eni FIM Superbike World Championship
Assen TT Circuit, Netherlands
April 17, 2015
Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), 1:35.748
2. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.068
3. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:36.190
4. Leon HASLAM, UK (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:36.480
5. Michael VD MARK, Netherlands (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:36.525
6. Jordi TORRES, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 RF), 1:36.840
7. Alex LOWES, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:36.918
8. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Honda CBR1000RR SP), 1:36.950
9. Xavier FORES, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:36.964
10. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4), 1:37.061
11. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:37.319
12. David SALOM, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:37.362
13. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), 1:37.389
14. Nico TEROL, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), 1:37.485
15. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Ducati Panigale R), 1:37.889
16. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:38.066
17. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:38.225
18. Santigao BARRAGÁN, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.210
19. Christophe PONSSON, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:39.250
20. Niccola CANEPA, Italy (EBR 1190 RX), 1:39.511
21. Larry PEGRAM, USA (EBR 1190 RX), 1:41.756
22. Javier ALVIZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:42.015
23. Imre TOTH, Hungary (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.659
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
Davies tops Day 1 timesheets after blistering final lap
Sykes and Rea tight close in second and third as they edge Haslam and Van der Mark.
The first day of action of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen drew to a close with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) responding to the challenge from the KRT duo of former Champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and current Championship leader Jonathan Rea to top of the overall classification by a margin of 0.320s with a final, scintillating lap of 1’35.748.
With Sykes and Rea in second and third, respectively, Haslam rode his factory Aprilia RSV4 RF up to fourth place, edging out local star Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike) by only 45 thousandths of a second while bettering his morning session’s lap-time by a significant 1.3s.
Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) elevated himself to sixth, with the biggest improvement of the day coming from Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) who jumped from 16th after FP1 to seventh.
Reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) lapped consistently to end the day eighth overall with Nico Terol (Althea Racing Ducati) and Xavi Fores (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) completing the top-10.
Good news coming from Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who quietly went about his business, understanding the new electronics and posting the tenth best time, making it five manufacturers inside the top ten, and giving MV Agusta their best Friday placing since they returned to WorldSBK last year.
WorldSBK Assen – Combined times Free Practice 1 and 2
1 – Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team 1’35.748
2 – Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing Team +0.320
3 – Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team +0.442
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
WORLD SUPERBIKE TAKES ON THE DUTCH ASSEN CIRCUIT
BOTH LEON HASLAM AND JORDI TORRES PROGRESS IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS IN THE TWO SESSIONS
Assen (Holland), 17 April 2015 – The first day of practice at Assen had the Team Aprilia Racing – Red Devils riders improving in leaps and bounds between the two sessions. More than one second improvement for Leon Haslam and an impressive second and a half for Jordi Torres are a symptom of the excellent job done in the garages on the Aprilia RSV4 RFs, a process that will continue today with the customary technical debriefing which should lead to more results tomorrow and in the races on Sunday.
The demanding Dutch track was unable to intimidate expert rider Leon Haslam who concentrated on the job at hand without pushing too hard, leading his mechanics in the right direction. The improvement in the two timed sessions and especially the feeling Leon had on the bike are encouraging for Superpole tomorrow and the races on Sunday.
Haslam rode his RSV4 RF to fourth place in the combined standings with his best lap stopping the clock at 1’36.48.
Leon Haslam: “We made some good progress today. I also used the softer tyre for the first time. We are working well in terms of race strategy rather than on our flying lap. There are still various things we need to work out to get past a few situations that we still need to iron out. We aren’t far from the front runners and slowly but surely we’re improving, so that means we are on the right path. Tomorrow I think we’ll achieve our goal in terms of performance.”
One of the particularities of Assen is that there are no real reference points. It is a flat track where any mistake setting up a line can penalise the rider for an entire sector. Precisely for this reason Jordi Torres, in his rookie year on the Aprilia V4 reigning world champion bike, had to adjust his braking points and adapt to the Superbike lines. This was the focus for the morning session, where Jordi put in a lot of consecutive laps precisely to get comfortable on the track, whereas in the afternoon he concentrated on the actual setup, ending the day in sixth place.
Jordi Torres: “Our biggest step today was definitely the rider. I used the first session to get my bearings. Here at Assen I had only lapped in Moto2 and I realised quickly that the braking points and the lines are completely different. In terms of the settings I think the RSV4 is already at a good level. I’m sure we can still improve but it will be up to me to make the difference. Today was a good day.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Provisional pole for Davies and the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team on day 1 of SBK action at Assen
Assen (The Netherlands), Friday 17 April 2015 – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) powers his Panigale R to the top of the timesheets at the end of the first day of timed practice at the TT Circuit in Assen; Javier Forés concludes today’s sessions in overall ninth position.
