Pata Honda riders set for Italian battle
Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark are preparing for the Pata-sponsored eighth round of the 2015 World Superbike championship which takes place at Misano World Circuit this weekend (19-21 June) on the Adriatic coast of Italy.
Both Pata Honda riders enjoyed improved results in the last round at Portimao in Portugal but the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP-mounted duo knows that further steps are required to challenge for more podium finishes.
Reigning WSBK world champion Guintoli has never visited the podium at the 4.226km Misano circuit, which has recently been resurfaced to improve wet weather grip, but the 32-year-old French rider has declared himself ready for the challenge.
World Superbike rookie van der Mark, 22, finished second at Misano last season on his way to the 2014 World Supersport championship and the Dutch ace is determined to add to his debut WSBK podiums scored earlier this season at his home round in Assen.
Sylvain Guintoli
I’m still buzzing from the parade lap I did last week at the Isle of Man TT, except it wasn’t a parade lap as we were doing almost 200kph down Bray Hill and I saw 270kph on the CBR’s clocks over the mountain! What a perfect bike for the job though, as John McGuinness showed in the Senior TT on Friday. But now it’s time to focus back on our own CBR for Misano and continue the hard work that the team has been doing recently. We had a test after the Portimao round and tried a couple of new things that we think could improve our race pace some more. I really like Misano and it’ll be good to try the new surface there and chase more top five finishes and our first podium of the season.
Michael van der Mark
I’m really looking forward to riding at Misano this weekend because it’s a track that I really enjoy and to ride it on the Fireblade should be great fun! After a bad run of results, it was really good to finish both races in the top ten at Portimao and that’s definitely going to be my biggest target for Misano. Hopefully, we can have a weekend without any problems and get back to challenging some of the front guys again like earlier in the season.
More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing:
MISANO WORLD CIRCUIT MARCO SIMONCELLI 19 – 20 – 21 JUNE 2015
ROUND 8 OF THE 2015 SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Team Althea Racing arrives at the next important round with very high expectations:
Niccolò Canepa, taking part in his first race with Team Althea Racing in the Superbike World Championship is keen to demonstrate his full potential in the remaining races. His previous experience with the Team (2014 EVO championship) will undoubtedly help him.
Matteo Baiocco, strengthened by the fact he lies in seventh place in the general standings and by recent results at Portimao during both the races and testing, will be able to solidify all of the positive sensations experienced with the new software that he recently tested. With this new system mounted during Monday morning’s test session at Portimao, it seemed that Matteo’s Ducati Panigale R had overcome many of the problems that were conditioning the rider’s performance. The lap times seen in the Portimao tests have boosted the confidence of the Team’s technicians and engineers.
There are also high expectations for Raffaele De Rosa and Luca Salvadori in the Superstock 1000 race. De Rosa will surely want to fight for his first win that he has just missed out on so far and Salvadori, after a rapid recovery from injury, will be able to move in on a place in the top ten, a result that he has already achieved twice.
Matteo Baiocco: “We finally reach Misano, a track that I’ve always really liked, and we also get here feeling very positive after the great weekend at Portimao which ended with Monday’s tests during which we tried some really positive solutions. I can’t wait to try them on my home track in front of the many fans that will come to support me. Misano is my favourite track on the SBK calendar and so I really want to complete two top-level races this weekend.”
Niccolò Canepa: “I can’t wait to be back in the Team Althea garage at Misano. I’ve been training hard in order to arrive at the Italian round in the best possible physical shape. I hope that the weather is good, so that we can work well right from the first session on Friday morning, so that I can build confidence with my Ducati. It’s an important race for me and for the Team and I’ll try hard to be fast right from the outset.”
More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:
Misano The Next Arena For Rea And Sykes
Round eight of the FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli between 19th and 21st June, with KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes out to compete at the very front of the action once more, at what is a favourite venue for both riders.
So far in a season that began in Australia and has most recently held a round in Portugal, KRT’s official riders have won 12 of the 14 races, with runaway championship leader Jonathan Rea having scored ten of those individual victories.
His start to his first season in Kawasaki colours has been unprecedented as he has scored not only double-digit race wins but he has added second place results in every other race to take a lead of 124 points into the forthcoming round.
With just over half the season gone Rea has a total of 330 points, in what has been the most effective start to a season in WSB history. He has dropped only 20 points in 14 individual races. Having won the first of his current career tally of 25 race wins at the Misano circuit, way back in 2009, Jonathan is looking for more silverware this year.
