FIM Superbike World Championship Portimao, Portugal June 7, 2013 Qualifying Session One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Jonathan REA, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:43.551 2. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:43.603 3. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:43.648 4. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:43.934 5. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:44.017 6. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.026 7. Chaz DAVIES, UK (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.245 8. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:44.246 9. Leon CAMIER, UK (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:44.278 10. Loris BAZ, France (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:44.496 11. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:44.550 12. Jules CLUZEL, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:44.593 13. Leon HASLAM, UK (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:45.075 14. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Ducati 1199 Panigale R), 1:45.827 15. Alexander LUNDH, Sweden (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:46.269 16. Vittorio IANNUZZO, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:46.469 17. Federico SANDI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:47.322 18. Ivan CLEMENTI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), 1:47.844 More, from a press release issued by SBK Press Office: Jonathan Rea up to speed on Day 1 Portimao (Portugal), Friday 7 June 2013 – Close competition was the key factor in today’s Qualifying 1 for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship. Under dry track conditions and good temperatures throughout all 45 minutes available the top-10 riders were – in the end – all within a second of each other. Ulsterman Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) stormed to the top in the final stages to secure 1st place for just 52 thousands of a second over Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) and 97 on the “King of Donington” Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Factory Aprilia rider Sylvain Guintoli rode to a final 4th place followed by Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) and works BMW duo of Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies. Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) showed some good signs of recovery – after the unfortunate but almost inevitable withdrawal from Race 2 in the previous round – to end up 8th ahead of Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Ayrton Badovini (Team Ducati Alstare). French WSBK rookie Jules Cluzel (12th) lost control of his FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 for a seemingly innocent crash at Turn 3 with few minutes left on the clock. It was again a tough ride for 13th place Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike), still dealing with the difficult left leg injury that is heavily affecting his performance. No time set for Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia), following the encouraging 2nd place in FP1, as the rider from Rome was stopped twice by technical problems on his RSV4 Times: 1. Rea (Honda) 1’43.551 average 159.643 kph; 2. Laverty (Aprilia) 1’43.603; 3. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’43.648; 4. Guintoli (Aprilia) 1’43.934; 5. Giugliano (Aprilia) 1’44.017; 6. Melandri (BMW) 1’44.026; 7. Davies (BMW) 1’44.245; 8. Checa (Ducati) 1’44.246; 9. Camier (Suzuki) 1’44.278; 10. Baz (Kawasaki) 1’44.496; 11. Badovini (Ducati) 1’44.550; 12. Cluzel (Suzuki) 1’44.593; 13. Haslam (Honda) 1’45.075; 14. Neukirchner (Ducati) 1’45.827; 15. Lundh (Kawasaki) 1’46.269; 16. Iannuzzo (BMW) 1’46.469; 17. Sandi (Kawasaki) 1’47.322; 18. Clementi (BMW) 1’47.844. World Supersport – Sam Lowes continues to impress After leading the first World Supersport free practice session, Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) found himself on top again by setting the best lap-time in Q1. The current Championship leader was in 1st place already as the session was drawing to an end, but he decided to get back on track anyway to further improve his performance to a final 1’45.724, 0.522 seconds quicker than main rival for the World Supersport title Kenan Sofuoglu (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki). Following the encouraging performance last time out at Donington, Irishman Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda) proved to be again on the right pace in qualifying as he finished third ahead of an impressive David Salom (Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki), considering his 4-round absence due to a complicated hand injury. French WSS veteran Fabien Foret (Mahi Racing Team India Kawasaki) ended up with a competitive 5th – despite a 1.225 seconds gap from the top – followed by Luca Scassa (Intermoto Ponyexpres Kawasaki), Sheridan Morais (PTR Honda) and the still injured – and unfortunate victim of a technical problem – Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport). Times: 1. Lowes (Yamaha) 1’45.724 average 156.362 kph; 2. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 1’46.246; 3. Kennedy (Honda) 1’46.344; 4. Salom (Kawasaki) 1’46.718; 5. Foret (Kawasaki) 1’46.949; 6. Scassa (Kawasaki) 1’47.002; 7. Morais (Honda) 1’47.019; 8. Vd Mark (Honda) 1’47.115; 9. Antonelli (Kawasaki) 1’47.153; 10. Scholtz (Suzuki) 1’47.194; etc. Superstock 1000 Defending STK1000 Champion Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) has made the most out of Qualifying 1 to get a provisional pole position, waiting for tomorrow afternoon’s second session. The Frenchman was the only rider able to lap within the 1’45 seconds and was followed by race winner at Monza Lorenzo Savadori (Team Pedercini Kawasaki). The former Italian and European 125 cc Champion managed to narrow the gap with the front – from 1.277 seconds in FP1 to a much smaller 0.699 – to finish ahead of Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) and fellow-Italian Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Ducati). La Marra’s team mate and current leader in the standings Niccolò Canepa had a steady start of the Portuguese Round, resulting in a 7th place at the flag behind Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) and Matthieu Lussiana (Team Aspi Kawasaki). A last-lap crash for Ondrej Jezek (SK Energy – Fany Gastro Ducati) at Turn 3 deprived the Czech rider of a chance to improve his final 10th place. Times: 1. Barrier (BMW) 1’45.881 average 156.130 kph; 2. Savadori (Kawasaki) 1’46.580; 3. Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 1’46.704; 4. La Marra (Ducati) 1’47.245; 5. Mercado (Kawasaki) 1’47.289; 6. Lussiana (Kawasaki) 1’47.817; 7. Canepa (Ducati) 1’47.961; 8. Bergman (Kawasaki) 1’48.124; 9. Bussolotti (BMW) 1’48.318; 10. Jezek (Ducati) 1’48.347; etc. Superstock 600 The sun popped out from behind the clouds before the start of Qualifying 1 meaning the STK600 riders could perform at their very best at the spectacular Autodromo do Algarve. Australia’s Adrian Nestorovic (MTM-MVR Racing Team Yamaha) – who scored his maiden podium finish in the series last year at Portimao – and Franco Morbidelli (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) were able to get ahead of early leader Gauthier Duwelz to finish 1st and 2nd respectively within 0.057 seconds of each other. Duwelz, current Championship leader onboard his MTM-MVR Racing YZF-R6, was followed closely by Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda), the young Swiss rider completing a very tight top-4. Nito Racing Kawasaki’s Tony Covena return to the series after his World Supersport debut resulted in a 5th place in the very first qualifying session for the Portuguese round to precede Christian Gamarino (Team Goeleven Kawasaki), Robin Mulhauser (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) and Alessandro Nocco (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki). Times: 1. Nestorovic (Yamaha) 1’49.152 average 151.451 kph; 2. Morbidelli (Kawasaki) 1’49.209; 3. Duwelz (Yamaha) 1’49.272; 4. Chesaux (Honda) 1’49.330; 5. Coveña (Kawasaki) 1’49.719; 6. Gamarino (Kawasaki) 1’49.824; 7. Mulhauser (Yamaha) 1’50.015; 8. Nocco (Kawasaki) 1’50.034; 9. Cecchini (Honda) 1’50.356; 10. Marchal (Yamaha) 1’50.447; etc. More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Superbike Team: Rea sets the pace in Portugal Jonathan Rea set the fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal to take provisional pole position for Sunday’s two sixth-round World Superbike championship races. The 26-year-old from Northern Ireland lapped the 4.592km circuit near Portimao in a time of 1m43.551s, ahead of fellow Ulsterman Eugene Laverty and British rider Tom Sykes who complete the provisional front row. Rea’s Pata Honda team-mate, Leon Haslam, was 13th fastest in this afternoon’s 45-minute qualifying session, as he continues his recovery from a broken leg. The 30-year-old suffered some pain in this morning’s free practice session but was more comfortable this afternoon following pain-killing injections. Jonathan Rea – P1, 1m43.551s It was quite a frustrating day as we had loads and loads of problems, but the good thing is that it didn’t stand in the way of a good run at the end. So it’s mixed emotions really, because although my guys worked really quickly to resolve the problems, it was frustrating that we’re still having issues on the electronics side. I’m enjoying riding here and although our bike has improved a lot, it feels like