In cold and partially overcast conditions (10°C), but on a dry track (of 15°C), the factory riders used the first timed practice session to work on the set-up of their Panigale R machines. The team was once again able to make constant progress during the 45-minutes available and closed the session with Davies in third place, thanks to a best time of 1’37.272, and Javier Forés sixth (1’37.477).
In the afternoon’s session, which took place in similarly cool conditions, the technicians on both sides of the garage made a series of refinements to the riders’ bikes. Having found a good base set-up, Davies was able to set an extremely fast time at the end of the session – 1’35.748 – the quickest of the day in fact, to score provisional pole position. Forés has not yet found the ideal set-up solution but was nevertheless able to lower his time by half a second to close day one in ninth place (1’36.964).
Quotes after the day’s sessions:
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 1st (1’35.748)
“I don’t think I’ve ever had such a positive Friday at Assen, also because I’ve always had a bit of trouble at this track results-wise. At this point I think we have a good base set-up; here we’ve started with what we were using at Aragon and we’ve only had to make a few small changes so far. We’ve tried a few different things and in the final stages of the session I was able to put in a fast lap. Despite the result, I’m still losing in the final sector so we’ll try to improve in that area tomorrow as well as continuing our preparations for Sunday’s races.”
Javier Forés – (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #112) – 9th (1’36.964)
“Although we’ve been able to improve a little today we’re not yet there in terms of set-up. As it’s the first time I’m riding at Assen with this bike I guess we need some time to get everything sorted. The bike has been moving around a lot and this means I can’t ride as I would like; it is preventing me from putting a clean lap together. But we will continue to work this evening to understand the direction to take in the next sessions – tomorrow’s a new day and I’m sure we’ll be able to improve.”
More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda:
Provisional second row for van der Mark at Assen
Michael van der Mark set the fifth fastest overall time in today’s two practice sessions for the fourth round of the 2015 World Superbike championship at Assen in the Netherlands.
The 22-year-old Pata Honda rider fired his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP around the 4.542km Assen circuit in a time of 1m36.525s as British rider Chaz Davies secured provisional pole position.
Van der Mark’s Pata Honda team-mate, Sylvain Guintoli, who was fifth fastest after the opening free practice session this morning, set the overall eighth fastest time today as he continues to seek the optimum setting for his CBR.
Tomorrow morning’s third free practice session will combine with today’s two to determine which riders go forward to the afternoon Superpole sessions to finalise grid positions for the two 21-lap races at Assen on Sunday.
Michael van der Mark – P5, 1m36.525s
I’m really, really happy with today, which was my first day at Assen on a superbike. I felt really good from the first laps this morning and the CBR was working very well. I am happy with P5 at the end because we have a lot of things still to improve, particularly stability on the exit of corners. In the last session with the new tyre in the rear, the front was already on the limit so I couldn’t really improve my lap time but, with lots to work on, I’m happy with that first day here on the Fireblade.
Sylvain Guintoli – P8, 1m36.950s
Today has been a lot better as an opening day for us and we found some interesting things which I’m hoping we can turn into a bit more pace tomorrow. We’re still working to improve my general feeling on the bike because I don’t yet feel like it’s really mine. The lap-by-lap pace is actually quite good and we’re closer to the front than we have been for the last two races. With no really hard braking here at Assen, the CBR is working quite well, particularly through the fast-flowing corners at the back of the circuit.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
I think we can be quit happy to see both riders closer to the front from the start and closing the gap to our competitors. In the end Michael was fifth, having been in the top four for most of the day. We made some really good steps there and his fresh tyre went in quite a bit before the end. Also, his ideal time is around four tenths better than the 36.5 that he did so there’s certainly room for improvement there. Sylvain got eighth and we managed to find something that gave him some more confidence; we have some more things to fix for tomorrow, mainly on the stability at the rear, but we’ll work on that tonight. The lap times are quite close, particularly the group from fourth to tenth, and I think we’ve had a positive day with both riders.
More, from a press release issued by Team Hero EBR:
Round Three – Assen, the Netherlands 17-19th April 2015
Opening Day Practice – 17th April
Conditions: Dry
After two session of practice during the opening day of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Assen Niccolò Canepa and Larry Pegram finished up 20th and 22nd respectively.