Second place in the championship right now is recent Donington Park double race winner and 2013 World Champion, Tom Sykes. He scored second place in race one in Portugal and moved to second place in the title chase. Tom is only one behind Rea in terms of career WSB race wins, with 24.
Sykes scored a double WSB win at Misano in 2014 and hopes to replicated that result to ease away from the riders behind in the points table before the series heads to the USA and then Malaysia over the next two months.
The regularly remodelled 4.226km Misano circuit has recently been resurfaced, which will provide a new characteristic for the riders to take into consideration, especially in the hot temperatures everyone expects to find on the Adriatic coast of Italy in late June.
Jonathan Rea: “I had my first ever WSB race win at Misano and I always enjoy going to Italy. The Ninja ZX-10R has been really competitive at Misano and I am looking forward to it. We will see on Friday how the bike is because it is another new track for me on the Kawasaki but we will see how things are in the first session and take it from there. I hope that there will be a lot of people there on the weekend; there always seems to be. Imola was pretty full and the Italian crowds always have a warm place in my heart. Temperatures should be hot again, like in Portimao, so I expect to be strong. It is the last European race for a while, before we go on two fly-aways, so it would be good to make it count.”
Tom Sykes: “This year we have had a bit of bad luck, which is very unlike us, but we have got the bike working well for us and in a way that was giving us good results. I am looking forward to going to Misano because it is a great part of the world. There is a great atmosphere just being there in general and we will be back to competing in front of the Italian fans. It is nice to be racing on the coast of Italy and this time of year the temperature is up, the sun is generally shining and all-in-all it is a great venue.”
David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) and Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) continue to keep each other company in the championship standings, with Ramos 14th overall and Salom 15th. 2014 SBK Evo champion Salom is hoping to record two strong finishes to close up a five point gap to Ramos.
More, from a press release issued by Voltcom Crescent Suzuki:
Adriatic adventure for Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki heads to the Italian Riviera and the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli this week for round eight of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship – the final European round before two back-to-back flyaways herald the 2015 summer break.
A successful test at Portimao left Alex Lowes and Randy de Puniet positive and raring to tackle the Rimini track after making significant improvements to their respective Yoshimura-powered GSX-R’s. Having achieved an eighth place finish after a challenging Misano debut last season, Lowes is eager to exceed his previous WSBK performance on his 2015 Suzuki, while his teammate de Puniet – no stranger to San Marino with seven races and numerous tests throughout his GP career – is looking forward to his debut visit on the Suzuki GSX-R1000.
The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli is located 25kms from the Republic of San Marino and just 3kms from Italy’s Adriatic coast. Designed in 1969 and thoroughly modernised over the past ten years, the 4,226m clockwise layout incorporates ten right and six left-hand corners and is a firm favourite with both fans and riders due to its close racing and passionate atmosphere.
The weekend’s action will follow the standard European schedule with two free practices on Friday 19th June at 11:15hrs and 15:00hrs local time (10:15 and 14:00BST), a further two practices and two Superpole sessions on Saturday 20th and the all-important 21 lap races at 10:30hrs and 13:10hrs local time (09:30 and 12:10BST) on Sunday 21st June.
Alex Lowes:
“I like the Misano track but it was one of the most difficult weekends last year, for me, Eugene and the whole team, it’s never nice knowing we’ve struggled there in the past but I’m hoping we can lay those ghosts to rest this year. I really like the layout and the whole place – the atmosphere at Italian races is always fantastic and it’s by the sea which adds an extra element – so I’m looking forward to getting there. I’m hoping for a normal weekend, to build on the developments made in Portimao and getting back in the mix for race day.”
Randy de Puniet:
“Misano is a tight track but it’s nice to race. You have fast corners, slow corners and I’ve always had a good feeling there. With the developments made with the GSX-R at the Portimao test I’m really pleased and happy to go to Misano. I’m hoping to start with the same base we found in Portugal and continue to make more improvements throughout the weekend so we can start to return to a normal race pattern and have a good result on Sunday.”
