eni FIM Superbike World Championship Jerez, Spain October 18, 2013 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.374 2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.641 3. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.756 5. Toni ELIAS, Spain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.782 6. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:42.906 7. Leon CAMIER, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:42.936 8. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.114 9. Lorenzo LANZI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), 1:43.162 10. Chaz DAVIES, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.170 11. Jules CLUZEL, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:43.240 12. Xavi FORES, Spain (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:43.262 13. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:43.383 14. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.721 15. Broc PARKES, Australia (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:43.786 16. Leon HASLAM, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.821 17. Sylvain BARRIER, France (BMW S1000RR), 1:43.879 18. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.958 19. Federico SANDI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:44.102 20. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:44.248 21. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:45.328 More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: Giugliano in provisional pole position in Jerez The final round of the 2013 World Superbike championship got underway today at the circuit of Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. The Althea Racing team and its rider Davide Giugliano were out on track, aiming to confirm this fantastic final phase of the championship that has seen Genesio Bevilacqua’s team fighting regularly for the front positions. It was in Jerez that Davide Giugliano rode the RSV4 for the first time during winter testing last year. He immediately got on well with both the bike and the track, technical and spectacular. In sunny conditions and with high temperatures, the team Althea rider completed first practice this morning with a best time of 1’42”996, to close in fifth place. A fantastic performance followed in the qualifying session. The Althea flagbearer made a series of fast laps, culminating with a time of 1’42”374 that awarded him with provisional pole position. A result that rewards the work of the entire Italian team that opens this final round of the 2013 season in the best possible way. Davide Giugliano: “A fantastic start on a technical and difficult track. I haven’t completed many kilometres on this track and I must say that it wasn’t easy to get to grips with. This morning I worked hard with my team to find a good setting and in the afternoon we made some changes to my RSV4, that allowed me push harder and obtain first place in the classification. I hope we can continue like this all weekend and stay ahead, maintaining our concentration levels.” More, from a press release issued by Team SBK Ducati Alstare: The final round of the 2013 SBK championship kicks off for Team SBK Ducati Alstare at Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Friday 18 October 2013: the closing round of the 2013 World Superbike championship kicked off today at the Spanish circuit of Jerez. Team SBK Ducati Alstare with Xavi Fores and Ayrton Badovini concluded today’s first qualifying session in eleventh and twelfth position respectively. In the weekend’s first practice session, which took place this morning in warm and sunny conditions, Ayrton Badovini unfortunately suffered a setback at the start of the session due to a small technical issue. Once resolved, Ayrton worked hard in the final fifteen minutes of the session, recording a best time of 1’44.3 to finish in thirteenth position. Xavi Fores, working with his technicians to find the best set-up for his bike at this track, closed twelfth with a time of 1’44.1. Later on, in the first of the weekend’s two qualifying session, Fores, gaining confidence with every exit he made, was able to drop his time by over a second, recording a 1’43.2 in the final stages. Thanks to this time he closed in eleventh position. Badovini lapped with very similar times to his team-mate, concluding with the twelfth fastest time (1’43.3). Ayrton Badovini: “This morning we had a problem with electrics which meant that we only spent about half the session on track. As a result we are behind in terms of set-up. Anyway this afternoon the bike behaved better and we were able to make a step forward, let’s say that we’re probably half way there but still have an issue with traction. We’ll try to make up for lost ground tomorrow.” Xavi Fores: “I’m pleased because every time I’ve gone out on track we’ve been able to improve. We are working hard on the setting because things are a bit different to what I’m used to. It’s not gone badly today, we’re less than a second from the leader. I need a bit