the circuit is a little bit slower. It’s a mix of a lack of rubber and how bumpy it’s got in the last year. It’s hard to make a perfect set up and it needs a lot of rider input and thinking outside the box to make the bike work in the fast bumpy areas. But for day one we’ve gained a lot of data, especially in the engine braking area, and we’ve made better inroads than we did on day one at Donington. I just hope that tomorrow we can steer clear of any little gremlins and work on a race tyre. I tried three different tyres today and each one has positives and negatives, so we need to evaluate them some more tomorrow to make a choice. Leon Haslam – P13, 1m45.075s This morning I was actually in a lot more pain than I was at Donington! The ligaments and tendons in my knee are actually a bigger issue now. I can bend the knee how I want and put weight through my leg like I should, but it’s hammering the ligaments. It was better this afternoon after the clinic did some really good taping and gave me some pain-killers. I didn’t do as many laps this afternoon, but it definitely felt better than this morning. Honestly, we’re a little bit off the pace at the moment but I’m pretty confident that we’ll get closer. There’s still a lot to do with the bike and I’ve still got to put a lap together as well. Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator Leon is still suffering from his injury a bit and we’re trying to make the bike as comfortable and as good as it can be for him. We can do a little more tomorrow but we’ll all do the best we can and see how he goes. On the other side of the garage, it’s been quite a good day for Jonathan. He didn’t make many changes to the chassis – we just made the bike a bit more rideable with electronics and the rest he did himself. He’s quite good around here. After the second race at Donington, everyone is quite happy with this result and we hope it leads to a good weekend. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Weather conditions: Partly cloudy, partly sunny. Temperature: Air: 20 – 21 °C, Track: 31 – 37 °C Number of riders participating: 19/18 from 12 teams Fastest lap Free Practice: Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1:44.241 min Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) 1:43.551 min Today, the BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team finally had a Friday with weather conditions which allowed them to work properly. At the last few rounds, the teams of the FIM Superbike World Championship faced bad weather on Fridays, which lost them important time for setting up the bikes. However, today in Portimão (POR) it was different, there was partial cloud but after a short rain shower in the early morning, it was dry. BMW Motorrad factory riders Marco Melandri (ITA) and Chaz Davies (GBR) used the day to start setting up their BMW S 1000 RRs for the sixth round of the season. In the first qualifying practice in the afternoon, Marco qualified sixth on the provisional second row, directly followed by Chaz who was seventh on the third row. In the first qualifying practice of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Sylvain Barrier secured provisional pole position on his BMW HP4. The Frenchman of the BMW Motorrad GoldBet STK Team was seven tenths of a second faster than his closest rival. His team-mate Greg Gildenhuys (RSA), who has an injured left foot after his crash at Monza (ITA), finished eleventh.? Marco Melandri:? Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:44.512 min (P5)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:44.026 min (P6)? “Today we worked on the race set-up of the RR in order to prepare for Sunday. So I preferred to use only used tyres and I was not looking for a fast lap time. The test in Aragón confirmed the direction we have to head towards and, after Donington, we made a step forward. We continued working in this direction today and improved the front feeling. Tomorrow we will use the same strategy and we will also work on improving the rear. The track conditions were difficult because in some sectors the asphalt is in a pretty bad condition, it is as if there were waves. Overall it was a good day and I am satisfied.”? Chaz Davies:? Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:44.462 min (P4)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:44.245 min (P7)? “We worked on the chassis and trying to find the right balance for this circuit. Portimão is quite difficult. We were just trying to get a front feeling that I am happy with to give me a little bit more confidence to turn the bike in and then to set me up for the corner exit. That was the main thing we focused on today. We have some more work to do but there is still a long time until race day. We will check the data tonight and see if we will find something else in order to further improve tomorrow.” Serafino Foti (Sport Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team): “Today was a positive day, both in the Superbike class and in the Superstock class. Marco worked on preparing for Sunday’s races and only rode on used tyres and on them he showed a good race pace. He feels good and is comfortable on the bike. Tomorrow, with new tyres, he will improve his lap time. Chaz only has to improve in the last sector, where he loses some tenths of a second, we are analysing data to find the best way to help him. In summary, I am very confident for the races. In the Superstock class we took advantage of the test we conducted last weekend. Sylvain was really fast today. The set-up of his bike is good and he also has a good race pace. Unfortunately Greg is not yet fully recovered. He will do his best and try to improve tomorrow.” Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team): “Today was one of the first Fridays of the season on which we could work and we are glad that we had dry conditions. At last week’s test at Aragón, we tested a few ideas and today we could prove that some of them are working. Even if the track conditions are worse than we expected, it seems that the track has become bumpier, our ideas are still working. Both riders have been working on setting up the bike, rather than looking for performance on one flying lap. Marco has improved his feeling for the front end and tomorrow he would like to work a little bit more on the rear because it is a bit too nervous, especially on the bumps. Chaz is trying to get a better front feeling in order to better absorb the bumps and we still need to understand why he is losing a bit in the last sector. We are confident that during the night we can fix both issues and that we will be ready to fight in tomorrow’s qualifying practice. Our target is to start the races from the first two rows.” More, from a press release issued by Team SBK Ducati Alstare: Team SBK Ducati Alstare makes good progress today at Portimao Portimao (Portugal), Friday 7 June 2013: Team SBK Ducati Alstare’s riders, Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini, were pleased with the progress made today at the Portimao circuit in Portugal, having completed first qualifying just a few tenths of a second from the frontrunners. In the opening free practice session that took place in dry conditions (air temperature 20°C, track 31°C) Checa and Badovini both made some solid progress, continuing to improve lap times throughout the 45-minute session and recording a best of 1’45.0 and 1’45.7 respectively. These lap times placed Carlos and Ayrton in eleventh and thirteenth position at the session’s end. In this afternoon’s qualifying session Badovini made a solid step up during the first phase, lowering his best time set in the morning’s session by almost a second. The work carried out during the remainder of the session allowed him to improve further in the final stages, with the Italian rider recording a best of 1’44.5 that put him in eleventh place at the end of the session, one second from leader Rea. Checa too dropped his time by almost a second to conclude the first of two qualifying sessions in eighth position with a best of 1’44.2. The times of the top ten riders were so close that had the Spaniard gone just three tenths quicker he would have placed fourth. Both Ducati Alstare riders are confident that they will be able to continue in the right direction tomorrow. Carlos Checa: “Today’s been quite a positive day. It seems like we’ve taken a step forward and this has allowed us to get closer to those ahead of us. In qualifying we reduced the gap between us and the leader to just over half a second and this bodes well. I think there’s been some improvement on the chassis side and as a result we’ve gone faster here than we have done until now. My shoulder hasn’t been an issue today, it’s not yet 100% but it’s manageable when completing a short series of laps and so hasn’t bothered me too much.” Ayrton Badovini: ‘Today’s probably been our best Friday in the dry since the start of the season, so we can say it’s been a positive one. We still need to improve in a couple of sections, there’s work to do in the last two corners for example where I’m losing precious time. We haven’t used anything different or new, rather I just feel like I’m finally getting to grips with the bike which has allowed me to improve. I think we have the potential to improve further tomorrow and am feeling optimistic.” More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: FIRST DAY OF SUPERBIKE PRACTICE AT THE AUTÓDROMO DO ALGARVE. EUGENE LAVERTY AND SYLVAIN GUINTOLI START OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT AT PORTIMÃO, FINISHING THE QUALIFIERS IN SECOND AND FOURTH PLACE