Team Althea Racing – Jerez SBK preview The fourteenth and final round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at the “Circuito de Jerez” over the weekend of October 18/19/20. “Circuito de Jerez” is a racing circuit located close to the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. The project was led by the Spanish engineer Manuel Medina Lara, based on a preliminary idea from Alessandro Rocci. The circuit opened on 8 December 1985. During 1986 the circuit hosted the first international motorcycle event in Spain in March and the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in April. Due to the hosting of the European Grand Prix in 1994, the circuit initiated safety changes from the 1990 configuration, including a new chicane (the Senna curve) It’s one of the most popular tracks for winter testing. During 2005, the track was resurfaced. The circuit currently holds pre-season Formula One testing shared with the Circuit de Catalunya, also in Spain. On 2 May 2013, it was announced that the final corner would be renamed after Spanish MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo. Circuit main characteristics : Length: 4.423 km Pole Position: left Right turn : 8 Left turns : 5 The World Superbike championship is coming to a close with the last two races of this thrilling season taking place this coming weekend at the track in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. These two races will decide the 2013 world superbike champion. Team Althea arrives in Jerez, ready to confirm this strong season finale that is rewarding both the team and its rider Davide Giugliano with great results. Davide has finished in the top positions in all recent races, demonstrating maturity and consistency. Genesio Bevilacqua’s team will work to close the championship in the best possible way in Jerez, in order to thank sponsors and fans, who have never stopped supporting the team, with some positive results. Davide Giugliano: “I’m pleased to be able to finish my 2013 season in Jerez, a track that I really like and where I rode the RSV4 Aprilia for the first time last November. On that occasion I was immediately fast and hope that I can do likewise this time, although it won’t be easy to fight at the front, with riders who are still battling it out for the title. This is a positive moment for us and I hope it continues at Jerez too, because I really want to conclude the season in the best way possible, as a way of thanking my team and all those who believed in me.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: THE WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON WILL FINISH ON THE SPECTACULAR SPANISH JEREZ CIRCUIT. EUGENE LAVERTY AND SYLVAIN GUINTOLI ARE EAGER TO FINISH THE SEASON THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY. APRILIA IS CLOSE TO THE MANUFACTURER TITLE, HAVING DOMINATED THE STANDINGS FROM THE FIRST ROUND. Jerez, 16 October 2013 – The final round of the 2013 World Superbike season is about to kick off on a brand new track for the factory derivative championship – the spectacular Jerez circuit. The Aprilia Racing Team will arrive in Spain mathematically within a shout of victory for both Eugene Laverty and team mate Sylvain Guintoli, both of whom have put in an excellent season. The probabilities certainly don’t favour the Aprilia riders, but in any case they are ready to give it their all on a track that they know well since it was the Italian team’s test track this year. On the manufacturer front Aprilia is a hair’s breadth away from the third title in the last four years after dominating the brand standings from the very first round at Phillip Island, proof of the RSV4’s superiority. For Eugene Laverty, a key player in recent rounds with a double win at Istanbul, the victory at Laguna Seca and his double podium at Magny-Cours, the goal is still to win both races on Sunday. Trailing the leader by 37 points, the only feasible strategy is to aim for the top result. Eugene Laverty: “We still have an outside chance of the title going into the final round at Jerez. All I can do is try to win the races on Sunday and see what happens. We’ve had a really good run of seven successful podiums and it would be great to finish the season on a high”. After stirring up the French fans at Magny-Cours with a double podium, Sylvain Guintoli will now take on Jerez, where he made his preseason maiden run astride the Aprilia RSV4. The rider from across the Alps has had a season which can definitely be categorised as positive: after making his début with a victory at Phillip Island, Sylvain dominated the rider standings thanks to a series of impressive placings. After suffering a shoulder injury which compromised his performance in the second half of the season he is now lying in third place, just 38 points behind Sykes. Sylvain Guintoli: “After the Magny-Cours Race2 battle with Eugene that ended on the tarmac, medical checks revealed no further damage to the shoulder. That’s the first good news! The second one is that Jerez is our test track and I know it very well from my GP days. The fight for the Championship is still on and I want to push until the end”. More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Superbike Team: Pata Honda looks forward to SBK finale The Pata Honda team is preparing for this weekend’s final round of the 2013 World Superbike championship at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain. It’s some 23 years since Jerez hosted a round of the production-based SBK series but many of the teams tested at the 4.423km Andalusian track at the end of 2012, including the current Pata Honda line-up of Michel Fabrizio and Leon Haslam. Fabrizio has been substituting for the injured Jonathan Rea since round 11 at Istanbul in Turkey and Jerez represents the 29-year-old Italian’s final outing with the team. He is understandably looking forward to leaving on a high and the team will be doing all it can to realise Fabrizio’s wish. Haslam meanwhile has his own reasons to seek an uplifting end to a difficult season that has been blighted by a double leg fracture sustained at Assen in The Netherlands in April. The 30-year-old British rider will be aiming to maintain his record of at least one podium finish in each of his full seasons as a World Superbike rider. The Pata Honda team will remain in Spain following Sunday’s two 21-lap races at Jerez for a one-day test on Tuesday 22 October. It is anticipated that Jonathan Rea will use the test to re-introduce himself to his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade after fracturing his left femur in a crash at Nurburgring in Germany on 1 September. Leon Haslam We tested at Jerez at the end of last season and did some back-to-back comparisons between last year’s electronics and the new package, which was at a very early stage of development. It’ll be difficult to use any of the data we got back then but it’s a great track and I’ve always loved riding here since I was in GPs. We solved a pretty significant issue on the bike at the end of the last round in Magny-Cours, so I’m really looking forward to getting out on the Jerez circuit on Friday and giving it a go. It’s the last round of the series and I would just like it to be the one where everything finally comes together and we can get a chance to show what we’re capable of. There are lots of things to improve before the beginning of next season – both with me and the bike – but I’d like to finish this one by challenging the top guys this weekend. Michel Fabrizio Jerez will be my last race with the Pata Honda team, so I want to continue the positive direction that we found at Magny-Cours and to finish with some good results. I found a good confidence in the bike and in my riding in France so I want to take this to Spain and finish this year in a good way. I have never raced at Jerez but I tested there last year on a different machine and I was very fast, so I know that the circuit suits my riding style. I wish Jonathan a good recovery and I would like to thank Honda and the Pata Honda team for this opportunity. I hope to put on a good show for everyone this weekend. Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator So, we reach the last race of the season and our final outing with Michel. We would all like to thank him for his contribution since Istanbul and we will all be trying very hard to help him continue to challenge for top five finishes. We will also try to give Leon back some confidence in the bike and help him to finish this season on a high to generate some positive momentum for the 2014 season. We are also very happy to welcome Jonathan back to the team after his injury and to congratulate him on the birth of his son. He’ll be with us all weekend and I can speak for the whole team in saying that we are all looking forward to seeing him back on the bike during our test next week.