WorldSBK: Yamaha are BACK!
Guintoli leads the charge to Tissot-Superpole as YZF R1 tops Day 1
Friday times now decide direct entry to the Tissot-Superpole session, and the man who leads the way after a day of track time is 2014 WorldSBK Champion Sylvain Guintoli. The only man to set a lap within a 1’30 bracket all day and consequently the fastest on Friday, the Frenchman kept his YZF-R1 almost 4 tenths clear of next man on the timesheets, Honda rider Michael Van Der Mark.
With much of the afternoon dedicated to longer runs, the expected dash for the line in the last stage of the session saw a lot of track action. Reigning Champion Jonathan Rea did a long and consistent run as he dueled with Michael Van Der Mark for the top spot in both long run and one lap pace, before Guintoli dropped his time significantly with a lap that proved unbeatable by the end of the session. The rhythm of the reigning Champion, however, looks set to be difficult to beat. Van Der Mark, who led laps last year in Phillip Island, also looked impressive over a longer run.
Top Australian Josh Brookes had a difficult first day at his home round but did outpace his teammate, looking to improve upon his lap time after before the lights go out for the new era of WorldSBK.
The top ten times were very competitive, with Sykes, Hayden, Giugliano and Davies all looking solid around the Australian track and Sykes fastest in the morning session. Lorenzo Savadori put in a great lap to join them in the top ten, and the fastest BMW from the morning, Markus Reiterberger, maintained his title as just that. By virtue of the combined timesheet, the German pips Alex Lowes to a final entry into Tissot-Superpole 2.
Leon Camier remained the fastest Italian motorbike on track on his MV Agusta, with his pace of the morning proving no fluke, the Italian marque the seventh different manufacturer to find a place in the top ten in a field poised to deliver incredible racing over the season ahead.
Yamaha Finance Australian Round – Combined times Free Practice 1 and 2
1 – Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1’30.865
2 – Michael Van Der Mark Honda +0.384
3 – Jonathan Rea Kawasaki +0.459
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Motors Europe:
New Look WorldSBK Friday Sees Rea And Sykes Inside The Top Four
Official KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes took the all-new Ninja ZX-10R WorldSBK specification machine to third and fourth place respectively in the pre-Superpole qualifying order at the first round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship in Australia.
A successful two day test earlier this week allowed the KRT pairing to start the cycle of practice and qualifying in good form, as part of a new shape WorldSBK weekend schedule.
This year Friday features two one-hour qualifying sessions, which determine the riders who will go forward to Superpole 1 and then Superpole 2 on Saturday, where they will ride to earn final grid positions. Thereafter, there will be the first race of the year on Saturday afternoon and the second on Sunday.
Defending champion Rea, who set a 1’31.324 lap this afternoon, will now compete directly in the second Superpole contest to determine his final grid position for the two 22- lap races.
Sykes delivered a 1’31.363 lap today, putting him just one place and 0.039 seconds behind his team-mate in what was a positive first competitive outing all round for the 2016 Ninja ZX-10R.
Overnight the riders and KRT’s technical staff will have two scenarios to prepare for. One is the quick lap of Superpole qualifying, and then the first full WorldSBK race itself, with full points on offer.
Jonathan Rea stated: “I am really happy to get the first race weekend of the year started. We have been lucky because having a test here earlier in the week means we already have a good base. Pere and Paolo and all the guys have worked really hard in the test to analyse many things and we arrived here today with a good starting point. We are fine-tuning now. The track temperatures today were a lot lower than during the tests so the race simulation we made in the afternoon was a little bit faster. Pirelli has also brought a new race tyre and they asked me to make a run on it. It has good potential and we will check it again in the cooler conditions. I am quite happy to go into Superpole tomorrow with a bike that is comfortable to ride. The new system in practice is OK, just fine, and I was always looking to race on Saturday, because the guys normally make a good set up and we can be quite quick. I am excited to wake up tomorrow for the first race of the year.”
Tom Sykes stated: “We had a couple of things we wanted to confirm today and now we can put our best package together and be happy to go into Saturday. We did not end the day with a long run like we wanted but in terms of everything else we have a good understanding. The new weekend format is relatively OK. The day has finished quite early so we have all afternoon now to put our heads together and I think we can box the job off. Tomorrow will be a busy day with Superpole and the first race on the same day but even in testing we understood we had a very good set-up. Now we will go back to basics and focus our attention on Superpole 2 and the first race.”
