2014 WorldSSP Champion put in some fresh tyres and managed to set a 1:47.461 – his fastest ever lap around Imola – to end Friday in 5th overall. This means van der Mark progresses automatically to SP2, although he knows there is still work to do in Saturday morning’s FP4 session to improve the stability of his bike if he is to repeat his podium heroics from the last round.

His teammate Lowes showed exceptional fortitude on Friday despite having a rather tricky day. In FP1, he was just getting himself reacquainted with the iconic Imola track when he unfortunately missed a downshift and crashed at Turn 7 on just his fifth lap, bringing an end to his session. The 27-year-old British rider hit the deck hard but was declared fit after checks in the Medical Centre, although it meant he missed the rest of the session and he found himself down in 18th overall with a 1:50.043. Despite being battered and bruised, the 2013 British Superbike Champion got back on his Pata Yamaha R1 and showed everyone just how tough he is in FP2 by setting a 1:48.095 to move up to ninth overall on the timesheets.

At the start of FP3, he completed a 10-lap run, showing good pace and consistency and he continued to work on his feeling with the bike throughout the session. With just minutes to go, he was in 12th but confident he could improve and he did just that by heading out on a couple of flying laps and setting a 1:47.423, which would have been good enough for fifth overall. Sadly, he had exceeded track limits at the final chicane by a lick of paint and even though it did not give him an advantage, the lap time was cancelled. When he returned to the pits he was informed of what happened and gave it one final shot to set a flying lap, getting across the line to start the stopwatch with just seconds to go and going on to record his fastest ever lap at Imola, a 1:47.737, which saw him end Friday in 12th overall. This means Lowes will head into Saturday’s SP1 but having displayed the pace to be fighting in the top five, he will take the positives and look to use the extra track time to his advantage.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team return to action on Saturday at 8:45 am local time (CEST) for FP4, with qualifying starting at 10:30 am and the 19-lap Race 1 scheduled for 1 pm. Click here for the combined results from Friday’s Free Practice.

Michael van der Mark

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 5th 1:47.461

“This morning we started off quite strong. I felt good and we had a good speed but Imola is a tough track and the distance to the guys at the front was way too much but luckily, we stayed calm. In FP2 we were 11th but we remained focused and tried to fix our problems and at the end of FP3, we managed to make a big step. I felt so much better with the bike. There is still a lot to do to sort the stability of the bike but I am happy with the way we stayed calm and tried to fix our problems one by one. If we can make the bike more stable, then we can focus on our race pace.”

Alex Lowes

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 12th – 1:47.737

.”This morning I was just getting my feeling back for the track and the next thing I know I was on the deck. I went down quite hard on my neck and shoulder and got a bit of whiplash, which was a shame as we obviously lost that session. After that, I felt quite good on the bike and in the second and third sessions went okay, I did the best lap times I have ever done around here, so it was better than last year. In FP3, I lost my two quickest laps, which I did not know until afterwards, otherwise, I would have been fifth so my pace was actually quite good. I did a long run at the start and I tried to put in a hot lap at the end. I don’t think our pace is as bad as it looks, we probably just didn’t make the most of what we could have done. We will keep working on the bike tomorrow, we have found a good compromise for the change of directions but we are struggling in some areas, especially on corner exit. Apart from that, I feel quite good!”

Paul Denning

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal

“Imola has been the toughest track for the new generation R1 since Yamaha’s comeback to WorldSBK so we didn’t expect it to be easy at all here today. That said our performance relative to the fastest riders is much better than in 2016-17 and, but for a Rizla paper’s width of tyre touching the track limits marking for Alex, fifth and sixth on the timesheets is a very positive result and something to build on. Alex’s cancelled laps and the fact he has to go into SP1 could be seen as a negative but we will take the positives i.e. more track time and more time to improve the performance. Michael has done a very solid job today and worked hard to get the best from himself and the bike. Fingers crossed overnight we can find some solutions to make the guys lives a little bit easier and to increase our pace by a few tenths for both.”