More, from a press release issued by Pirelli:
Pirelli is ready to face the new asphalt of the Misano circuit with two new rear solutions for the Superbike and one for the Supersport classes
The eighth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, which will see the long-awaited return to competition of Max Biaggi as a wild card, in addition to Luca Scassa, will take place over the weekend on the newly resurfaced Italian track that, for this reason, could be particularly aggressive on tires
Sold out for the second Pirelli SBK® Track Day, dedicated to motorcyclists who love the Pirelli brand, which will take place on Monday in the Romagna’s circuit one day after the championship of the production derived series
Misano Adriatico (Italy), 18 June 2015 – The eighth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship that will take place over the weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, is for several reasons one of the most awaited of the season.
The track of the Romagna region will in fact be the background for the great return of Max Biaggi, the six times World Champion Roman rider who, at almost 44 years, will return to the stage in the championship of the production derived series as a wild card riding an Aprilia. The same team with which in 2012 he won his last Superbike World Championship before announcing his retirement from competition.
With Max Biaggi back on track is also Luca Scassa who will also race as a wild card, on a third Ducati Panigale R provided by the Aruba.it-Racing Ducati SBK Team, after a serious injury last year which has prevented him to get on track for the rest of the season.
Besides these two great names that will surely bring many Italian fans to Misano, the next weekend could be very important for the championship: if Jonathan Rea were to realize another double, the fifth of the season, he would almost guarantee the world title.
No less important are the news from Pirelli side: the tire company has developed for the second Italian round several new solutions, specifically two rear for the Superbike and one rear for Supersport, that could be crucial to face the new asphalt of the Romagna’s circuit and particularly the high temperatures that usually occur in this period.
At the end of the race weekend the circuit of Misano will host the second, (after Imola), Italian Pirelli SBK® Track Day, the initiative dedicated to all riders who love the Pirelli brand that for one day can experience the excitement of Superbike riding on the same track where the day before the Superbike riders raced.
The Pirelli SBK® Track Days provide 7 events on 13 circuits in which takes place the eni FIM Superbike World Championship. The track day at Misano confirmed the passion of the Italian riders for the brand of the elongated P logo, all available seats have gone; in fact sold out in April, a few days after the opening of the registration.
Misano VS tires: the new asphalt and high temperatures are the main unknowns
The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, this is the official name of the circuit dedicated to the memory of the famous Italian motorcycle racer, is a 4226 meters long track with 10 right-handers and 6 left turns, a minimum width of 12 meters and a total of 1,850 meters straights with the finish straight which measures 510 meters.
The circuit was designed in 1969 with an initial length of 3488 meters and in 1972 sport competitions began. Following a renovation project in 1993, the track became 4060 meters long and a new building with garage and a press area of 600 square meters were built.
In the following years the building on the finish straight was completed and the pits and paddock area was enlarged and several stands were built.
Since 2005 the circuit underwent a major restructuring and at the end of 2006 a work of modernizing the circuit began, concerning the extension of the track to 4180 meters. The track was also reversed to become clockwise, while the circuit now takes the official name by which it is known today ‘Misano World Circuit.’
With the costruction, in early 2008, of a new 250 meter long exit lane of the pits which required changes to the “Variante del Rio”, the circuit has then reached the current length and is now approved to host 75,000 spectators.
This year, at the beginning of March, in ten days the circuit has been completely resurfaced with the laying of 53,000 square meters of asphalt, as well as programs such as those involving the escape routes, redesigned according to the safety calculations of DroCAS™. To increase decelerating capacity if there is a damage while maintaining space for maneuver in the event of error, the new curbs with embedded drainages and reprofiling of existing ones, the review of the system of drainage and surface sections and profiles revised to increase the surface flatness. Two new sidetracks were also made, the Brutapela and the Acquedotto, introducing curves with original designs specially designed for driving schools, new anti-skid removable paint have been applied and the re-profiling of all curves to improve vehicle dynamics and driving pleasure has been made. It was thus created two new circuit configurations: the “Brutapela Track”, which is 986 meters long and is located behind the grandstand of the same name which occupies the area of Rio and the variant of the Park with its seven curves; and the “Track 3.5” which is 3211 meters long with nine curves.
The new surface, which was developed with a special formula to combat the effects of salt and humidity, will be the most important unknown factor for the tires this year. With resurfacing the troughs which were present in the past should be gone and the track should then have reduced the lap time, approximately about a second per lap.
The track is a very sinuous one, the most challenging section is definitely the one after the fast “Curvone”; which is a series of right-hand corners that require a high mechanical and thermal stress for tires on the leaning shoulder. The straights are quite short and do not allow high ‘tipping in’ speeds, but they create different braking and acceleration points.