more time to really get to grips with things but we’ll get there step by step. Tomorrow I want to work on my race pace and hope to be able to take another step forward and qualify for the Superpole.” More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorad Motorsport: Jerez – Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1. Friday, 18th October 2013. Weather conditions: Partly cloudy, sunny in the afternoon. Temperature: Air: 24 – 27 °C, Track: 24 – 38 °C Number of riders participating: 20 from 13 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Toni Elias (Red Devils Roma) 1:41.873 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) 1:42.374 min The 2013 season finale at Jerez (ESP) started well for the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team with qualifying on the provisional front row. In today’s first qualifying practice, factory rider Marco Melandri (ITA) set the second fastest time with his BMW S 1000 RR despite an injury in his right ankle. His team-mate, Chaz Davies (GBR) finished the session in ninth. This weekend the team enters a third BMW S 1000 RR for Sylvain Barrier. The Frenchman, who secured his second consecutive title in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at the last round at Magny-Cours is debuting in the FIM Superbike World Championship. Sylvain finished his first ever qualifying practice in the series in 16th. In the first qualifying practice of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Markus Reiterberger qualified second on the provisional front row. The young German, who is the reigning IDM champion, has taken over Sylvain’s BMW HP4 in the BMW Motorrad GoldBet STK Team for this round. It is the first time Reiterberger has ridden this DDC equipped new bike. His team-mate Greg Gildenhuys (RSA) finished the session in 11th. Marco Melandri:? Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:42.842min (P4) /Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:42.641 min (P2)? “I am satisfied today. It was a good first qualifying practice. I improved lap by lap and do not feel too much pain in my foot. Unfortunately I have a reduced mobility and this is not helpful in fast direction changes but luckily here on this track there are only a few of them. Today the track was not as fast as usual and for me it was an advantage because I did not have to to push hard. We are in a good shape and it’s still Friday, while I was only expecting to reach this level of performance by tomorrow. This makes me confident for the weekend. Now let’s wait and see tomorrow.”? Chaz Davies:? Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:43.503 min (P8) /Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:43.170 min (P9) “The weekend did not start too well for me. I am not really happy with our performance today because I feel that the bike is not as agile as I would like it to be. I was struggling a little bit when turning. Although we improved this afternoon, it was not enough and I could not make best use of the bike. The lack of agility meant that every time I pushed a little bit harder it was very easy to make a mistake and to miss the right line. For this reason, my ideal time of the combined best sector times is a lot faster than my actual lap time. I think the difference was four tenths. We need to improve that and then look for more grip too. The conditions of this circuit change very quickly, I don’t think I have ever seen a track so sensitive to temperature changes. I remember one test in winter when the conditions changed every hour. This means you end up changing the settings all the time. But anyway, we have collected good data today and will try to improve the bike for tomorrow.” Sylvain Barrier:? Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:44.466 min (P14) /Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:43.879 min (P16): “I had no experience with riding a Superbike before but now the feeling is quite good. I am feeling confident with the RR. All the team work very well on the bike. I just need some more laps to get used to it, to the tyres, to the power of the bike, also to the brake power, as everything is different compared to a Superstock bike. You need to learn how to use the power and the brakes correctly. In addition, it is really different to ride with slick tyres because you can put a lot of pressure in the front when you enter the corner. I am pretty happy as I am getting more and more acquainted with it and my confidence increases. My target for Sunday would be to be inside the top 10. I know that it is possible and we will work for this. Thank you again to BMW for giving me the chance to ride the bike. It is amazing, I really like it.” Serafino Foti (Sport Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team): “It was a good Friday. Marco arrived yesterday on crutches because of an injury to his foot. But today he was immediately fast despite his physical condition not being great. Chaz was not happy with the setting of his bike. Tomorrow we will work to enable him to improve. Sylvain was a nice surprise, in the afternoon he was nearly one second faster than in this morning practice. Unfortunately when he was going out again with new tyres, he had a small issue and couldn’t further improve. In the Superstock class, Reiterberger’s second place shows the excellent job we have done during the year to develop the new HP4 and the electronic damping system.” Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team): “Today we experienced typical Jerez conditions: when the temperature increases the track is still not faster. We have seen that in the afternoon when the temperature was a bit higher, everyone was struggling, mainly with grip on the rear. This is the reason why the lap times did not improve compared to the morning session. This is an area which we will work on. We would like to improve the overall grip for Marco and Chaz. In addition, Marco especially is not confident with the front end of the bike and this is where we would like to improve the most. Chaz would like to improve the agility of the bike. He feels that he is losing because of that and the lack of grip. I must say that we are surprised by Marco’s performance considering his physical condition but he is a tough guy and we believe that tomorrow he will be able to fight for a good position on the grid despite his injury. Sylvain is just enjoying the Superbike experience. For sure he will need some more time to understand the bike better and to get the best from it.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: APRILIA IS VERY FAST ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA. EUGENE LAVERTY AND SYLVAIN GUINTOLI ARE OFF TO A GOOD START ON A TRACK THEY BOTH KNOW WELL. THE ELIAS (RED DEVILS) AND GIUGLIANO (ALTHEA RACING) RSV4S ARE ALSO IN THE TOP-5. Jerez, 18 October 2013 – The weekend for Aprilia Racing Team at Jerez de la Frontera, the last round in the 2013 World Superbike season, is off to the best possible start. In fact, official riders Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli demonstrated excellent pace from the first two practice sessions, finishing respectively in second and third place (in free practice) and third and fifth (in qualifying practice). The competitiveness of the RSV4 on the Spanish track is also confirmed by the satellite teams, Althea Racing for Davide Giugliano, out front in all the qualifiers, and Red Devils for the home track rider Toni Elias, fastest in free practice. Clearly nothing has been decided yet, but Sylvain and Eugene both said that they are quite satisfied after the initial practice sessions. Despite the poor grip, which also caused two harmless crashes in the afternoon qualifiers for the Aprilia riders, the overall feeling is that they are on the right path. The two areas the Italian team will be focusing on the most are grip, particularly delicate here at Jerez, and the riders’ feeling with the front tyre. Tomorrow’s sessions will provide the first feedback, just in time for Superpole in the afternoon when the starting grid will be decided for the two races on Sunday. Eugene Laverty: “Today was definitely our best Friday of the season. We usually start off a little cautiously and then develop things throughout the weekend. Since Jerez is our test track we arrived with a decent amount of information, especially where the electronics are concerned. The right set up will allow us to manage the power of the RSV4 in the best possible way which will make us quick straight away. The crash this afternoon was a big warning flag. In fact, with the rising temperature we lost a lot of grip, so I rode a bit more carefully, in any case finishing with the third best time. The conditions were critical, but they’re the same for everyone”. Sylvain Guintoli: “This is our test track and it’s a circuit I know well since I raced here in GP, but the conditions are quite different compared to the winter. Our times are high and there isn’t much grip, so we need to work on making the RSV4 work well with poor grip. Our basic setting works quite well and even with worn tyres I can come out of the turns well, but now we need to focus on finding the best possible feeling with the front. A step in this direction could allow us to shave a few more tenths off our race pace”. More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Superbike Team: Difficult opening day for Pata Honda The Pata Honda team endured a tough start to the final round of the World Superbike championship season at Jerez in Spain today with riders Leon Haslam and Michel Fabrizio ending the day in 15th and 17th places respectively. Haslam and his crew spent much of the day dealing with electronics issues that affected his CBR1000RR’s engine braking performance, while Fabrizio complained of a lack of rear grip exiting corners. Second qualifying takes place at the 4.432km Jerez circuit tomorrow morning with both riders aiming to progress to the afternoon’s Superpole, which will determine final grid positions for Sunday’s two 21-lap races. Leon Haslam We’ve got some problems and I think I did about six flying laps this afternoon in qualifying. I’m over two seconds away from what we were doing here in the test last year so we’ve got some work to do. We haven’t touched anything on the chassis today so we’ve got to find a solution to these issues. Everyone’s working hard to do that for tomorrow. Michel Fabrizio I had almost no grip, which is really disappointing since I was very fast here in the test one year ago. Now, it’s completely different and I am losing a lot of time exiting the corners which is not good at all. The team is looking very closely at everything now to see where the problem is but, for sure, we need to find the solution tonight in time for the second qualifying tomorrow morning. Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator These results are, of course, not good. At the moment we are puzzled why we are so far off, which has something to do with the bike and not Leon, so we have to work hard to fix the bike for him. Michel had different problems but they are probably more than just a grip issue, so it’ll be a long day for the whole Superbike squad. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: FIXI Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier marked his return to action following a month-long lay-off through injury to record a stunning sixth-quickest time in today’s first qualifying session for this weekend’s eni FIM Superbike World Championship event at Jerez in Spain. Camier used this morning’s free practice session to re-acquaint himself with the Yoshimura-powered Suzuki GSX-R and to test a number of set-up strategies that his team wanted to evaluate. Following further setting changes in time for this afternoon’s session, Camier felt more at home on his machine and quickly got into a smooth and fast rhythm as he continued to build in confidence. He improved on his times throughout the 45-minutes of qualifying, before eventually putting a softer rear compound tyre into his FIXI Crescent Suzuki and setting the sixth-fastest time. Jules Cluzel worked with his crew to get his bike dialled-in to the 4,423m Spanish circuit and to find the right balance of grip and consistency in readiness for Sunday’s two races. Cluzel has good knowledge of the circuit so spent today working on set-up for his machine rather than learning lines and pushing for a fast lap-time. He is confident of a good qualifying tomorrow and then will be looking to push further in this season’s final races. Today’s sessions were held in warm sunshine with track temperatures reaching 38°C. Davide Giugliano set the top time today with championship leader Tom Sykes in seventh. FIXI Crescent Suzuki and the rest of the field will have a second qualifying session tomorrow morning to decide the 15 riders that will qualify for the afternoon’s Superpole to challenge for the best grid positions for Sunday’s two 21-lap races. Leon Camier: “This morning the guys had some settings that they wanted to try that they had picked up from the other riders, but it really didn’t work for me and the bike didn’t feel so good to ride, plus I’m lacking a bit of confidence so the combination of the two left us down towards the bottom of the timesheets. This afternoon we put the bike back to how I had it last time out and I was then able to try the soft tyre and managed to go quick at the end. I was happy with the lap-time to be sixth, but we need some more dry time to get some consistency. I am still not very confident on the bike, so I really need dry time to get the feeling back, but rain is forecast tomorrow so that might not be possible. My foot feels awkward, especially in some of the right-hand corners, but I can get around ok. I think for race distance it will be painful, because at the end of today it was throbbing and starting to swell up, but it is what it is so there’s no point complaining!” Jules Cluzel: “It was a much better day today compared to Magny-Cours where we struggled a little bit. We started to work with the bike today and went step-by-step to get where we want. This morning I think everybody had a really strange feeling, because the grip felt strange and the lap-times were quite slow. We tried to find some grip and consistency and we worked on this in the afternoon so we lost some time, but at the end we made a good and interesting run and now we have some data to work on tonight. I think that we can now make a good qualifying and Superpole tomorrow, whatever the weather.