For the other Kawasaki runners, Roman Ramos (GO Eleven Kawasaki) will line up for Superpole 1 on Saturday in 12th place, with Sylvain Barrier (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) 16th. Stand-in rider for the injured Josh Hook, Toprak Razgatlioglu, (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) was 19th from the 24 riders at PI. Grillini Kawasaki rider Dominic Schmitter and Pedercini Racing Kawasaki runner Saeed Al Sulaiti finished 21st and 22nd respectively after the first two qualifying sessions.
More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing BMW:
The first day of the new WSBK season for the Althea BMW Racing Team.
Phillip Island (Australia) Friday 26 February 2016
The 2016 Superbike World Championship and its new formula officially got underway today, with Superpole and Race 1 planned for Saturday, Race 2 on Sunday and two timed practice sessions (each an hour) on Friday, with times establishing entry to the Superpole.
Riders Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger, both suffering aches and pains after their respective crashes during Tuesday’s test, lowered their visors and headed out on track today, where the wind during this sunny day also brought clouds and rain showers.
In the first session, 21-year old German Markus Reiterberger completed 20 laps, setting the seventh fastest time (1’31.792), only 0.249 of a second from the leader.
Spaniard Jordi Torres was unfortunately only able to complete 12 laps due to his less than perfect physical condition and a small technical problem, which took time to resolve. With only a few minutes left, Jordi was nevertheless able to complete some laps but the track was slow due to strong wind and he therefore closing 0.840 of a second from the front.
The afternoon session opened with light rain, causing riders to delay their exits. Although Reiterberger was unable to improve on his best time of the morning, the German nevertheless concluded positively, in tenth place, qualifying directly for Superpole 2. Torres managed to lower his earlier time, finishing the session in fourteenth position.
The Althea BMW Racing Team will be ready with their BMW S 1000 RR bikes at 10.20am local time tomorrow, for the 15-minute free practice which will be followed later in the day by the two Superpoles and then Race 1 (at 3pm local time).
“After completing some laps this morning, the gap from the leaders was very small. I wanted to improve with a long-run this afternoon but I did not manage to do so. In the end, even though I lost a position, I’m very pleased with the result but I want to further improve my riding sensations with the bike so that I can feel totally at ease.”
“This morning I definitely wasn’t in the best physical shape and a small technical problem prevented me from lapping as I’d wanted, in fact I was only able to a few laps, while in the afternoon I couldn’t keep the bike stable. I’m still not feeling comfortable on the bike and I’m a bit disappointed because this afternoon I was able to regain that confidence that was missing somewhat this morning.”
More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team works on race pace in Phillip Island
After having focused on confirming the 2016 Panigale R base setup in the two-day test earlier this week, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team took to the track once again in Phillip Island for the first official practice sessions of the season. Given the new format – which splits the races between Saturday and Sunday (both at 3 p.m. local time, 5 a.m. CET) – the team prioritized consistency over the race distance, working at length with used tyres to evaluate their performance on a historically demanding track.
Davide Giugliano finished in seventh position in the combined time sheets (+0.662 behind Sylvain Guintoli, who set the provisional best lap with a 1:30.865), taking three tenths of a second off his personal best in between sessions, and trying the new rear-tyre options brought by Pirelli specifically for this track.
Chaz Davies made two prolonged runs in the morning session, showing a pace in the high 1:31 mark, but suffered some grip issues during FP2, where he still managed to improve by two tenths. The Welshman finished in eighth position (+0.728), right behind his teammate. Both riders qualified directly for Superpole 2.
Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #34) – 1:31.527 (7th)
“Overall, it’s been an undoubtedly positive day. We worked a bit more on performance during the tests, and we’re now focusing on consistency to make the difference during the race. We prioritized pace, with some really good results. We still miss a bit of overall quickness, just two or three tenths to stay within the top three, but I’m confident I’ll find them together with my team. I’ve made a couple of good runs with different tyres, so the choice will just depend on the weather. I’m also curious about racing with the new schedule, which seems good to me.”
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 1:31.593 (8th)
“In the morning I was quite satisfied with my performance, but in the afternoon we ran into some issues and, when we understood how to fix them, it was too late to work on the bike. It’s a bit unfortunate, because with the new format we have about half an hour less of track time on Saturday. Anyways, we’ll make some bigger changes tomorrow to find more grip. The pace at the top has been progressively faster and, while I’m confident about my speed over the race distance, we need to improve our performance on fresh tyres.”