With resurfacing, this year the asphalt is sure to be much more aggressive and abrasive on the tires than in the past and, in the case of high temperatures, this could compromise the accuracy of the trajectory through the turn and holding a line.
This explains why Pirelli has brought to this round tires with compounds of different hardness, from the softest to the hardest, able to face different situations depending on the asphalt and the temperatures you may encounter. As for the rear tire, they should be able to offer a good grip but especially to resist over distance excessive wear which could be caused by the new asphalt. They must also ensure high thermal protection to prevent slippage, frequent with high temperatures.
Not very different are the considerations on the front tires, which are actually more stressed in this circuit. The solutions brought by Pirelli will have to maintain stability into the corner through the front axle.
The Pirelli solutions for Superbike and Supersport classes:
For the eighth round in the calendar Pirelli brings to Misano a total of 5108 tires, which will cover the needs of the Superbike, Supersport, Superstock 1000, Superstock 600 and European Junior Cup classes.
Of this amount to the Superbike riders are dedicated 2089 tires, for Supersport class there are 1539, for the Superstock 1000 the tires are 720 and for the Superstock 600 there are 640. Finally the riders of the European Junior Cup will benefit a total of 120 tires.
In Superbike each rider will have 39 front and 41 rear tires, with four dry solutions for the front and as many for the rear in addition to the intermediate and wet tires and to the rear qualifier tire that can be used only in the two Superpole sessions on Saturday.
At the front the riders can choose between two specific SC1 compounds and two in SC2. There will be the development SC1 S1699, which debuted successfully at Aragón in 2014 and offers more support in the approach to bends in favor of a better steering precision, and the other SC1 development, the T1467, which has debuted this year at Assen and was also used at Imola and Donington and that, compared to the S1699, it is protected from wear and at the same time is more stable than a SC2.
As regards the two solutions in SC2 compound, standard SC2 will be accompanied by the development solution T0020, brought for the first time last year in Misano and then also in Jerez and Losail and that with respect to the standard SC2 should ensure more grip with same support offered.
At the rear there are one SC0, two SC1 and one SC2. The riders will meet the development SC0 T0611, which debuted in Imola and using a very soft compound can offer a very high level of grip when used with high temperatures and development SC1 T1392, which differs from the standard SC1 for a different construction system that guarantees a more homogeneous and constant behaviour for the duration of the race. In addition to these two solutions that riders already know, there will be two new development solutions: the SC1 U562, which compared to a solution such as the T1392 should offer greater mechanical resistance, valuable feature on the new asphalt of Misano, and the R1689, in SC2 compound, a solution developed in endurance competition that should be more robust from the mechanical point of view, always considering the new asphalt of Misano.
In the Supersport class each rider can choose 26 front and 32 rear tires for a total of three dry solutions for the front and four for the rear in addition to the wet tires.
At the front the development SC1 S1485 already seen in Aragón, Assen, Imola, Donington and Portimão, will be joined by the development SC1 U0564, which compared to the S1485 should be more protected from wear and at the same time more stable than the standard SC2 which is the last option available.
At the rear there are a solution in soft compound and three in medium compound. The soft solution is the new development SC0 U442, which compared to the standard solution should offer more stability. These instead are the three SC1: the standard SC1, the U0563 that uses a different system of construction which should confer greater homogeneity and more consistent performance for the duration of the race and the T1394 that uses the same compound of the standard SC1 but is presented in a increased 190/60 size.
The 2014 Pirelli statistics for Misano:
Total number of tires Pirelli brought: 4953
Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 6 front and 7 rear
Number of tires available for each Superbike rider: 39 front and 41 rear
Number of solutions for the Supersport class (dry, intermediate and wet): 5 front and 4 rear
Number of tires available for each Supersport rider: 27 front and 23 rear
Superbike Best Lap Awards won by: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 1’35.629 (Race 1, 5th lap) and by Davide Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team), 1’36.033 (Race 2, 2nd lap)
Supersport Best Lap Award won by: Patrick Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres), 1’39.436 (5th lap)
Temperature in Race 1: air 84° F, asphalt 100° F
Temperature in Race 2: air 82° F, asphalt 111° Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires: 171.4 miles/h, in Race 1 by Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) at 1st lap.
Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Supercorsa SC tires in Supersport race: 148.4 miles/h, Michael Vd Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) and Kev Coghlan (DMC Panavto-Yamaha) respectively at 7th and 1st lap.