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Just to be here in Jerez and be passed fit to race was a testament to Leon’s determination and professionalism. He’d been told by four highly-respected doctors that he wouldn’t be able to put any weight on the foot for at least six weeks and now four weeks later he is back with the team and has qualified in the top-six this afternoon. Not only are the physical injuries tough to overcome, but to also regain confidence and make-up for the lack of recent track time is difficult, but Leon has gone step-by-step today and done an incredible job overall. If we can keep this going and target top-10 finishes in the races, that would be a superb result based on everything that has happened recently. “Jules has pushed hard today and worked really well with his team. I think there is a lot more to come and the ultimate lap-time shouldn’t be too difficult to improve on quite significantly; the biggest concern is the bike’s performance when the tyre is used and how we can maintain the pace when the grip has dropped down. We have plenty to work on tomorrow, but the guys are really focused and we’ll be doing everything we can to give Jules a better package for final qualifying tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by SBK Press Office: Davide Giugliano up to speed in Day 1 Jerez (Spain), Friday 18 October 2013 – Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) was the quickest rider in today’s Qualifying 1 for eni FIM Superbike World Championship. The 23 year old from Rome moved up on top of the charts with six minutes left by lapping in 1’42.374s, heading the field right to the end of the session. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) tried to fight off his fellow Italian in the late stages, eventually settling for second ahead of Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team). The Irishman had a small crash early on but he was able to get back to the track to climb the timesheets up to third… (read more) Times: 1. Giugliano (Aprilia) 1’42.374 average 155.430 kph; 2. Melandri (BMW) 1’42.641; 3. Laverty (Aprilia) 1’42.756; 4. Elias (Aprilia) 1’42.782; 5. Guintoli (Aprilia) 1’42.906; 6. Camier (Suzuki) 1’42.936; 7. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’43.114; 8. Lanzi (Ducati) 1’43.162; 9. Davies (BMW) 1’43.170; 10. Cluzel(Suzuki) 1’43.240; 11. Fores (Ducati) 1’43.262; 12. Badovini (Ducati) 1’43.383; 13. Aitchison (Kawasaki) 1’43.721; 14. Parkes (Yamaha) 1’43.786; 15. Haslam (Honda) 1’43.821; 16. Barrier (BMW) 1’43.879; 17. Fabrizio (Honda) 1’43.958; 18. Sandi (Kawasaki) 1’44.102; 19. Neukirchner (Ducati) 1’44.248; 20. Iannuzzo (BMW) 1’45.328. World Supersport Title-winning team Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha started the final round of the season at Jerez the best possible way by placing its riders in the first two positions at the end of Qualifying 1. 2013 World Supersport Champion Sam Lowes edged team mate Vladimir Leonov in the final stages of the session, to secure first position courtesy of a 1’44.043 lap-time. Former title holder Kenan Sofuoglu… (read more) Times: 1. Lowes (Yamaha) 1’44.043 average 152.937 kph; 2. Leonov (Yamaha) 1’44.269; 3. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 1’44.549; 4. Zanetti (Honda) 1’44.701;5. Rolfo (MV Agusta) 1’44.780; 6. Roccoli (Yamaha) 1’44.907; 7. Vd Mark (Honda) 1’44.930; 8. Tamburini (Honda) 1’44.965; 9. Webb (Honda) 1’44.973;10. Coghlan (Kawasaki) 1’45.093; 11. Iddon (MV Agusta) 1’45.211; 12. Salom (Kawasaki) 1’45.255; 13. Morais (Kawasaki) 1’45.291; 14. Scholtz (Suzuki) 1’45.315; 15. Kennedy (Honda) 1’45.425; etc. Superstock 1000 Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki), race winner in the previous round at Magny-Cours, has set the fastest time of FIM Superstock 1000 Cup first qualifying at Jerez, by clocking in 1’45.456s in what was a tight session for the series. The former STK600 champion got the better of German Markus Reiterberger, who showed good speed in the first day of his one-off ride with the BMW Motorrad GoldBet Team… (read more) Times: 1. Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 1’45.456 average 150.888 kph; 2. Reiterberger (BMW) 1’45.605; 3. Canepa (Ducati) 1’45.719; 4. Savadori (Kawasaki) 1’45.872; 5. Lanusse (Kawasaki) 1’45.937; 6. Mercado (Kawasaki) 1’46.342; 7. Ponsson (Kawasaki) 1’46.492; 8. Bussolotti (BMW) 1’46.559; 9. Jezek(Ducati) 1’46.565; 10. Calia (Ducati) 1’46.575; 11. Gildenhuys (BMW) 1’46.878; 12. Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 1’46.974; 13. Grotzkyj G. (Kawasaki) 1’47.521;14. Massei (Honda) 1’47.746; 15. Moser (Ducati) 1’47.776; etc. Superstock 600 Qualifying action at Jerez kick-started today with an entertaining first session for the Superstock 600 European Championship, that was headed by title contender Christian Gamarino, who clocked in 1’47.432 onboard his Team Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-6R. The young Italian managed to snatch first place from Tony Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki Racing Team), Alessandro Nocco… (read more) Times: 1. Gamarino (Kawasaki) 1’47.432 average 148.112 kph; 2. Coveña (Kawasaki) 1’47.537; 3. Nocco (Kawasaki) 1’47.563; 4. Smith (Honda) 1’47.572; 5. Morbidelli (Kawasaki) 1’47.742; 6. Buhn (Yamaha) 1’48.124; 7. Nekvasil (Yamaha) 1’48.174; 8. Mulhauser (Yamaha) 1’48.191; 9. Chesaux (Honda) 1’48.327; 10. Duwelz (Yamaha) 1’48.500; 11. Tucci (Honda) 1’48.508; 12. Casalotti (Yamaha) 1’48.563; 13. Mamola (Yamaha) 1’48.692; 14. D’Annunzio (Yamaha) 1’48.891; 15. Tuuli (Yamaha) 1’49.110; etc.