RESPECTIVELY. Portimão, 7 June 2012 – The first day of Superbike practice on the Portuguese Portimão circuit provides an encouraging outlook for the Aprilia Racing Team, arriving at Algarve in the lead of the manufacturer standings. Both Sylvain Guintoli (ranking leader in the rider standings) and Eugene Laverty, despite not concentrating their sessions on achieving top times, ended the day in top positions. As confirmation of the excellent work done today, neither of the riders reported any particular problems or obvious difficulties in the customary briefing. In any case, we’re still a long way from the podium on Sunday. Eugene, second in the afternoon qualifying session, confirmed his excellent feeling with the fast paced Autódromo do Algarve, finishing just 52 thousandths of a second behind Rea. At the end of the sessions Laverty identified a few small changes to make tomorrow in order to gain a bit of pace. His goal for Superpole tomorrow is to make it to the front row. The strong wind caused a few puzzlers for Sylvain Guintoli, leader in the rider standings and fourth in the qualifiers today. The particular conditions of the track forced the Frenchman to make some substantial changes to the setting of his Aprilia RSV4. The times on the boards confirmed that the changes are moving in the right direction, providing an excellent starting point tomorrow for reducing the gap behind the front runners. Eugene Laverty: “We made a lot of progress this afternoon. This morning I was seventh and it may sound strange, but I was pleased with the result because I had continued to use the same tyre without concentrating on the fast lap, but working instead on the setting. As always, my goal for tomorrow is the front row, because starting from up front is important. At the end of the first day of sessions I’m already quite satisfied with the work we’ve done. We haven’t found any big problems – just a few areas where we still have room for improvement”. Sylvain Guintoli: “Today I had a few problems with the strong wind, especially this afternoon. We worked on the bike and made some important changes that I am pleased with and we are pretty close with the pace. I still haven’t taken a really fast lap since I was focused quite a bit on find a good pace. We still need to find a couple tenths, so tomorrow we’ll continue in this direction, preparing as best as possible for the races on Sunday”. More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: Team Althea Racing – SBK first qualifying at Portimao The sixth round of the World Superbike Championship got underway today at the Autodromo International do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal and there were sunny skies and warm temperatures for both the first practice and qualifying sessions. This morning Giugliano began working with his technicians to adapt his Aprilia RSV4 to the difficult and technical Portuguese track. At the end of the first practice Davide was in ninth position, with a best time of 1’44.931. In the afternoon the Althea Racing rider improved further, stopping the clock at 1’44.017 and thereby securing fifth position in the final classification. A solid start for the young Roman rider and for the whole Althea Racing team who now look ahead to tomorrow’s second qualifying and sixth Superpole of the season, during which Sunday’s race grid will be established. Davide Giugliano : “This morning we were working well, but then a small electronics problem meant that we lost some time at the end of the session. This afternoon things went better and in the qualifying we made improvements to the Aprilia from a chassis point of view and I worked hard to adapt my style to this track. Here at Portimao it’s very important to feel comfortable on the bike in order to be able to make the most of its potential. I can say that I’m satisfied and think we’re on the right track.” More, from a press release issued by FIXI Crescent Suzuki: Solid first day for FIXI Crescent Suzuki at a windy Portimao FIXI Crescent Suzuki racers Leon Camier and Jules Cluzel finished comfortably inside the Superpole positions during today’s first qualifying session for the sixth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at Portimao in Portugal. Camier led the way for the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team as he posted the ninth quickest time around the 4,592m Portuguese circuit. He made several changes to his machine throughout both the qualifying and free practices today and is confident that he can improve his own riding further as the weekend progresses and be able to challenge for a good result on race-day. Cluzel was returning to a circuit that saw him take victory in the 600cc class last season, but the step-up to the Superbike class was a completely different affair and the