More, from a press release issued by Honda World Superbike Team:
Honda WorldSBK riders on the pace on opening day at Phillip Island
The first day of action for the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship has drawn to a close at Phillip Island, with both Honda WorldSBK riders – Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden – able to qualify directly to tomorrow’s Superpole 2 after two close-fought, one-hour free practice sessions at Phillip Island in Australia.
Despite the overcast skies and some light rain at times during both sessions, the riders were able to put in a good amount of work over the course of the day. They also managed to improve the lap-times set during the two-day test earlier this wee,k while looking for the best set up for tomorrow’s Superpole and race one.
Michael van der Mark completed a total of 55 laps around the 4,455m Australian circuit and went a long run in each of the sessions, with an encouraging race simulation put together in the afternoon. The 23-year-old from Rotterdam spent almost half of the second free practice session on top of the timesheets, eventually finishing the day in second place with a personal best of 1’31.249s.
Nicky Hayden continued to work hard with the team to improve the feeling with the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP here at Phillip Island and was able to make significant steps forward in terms of pure performance on the single lap. During the afternoon session, the 34-year-old American made a breakthrough in terms of overall set up with the bike as he elevated himself to provisional fifth courtesy of a 1’31.475s lap time, before losing one place in the closing stages.
With a new format being introduced for the 2016 edition of the series, the Australian round Superpole 2 will begin at 12:55 local time, followed by the first race of the season at 15:00.
Michael van der Mark 60
2nd / 1’31.249
We started very well this morning and I was able to get up to speed quite quickly. I decided not to go for a lap time in the end, as we were already pretty safe. This afternoon we tried a different tyre, I went out and we did a long run, which wasn’t planned but it turned out to be a really good one. After that we opted for a different compound but I wasn’t able to get the same feeling out of it. In the end I’m very happy with second place, we have qualified directly to Superpole 2 and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.
Nicky Hayden 69
6th / 1’31.475
Day one of my new beginning is over and it wasn’t too bad. Of course, I always would like to be faster and I would have loved to be more consistent in the afternoon, but I was able to go a bit quicker than during the test. I just need to get comfortable with how the bike moves around in changing direction and on corner exit, but I think it’s just my feeling because, after looking at the data, the team says that it isn’t moving much. I think I need to be gentler while changing direction in order not to upset it too much. I’m glad we made it to Superpole 2 and we’ll work on something tomorrow morning.
Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager
Today we faced the new Friday schedule for the first time and I think we did a very good job. Michael has been consistently fast all day long and, unlike many other riders, he decided to go for a long run in the morning. He didn’t change tyres and obviously didn’t go for the quick lap. In the afternoon, we used a new set of tyres and he did a very good long run on it, while moving up to first place in the process. We tried some other tyre combination afterwards but the feeling was not the same. Overall I think we are ready to race with him. On the other side of the garage, Nicky also did well. He was sixth at the end but definitely very close to the riders ahead of him. We have a little bit of more work to do with him in trying to make him a little bit more comfortable with the front, especially in the fast corners. Other than that it wasn’t a bad result at all and we still have some time tomorrow to do some more work on the bike.
More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:
Guintoli Takes Provisional Pole for Pata Yamaha Debut
Free practice
Sylvain Guintoli’s return to the Yamaha Racing family began in fine form at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, in Australia, this afternoon. The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team launched their 2016 campaign with the Frenchman claiming provisional pole position in the opening day of MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action while teammate Alex Lowes completed Friday practice in 11th.
Sunshine and light showers provided mixed conditions for both hour-long free practice sessions but, seeming to master the inclement weather with ease, Guintoli confidently guided his WorldSBK-spec Yamaha YZF-R1 around the 4,445m layout. Concluding the morning sitting second with a fastest lap of 1’31.640, the Frenchman’s times continued to improve with the afternoon weather. Retaining a podium-worthy position for the majority of the final 60 minutes, he initially circulated in third before advancing to head the times as the only rider to break the 1’31 barrier – setting a 1’30.865 with 15 minutes remaining. WorldSBK’s new schedule sees Friday’s second practice times cement the 20 fastest riders’ automatic qualification into Saturday’s two Superpole sessions, with Guintoli holding the all-important provisional pole.
With less than a second separating the top 11 riders, Alex Lowes concluded his inaugural day on his YZF-R1 with a best lap of 1’31.825 but with the new schedule now in operation he will have to compete in the opening Superpole 1 to fight for his promotion to the top-12 shootout. Continuing to fine-tune his riding style with his new Yamaha machine, the British racer has a number of settings changes – including his own positioning on the bike – for his crew to adjust overnight. Saturday brings a shortened free practice – with timings not admissible for qualifying – before Superpole and the opening race of the 2016 season at 15:00hrs local time, but Lowes is confident his team’s hard work will be repaid for the 22-lap contest around one of his favourite tracks.