In windy but dry conditions Canepa battled the effects of a fever to score his provisional Superpole qualifying spot, working with his Team Hero EBR crew to improve set-up at the 4.542km circuit. He will continue this work of matching the machine to the circuit on day two, and hope for good weather to improve his first day best lap time of 1’39.511, set in the afternoon session.
For Pegram, Assen was virtually a new circuit, with so many modifications having been made over the years since he last rode a WSS machine here, just before the turn of the millennium. The high winds today did not help his attempt to find an improving pace on the fastest sections but Pegram is confident he can move forward on the second day once he learns the circuit fully.
Larry Pegram
“For me it was just a day trying to learn the track again. They have made so many changes since I was last here that it is a totally different track. It’s brand new for me basically, so I am just learning it and unfortunately, not quickly, enough. We have from tomorrow to Sunday to learn it some more. It is also really windy today which made it worse but it is what it is and we have got to learn the layout and get going.”
Niccolò Canepa
“It is very windy out on track and we have to work hard with the set-up of the electronics and the chassis. This track is different from Aragon and we have to adjust the bike to make it work here. At every track we have to find a new set-up, gearing and other things. It just takes us some time to do that. We are already working to understand the small issues we have with set-up and working to fix them for tomorrow. I think we can. I also have a fever and I did not feel at 100% but I was OK for practice. I hope tomorrow will be an improvement and I have to say that I feel better today than I did yesterday.”
More, from a press release issued by Voltcom Crescent Suzuki:
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki moving forward at Assen
Continuing the detailed electronics development started at Aragon a week ago, Alex Lowes and Randy de Puniet took to the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands today for the opening free practices on their Voltcom Crescent Suzuki World Superbikes.
A frustrating morning saw both racers spend the majority of the first 45 minute session evaluating data in the garage rather than completing actual track time – with Lowes and de Puniet completing 10 and 13 laps respectively with their Yoshimura-powered machines – but the efforts paid dividends as the Englishman’s afternoon progression highlighted. Improving his pace by almost 3 seconds, Lowes completed the practice in seventh with a time of 1’36.918 – just over a second from Friday’s fastest.
Initially the stronger of the two Suzuki riders on morning pace, de Puniet was feeling confident heading into the afternoon practice. An issue with the traction control system, however, hindered further advancement – the Frenchman improving his time by just half a second to conclude the day in 16th and determined to regroup ahead of Saturday’s qualification
A dry and bright TT Circuit brought temperatures of just 11°C for the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship’s opening day, despite a brief shower threatening to disrupt the morning session. Ducati’s Chaz Davies topped the times sheets with a 1’35.748 ahead of the earlier victor, Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes.
The team returns to the Assen TT Circuit at 09:45hrs local time (08:45BST) tomorrow morning for the last timed free practice, the non-timed session on track at 12:30hrs (11:30BST)before the afternoon’s two 15 minutes Superpole qualifiers commence at 15:00hrs (14:00BST).
Alex Lowes:
“Another difficult day, we’ve made some steps in the right direction but it will be interesting to see if we can improve further tomorrow I’m still not 100% confident with the bike but I’m hoping once we gain that confidence we can find the consistency and pace that we need The lads are doing a good job and we are all doing our best to find a solution, I really appreciate the hard work so once we’ve slept on it tonight we can come back fresh and ready to tackle it head-on tomorrow.”
Randy de Puniet:
“It was not an easy day overall, this morning was looking ok but when we decided to improve the traction control this afternoon it was in the wrong direction. We tried a number of things but in the end there was no improvement so we finished both sessions without a decent traction control setting. We also tried a new tyre at the end of the afternoon but the feeling wasn’t good, I thought I needed more time to warm the tyre but I’m not sure so we finished the session in 16th which is not where I was expecting to be after running 11th this morning. I am really hoping to be in the top ten so we need to work hard tonight to find a solution and improve the GSX-R further. Now is not the time to lose motivation so we need to continue to focus and come back fighting for a good grid place tomorrow.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The riders have said it all really – all we can do is focus, do our best and work hard to solve the setting problems we have with the new Magneti Marelli system. The bike is not yet predictable or settled enough, both in corner entry and exit, and as we solve one issue we highlight another. The GSX-R is fundamentally a competitive bike, it is fast and is turning well, but both our guys are riding with one hand tied behind their backs right now. Plaudits to them for remaining so calm and focused, we will keep pushing hard to get back to where they and the team can be.”