FIM Superbike World Championship Portimao, Portugal January 23, 2010 Official Test Times, Day Two, Session Two (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires): Superbike: 1. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:49.107 2. Leon Haslam (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:49.391 3. Troy Corser (BMW S1000 RR), 1:49.606 4. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:50.168 5. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:50.616 6. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098R), 1:51.167 7. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000 RR), 1:51.170 8. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 1:51.253 9. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:52.108 10. Carlos Checa (Ducati 1098R), 1:53.854 11. Leon Camier (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), 1:54.008 12. Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:54.816 13. Max Neukirchner (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:54.829 14. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098R), 1:55.094 15. James Toseland (Yamaha YZF-R1), 1:55.478 16. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:57.001 17. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R), 1:57.963 18. Javier Fores (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:58.409 19. Broc Parkes (Honda CBR1000RR), 1:58.896 20. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 1:59.721 Supersport: 1. Michele Pirro (Honda CBR600RR), 1:47.168 2. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:47.527 3. Eugene Laverty (Honda CBR600RR), 1:47.602 4. Miguel Praia (Honda CBR600RR), 1:48.200 5. Chaz Davies (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:48.289 6. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:48.923 7. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:49.236 8. David Salom (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:49.566 9. Danilo Dell’Omo (Honda CBR600RR), 1:49.584 10. Sebastien Charpentier (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:50.295 11. Jason DiSalvo (Triumph Daytona 675), 1:50.683 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) set the fastest time on the second day of official World Superbike pre-season testing at Portimao. On a day hit by bad weather and despite yesterday’s finger-damaging crash, the 22-year-old Northern Irishman made all the difference both on the wet track in the morning and in the afternoon’s damp session on intermediate tyres. Rea’s best lap today was 1 minute 49.108 seconds, about seven seconds off yesterday’s dry lap times. Behind Rea, second place went to Leon Haslam, who continues to settle into his Suzuki Alstare team after dominating yesterday. The surprise of the day however was Troy Corser, who took his BMW S1000RR to third with an excellent 1’49″606. Ruben Xaus also went well with seventh quickest time on the second BMW. Cal Crutchlow continued his familiarization process on the Yamaha Sterilgarda machine in fourth, ahead of Tom Sykes who went well in the wet on his Kawasaki. Max Biaggi could only manage ninth today on his Aprilia as he focused on engine reliability. Both Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio are currently slightly down the timesheets, the Italian still down with a virus and not exactly 100% fit. Overall Times (Friday/Saturday): 1. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’42.778; 2. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’42.960; 3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’43.033; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’43.364; 5. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’43.378; 6. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’43.569; 7. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’43.574; 8. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’43.711; 9. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1’43.870; 10. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1’43.903; 11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’44.283; 12. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’44.365; 13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’44.376; 14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’44.453; 15. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1’44.570; 16. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’44.576; 17. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’44.751; 18. Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’46.444; 19. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’47.293; 20. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’48.317. World Supersport Michele Pirro continues to make a positive impression on his new Hannspree Ten Kate Honda mount, the Italian powering to the quickest time in day 2 of Supersport testing. Pirro set a time of 1 minute 47.168 seconds on the damp track, four-tenths quicker than Spain’s Joan Lascorz, who was quickest in the dry on Friday. The Kawasaki Motocard.com man had a harmless crash in the early stages and failed to improve on a 1’47″527. Eugene Laverty, who topped the timesheets in the wet morning run, then slipped down to third, followed by his team-mate Miguel Praia. Italian Paola Cazzola, a new face in Supersport this year, made some improvement to twelfth, one place behind the rookie American Jason DiSalvo (Triumph). Overall Times (Friday/Saturday): 1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’45.292; 2. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.587; 3. Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.834; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’45.909; 5. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’45.988; 6. Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 1’46.610: 7. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’47.164; 8. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1’47.500 More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing Ducati: The second day of three-day test session at Portimao was hampered by bad weather. Althea Racing riders Shane Byrne and Carlos Checa faced rain and a wet track this morning for practice. Due to the heavy rain Shakey decided, together with his technicians, not to enter the circuit in the morning session. They preferred to spend more time working on a dry setting. Checa finished thirteen laps with a best lap time of 1,55,922. Better conditions and occasional sunshine for the afternoon session, but the track was still wet, which inevitably prevented the riders from lapping at very high speeds. Shakey and Carlos continued to test various suspension settings with positive results. Checa finished twenty one laps registering the tenth fastest time of the day. Byrne finished only nine laps ending his test in seventeenth place. Both riders feel that they are making good progress and would like to see an improvement in their performance, hoping for a drier day on track tomorrow. Portimao test – second day : 1) Rea (Honda) 2) Haslam (Suzuki) 3) Corser (BMW) – 4) Crutchlow (Yamaha) 5) Sykes (Kawasaki) 6) Haga (Ducati)”¦”¦”¦10) Checa (Ducati) 1,53,854″¦”¦”¦..17) Byrne (Ducati) 1,57,963 Carlos Checa :”I’m pretty happy about today’s tests. This morning I ride only for thirteen laps because of the bad weather conditions but I was able to learn something more about my bike because it was my first time with my Ducati 1198 on a wet track. The track was very wet this morning while the afternoon was more productive. The weather hasn’t helped us but I worked on the bike’s setting and on the rear brake. Of course I chose not to take risks just to record the fastest time. We’ll see if the track dries out a bit in time for tomorrow’s last two sessions to be able to make further progress”. Shane Byrne :”We need some more dry track time. This is the most important thing for us. I already know the bike quite well on a wet track and so I didn’t need to make so many laps in the wet. All I had to do was try some different electronic setting and I’m happy because we found very soon the best one. For tomorrow I hope to be able to dry on a dry track to continue to develop my Ducati and to improve my yesterday best lap time”. Genesio Bevilacqua Team General Manager :”Today due to the bad weather conditions, our technicians decide to work on the bike settings for the wet track and to test some new component. Of course our riders preferred not to risk on the wet and for tomorrow I really hope to be able to test again on a dry track”. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: RAIN AFFECTS DAY TWO OF WORLD SUPERBIKE TESTING AT PORTIMAO Portimao (Portugal), Saturday 23rd January 2010 – As forecast, the first of today’s Superbike sessions was conditioned by the rain and, although many of the riders took to the track, Ducati Xerox men Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio took the decision, together with their technicians, to sit the session out. Both riders already know their Ducati 1198 machines well, and understand how they behave on a wet track, for which the morning’s conditions were not deemed to be useful. By the early afternoon the asphalt had tried out somewhat but only in parts, the mixed conditions meaning that very few of the riders were able to improve on times set in the wet this morning. Noriyuki and Michel were nevertheless able to continue with the planned work, with Noriyuki concentrating on testing tyres and Michel testing the clutch. Times only began to drop in the final minutes once the track had begun to dry and, at the end of today’s action, Noriyuki had registered the sixth fastest time and Michel the fourteenth, having only made one fast lap. Noriyuki Haga “The weather impeded us today. In the morning we didn’t ride as it was too wet and then in the afternoon, even though it had stopped raining, some sections of the track remained wet meaning we couldn’t make any fast laps. With regard to what we tested, to be honest we were just working with different tyres today; there’s still work to do so we hope it stays dry tomorrow.” Michel Fabrizio “Physically I feel a lot better than I did yesterday but we decided to not go out this morning as it was just raining too hard. In the afternoon the track was still wet of course but at least it had stopped raining allowing us to get back to work. Today we spent time testing a new clutch, and we saw some positive results in the end; just that, in concentrating on that, we then didn’t have enough time left at the end to get some fast laps in.” TIMES – DAY 2 Rea (Honda) 1m49.1s; Haslam (Suzuki) 1m49.3s; Corser (BMW) 1m49.6s; Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1m50.1s; Sykes (Kawasaki) 1m50.6s; Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m51.1s; Xaus (BMW) 1m51.1s; Guintoli (Suzuki) 1m51.2s”¦.. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m55.0s More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda Yamaha: Crutchlow and Toseland get a wet weather workout in Portimao Day two of the first World Superbike test of 2010 saw wet sessions for Yamaha riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland, with dry track only appearing towards the end of the day. Both riders took it easy and enjoyed the opportunity to familiarize themselves with how their bikes worked in the wet for the first time. The second day saw more extensive testing of the electronic settings and also an opportunity to test the wet and intermediate Pirellis tyres for the season ahead. Cal was again one of the quickest riders of the day, finishing in the top five, whilst James took a more relaxed approach, not pushing too hard in the wet weather. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (4th, 1’50.1) “It wasn’t so bad today, it dried up in the end. It was a bit of a last minute thing to get a good time in. In the end we only had two laps on intermediate tyres. We got through some more electronics today but we still have some work to do on chassis and other electronics tomorrow.” James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (15th, 1’55.4) “It was one of those situations today, we had the last ten minutes getting to grips with intermediate tyres, I was getting up to speed as the last session ended. It’s a bit of a risk to get a good time in the wet on those tyres. It’s looking good for tomorrow though so we’re looking forward to some more dry time. Having said that it’s been good to get out on rain tyres and ride in the damp to experience how the bike behaved.