Sylvain Guintoli
“I wasn’t expecting to be at the top of the times today but I’ll definitely take that! We have such a good base with the YZF-R1 even at the start of this project, especially the chassis and engine character, so it’s nice to know we can work up from here. We have spent a lot of the winter evaluating and assessing, and expected to be continuing this for the opening round at Phillip Island. This is my favourite track on the calendar so hopefully we can continue to improve as the weekend progresses and enjoy a good couple of races with the new split two-day schedule starting tomorrow.”
Alex Lowes
“I’m still finding my perfect set-up with the YZF-R1 so I wasn’t 100% comfortable out there today but the times are, as always, so close between the top riders. We have a few things we are working on overnight with the lads, and I love this circuit so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Historically I’ve done well in practice here but it hasn’t translated to the race so hopefully this year a careful dress rehearsal will give me a better race day when it matters!”
Paul Denning Paul Denning ? Team Principal
“Nobody in the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team expected to be at the top of the timesheets in Yamaha’s first day back in World Superbike competition, but to achieve it is a great reward for everyone who has been working so hard on the project and it clearly demonstrates the massive potential of the YZF-R1.
“Phillip Island is Sylvain’s favourite track and the combination of his ability and experience, and the way in which he has adapted to the Yamaha, has resulted in a more competitive package at this point of the season than we expected. Congratulations to Sylvain and to his crew for a very solid day’s work, and whilst we have no fixed expectation in terms of what we can achieve on race day, we couldn’t have had a better start!
“Alex is less than a second from Sylvain’s best time but unfortunately that is 11th place, and there is work to do to find both the best settings for the YZF-R1 and for Alex to understand how to get the best out of the Yamaha here. Phillip Island is a very different race track to those we have used over the winter tests. We will work hard tonight, try to help him understand how to take the next steps forward, and look forward to Yamaha’s first race in WorldSBK since 2011, tomorrow!”
More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:
GREAT START FOR TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE ON OPENING ROUND AT PHILLIP ISLAND // IL TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE CENTRA LA PRIMA SUPERPOLE A PHILLIP ISLAND
26 FEBRUARY 2016
The 4.445km Phillip Island Circuit, in Australia, today hosted the unveiling of the new 2016 MV Agusta Reparto Corse Official Team. The Italian based squad will line up Leon Camier in WorldSBK, riding the new MV Agusta F4 RC machine, while Jules Cluzel and Lorenzo Zanetti will race in WorldSSP class, riding the new MV Agusta F3 675.
During the opening Free Practice day at Phillip Island the MV Agusta F4 RC was the fastest Italian bike on track, with Leon Camier ending up in 5° position, extremely close the World Champion Jonathan Rea, and making his first Tissot-Superpole 2 of the year. The British rider showed a great consistent for both the practice sessions and he expect to fights for the first row in starting grid.
Great Day for the duo Cluzel-Zanetti as well, with the French rider getting the 2° best time (1’33.877) and the Italian immediately close in 4° position (1’34.032). Both the rider will enter the first Tissot-Superpole 2 in WorldSSP, which will be held tomorrow at 13.55 local time.
Leon Camier #2 – I am really happy to be as fast as we are. We solved the problem had a few little problem during the test and that means we are working in the right direction for the race. The chassis seems really good and so the electronic. Maybe we just need to refine a little bit the chassis setting but I am pretty happy with the bike feeling in general. Now we have to be focused and fast on the superpole and make sure to get a good qualify and a good start.
Lorenzo Zanetti #87 -I am really happy with this first day. We are still figuring out how to get the best setting but this morning I immediately got a good feeling with the bike whilst this afternoon it was difficult to improve my lap time, because of the hot temperature and the wind. The second session I chose to focus on the long run, trying to get a good pace and I was really consistent and fast. This year will be crucial to be always on top 10, in order to enter the Superpole 2. I am really satisfied with the work we did and look forward to the race on Sunday.
Jules Cluzel #16 -The track this morning was really different from the testing days. The asphalt had less grip because of the past rain that changed the conditions. This afternoon I changed tyres and I tried to push hard but I lost my rear at the penultimate turn and I crashed. I am lucky because I am good enough to race and I am happy to have qualified in 2° place thanks to the time I scored in FP1