ever-improving Frenchman made sure he used both sessions to gather as much information as possible for his Yoshimura-powered Suzuki. His 12th place was only one-second off the fastest time of the day and Cluzel is convinced he can make steps tomorrow to further improve his time. Today’s conditions at Portimao were a very windy affair with constant blustery winds and overcast skies covering the circuit all day. Track temperatures this afternoon reached 37°C as Honda’s Jonathan Rea took provisional pole. Camier and Cluzel have a second qualifying session tomorrow morning where they will aim to consolidate their places in the top-15 to make sure they are in the afternoon’s Superpole to get the best qualifying positions for Sunday’s two races. Leon Camier: “We changed the bike a bit today, because I felt that I wanted a bit more out of it and we certainly improved it – that’s for sure. My consistency was a lot better as well, but I still need to find a bit more speed in some places. We still need to make some small changes, but only enough for me to get the feeling I want and then I can start to push and find the boundaries, then hopefully that will be good enough for race-pace. The wind was a bit difficult today, because as you came down the start-finish straight it would try and blow you off the track; it was quite vicious there, but thankfully not as bad around the rest of the track.” Jules Cluzel: “I am happy to have completed a whole Friday in dry conditions, it has helped us to try lots of stuff and we now have more data to improve the bike tomorrow. I am pleased with 12th because it is only one-second away from the best time and I think we can do better tomorrow. This is not an easy track because it is very bumpy and everybody is wheelying, but this is a good thing for us because it means we will be able to fight with all the other riders, because we are all having the same things happen.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “Position wise we would like both of the FIXI Crescent Suzuki riders to be further up the leader-board today, but it has been a solid day’s work so we can’t complain. Leon has been regaining confidence following a difficult race-day at Donington and is progressing well step-by-step. The lap-times are extremely close, with Jules just one-second from the fastest rider – but that one-second puts him down in 12th place! The team will be working hard tonight to give the riders a little more grip and a bit more confidence, to see if we can eat away at the gap to the front row tomorrow morning.” More, from a press release issued by Pata Honda Superbike Team: Pata Honda riders in Portuguese mix Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti finished in eighth and 13th places respectively in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s sixth-round World Supersport race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. Provisional pole position was taken by British rider and series leader Sam Lowes but both Pata Honda riders are confident of further improvement in tomorrow’s second free practice and qualifying sessions. Today has been the first dry practice Friday since round two at Aragon and, with both Pata Honda riders being World Supersport debutants this season, the additional dry track time will prove useful for Sunday’s 20-lap race at the 4.592km Algarve circuit. Michael van der Mark – P8, 1m47.115s We started quite well today and I was fifth this morning. We made some changes for this afternoon but it was quite difficult to put everything together in one lap. The wind was quite strong, as well, and it made braking for the hairpin difficult to judge. I think both me and the bike can improve tomorrow to get back into the top five. If we put everything together, maybe even better, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Lorenzo Zanetti – P13, 1m47.481s Well, Portimao is not my favourite track but I don’t think the position is too bad. I have not been in good condition today – I have a bit of flu, I think – but we’ll work for tomorrow and hope the weather continues to be OK. We tried every tyre today and I think we have found the right one for the race but we will hopefully test this with a race simulation tomorrow. Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator We clearly need to work on some sectors of the track with Michael, because he’s losing time in specific areas, but otherwise he had quite a smooth day without any major problems. There is room for improvement but I’m quite sure we’ll find some things for tomorrow because we have a lot of data here from previous years. Lorenzo’s position does not reflect his potential, I’m sure. He needs to find speed to do a lap by himself and the last run was on a tyre that he didn’t really like so I think he can also improve tomorrow.