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “Today was our first fully wet practice, the second practice started wet and slowly dried out. We worked a lot on the electronics adjustments with both riders. Last year we didn’t have so many wet practices so it has been very helpful today to gather data and information. We’ve had a full day to get a good wet strategy together, so we’re happy and looking forward to some more sunshine tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Despite very different conditions from yesterday’s opening day, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea topped the timing sheets in both today’s World Superbike test sessions at Portimao in Portugal. Heavy rain this morning meant most riders remained in their team garages, with Rea only venturing out for ten laps in the final half-hour of the session, going quickest on his final lap. It was still wet at the beginning of this afternoon’s 2h20m session at the 4.592km Portuguese circuit but the track began to show signs of drying with 20 minutes remaining. Rea went out on intermediate tyres to set a series of fastest laps, eventually emerging three tenths faster than yesterday’s pace setter, Leon Haslam. “We had completely different conditions today,” said a smiling Rea afterwards. “We ran with a prototype wet this morning, when conditions were bordering on dangerous. Then, on intermediates, we managed to go fastest again this afternoon and got to test some electronics as well. Today was a lot more positive than yesterday, really, and a lot less painful!” Rea’s Hannspree Ten Kate team-mate, Max Neukirchner, rode his Honda CBR1000RR in the wet for the first time today and was ninth fastest this morning. The 26-year-old German got more accustomed to the bike’s performance in the rain as he continued the familiarisation process. “I had a lot of fun riding the bike in the wet for the first time this morning,” enthused Neukirchner, “and I like the way it handles. It was a little more difficult this afternoon with wet and dry patches. But the forecast is for dry weather again tomorrow, so I’ll be looking to make some more steps forward.” With Kenan Sofuoglu missing from the World Supersport test, the team’s Michele Pirro also tested his new machine for the first time in wet conditions. The 23-year-old Italian impressed the paddock by setting the fastest time on a drying track this afternoon, almost half a second quicker than yesterday’s fastest rider, Joan Lascorz. WSBK Portimao test official times, day two 1 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’49.107s 2 Leon Haslam (GBR) Suzuki 1’49.392s 3 Troy Corser (AUS) BMW 1’49.606s 4 Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 1’50.168s 5 Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki1’43.378s 6 Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Ducati 1’51.167s 13 Max Neukirchner (GER) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’54.829s WSS Portimao test official times, day two 1 Michele Pirro (ITA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 1’47.168 2 Joan Lascorz (ESP) 1’47.527s 3 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Honda 1’47.602s 4 Miguel Praia (POR) Honda 48.200s 5 Chaz Davies (GBR) Triumph 1’48.239s 6 Katsuaki Fujiwara (JPN) 1’48.923s More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY THIRD QUICKEST ON RAIN-AFFECTED DAY After yesterday’s dry conditions, heavy rain greeted Troy and the rest of the twenty riders at the Autodromo do Algarve, in Portimao this morning. The soaking wet track meant that Troy and team were forced to put aside their scheduled programme and work on finding a good wet weather set-up instead. Although the rain eased during the day, the track never completely dried out in the second session and so no rider was able to improve on yesterday’s lap times. But, in the difficult mixed conditions this afternoon, Troy quickly got to grips with the 4.658 kilometre circuit and ended the day with the third quickest time. Briton Jonathan Rea (Honda) topped the standings today, with a lap of 1:49.107, with fellow countryman Leon Haslam (Suzuki) second. Troy Today was a difficult day and we weren’t able to carry out our planned schedule, but we still managed to do a lot of good work and get a lot of info. It was a shame that we didn’t get any dry track time today, but we found some good ideas in the damp conditions and, funnily enough, if you can get a good wet set-up, it is easier then to find a good dry set-up, so I’m happy how things worked out. Portimao is a very good track for testing because it has many changes of elevation, some blind corners and I reckon it’s got to be one of the best tracks for testing. It was also good to start the year here also because the last time we raced was also here, so we were able to make good comparisons. And what I can say is that the bike is quite a bit better now then it was in the race weekend at the end of October. For me, the engine is now very good and the smooother throttle response makes the bike much easier to ride. Of course, there are still areas that we have to work on, but now I really feel that I can race this bike. Each time we go out, we are making progress but, unlike last year, here we are starting from a much better base. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow, because we have some new Ohlins forks and rear shocks to try and we can only do that if the conditions are good. Like Ruben I now look forward to every time I go out on the bike not only because I know that we are improving, but also because we have a much better idea of how to improve even further.