Lowes and Guintoli Learn Lausitzring for Successful WorldSBK Test

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team interrupted its summer break undertaking two successful days of testing at Germany’s Lausitzring EuroSpeedway this week. Welcoming back Sylvain Guintoli alongside Alex Lowes on the YZF-R1, the team quickly got down to business, learning this season’s newly introduced 4,255m circuit.

Lowes focused his efforts on reacquainting himself with the WorldSBK-spec machine, after last month’s successful foray into endurance racing at the Suzuka 8 Hours, setting 133 laps as he worked through an extensive programme of test items despite the short individual 40 minute sessions on track. Positively evaluating new engine and chassis hardware direct from Yamaha’s R&D in Germany, the British rider set a 21 lap race simulation in Thursday’s mid-afternoon session demonstrating his usual consistent and impressive pace.

Guintoli’s return to action after his Imola accident in late April provided the Frenchman with over six hours of track time across the two days, as he rebuilt his confidence and natural feel with the YZF-R1 over 139 laps. Initially concentrating on assessing his fitness, he soon moved on to geometry settings delivering a greater understanding of the Pata Yamaha team’s direction of development in recent months.

Satisfied with the results produced Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team now looks towards its next test opportunity, at Magny-Cours in France on Monday 5th September, before the team returns to Lausitzring for the first of the final four WorldSBK race weekends commencing on Friday 16th September.

Alex Lowes 

“The test at Lausitzring has been good and we’ve had a productive couple of days here. My feeling with the YZF-R1 has continued to improve and we’ve developed the package and learnt some new additions, which is positive. The track is interesting and it’s always nice to try new venues. The layout is challenging with lots of changes of direction and quite bumpy so compared to other tracks a slightly different set up is necessary. Overall I’m happy with the progress and am looking forward to the final day of testing at Magny-Cours before the season starts again back here in mid-September.”

Sylvain Guintoli

“Today was good as we added a lot more laps to yesterday’s work. It’s been a really useful test to allow me to return to competition smoothly and also to get back to working with all the guys. The next step is Magny-Cours, a track I know really, really well so that will be good to help me get back up to speed and get a bit more rhythm there.

“We’ve been discussing the track and the general opinion is there is still a bit of work to be done but hopefully it will be ready for us to race on next month.

“The YZF-R1 has changed since I was last racing on it, chassis-wise the set-up is also different so the past two days have allowed me to develop a better understanding of the dynamics in place at the moment. We have worked on a few tweaks in performance but the main task has been understanding how the bike behaves now and getting back up to speed.”

More, from a press release issued by Honda World Superbike Team:

Honda WorldSBK and WorldSSP teams confident after Lausitzring private test

The Honda WorldSBK Team has completed at successful two-day private test at the Lausitzring circuit in Germany. The World Superbike duo of Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark were joined by World Supersport peer PJ Jacobsen as they reunited with the Dutch-based team ahead of the German round of the World Superbike championship, which takes place at the same venue on September 16-18.

Unlike his team mate, Hayden had never turned a lap at Lausitzring prior to the test, meaning he had to get familiar with the twisty layout of the 4.255 km racetrack before he could turn his full attention to the bike setup. Despite his previous experience at this track on 125cc machinery, Michael van der Mark had to learn his way around the Lausitzring on board the more powerful 1000cc Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.

With plenty of time available – six 40-minute sessions per day for a total of eight hours of track time – each rider completed more than 190 laps over the course of the two days, while evaluating new settings and components for their bikes.

PJ Jacobsen switched back to the more familiar Honda CBR600RR machine after taking part – like his World Superbike team mates – in this year’s edition of the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race. Jacobsen, who sits third in the WorldSSP championship standings, worked tirelessly with his crew to be ready for what is going to be a crucial race for his 2016 campaign.

Nicky Hayden 69

It has been a good couple of days here at Lausitzring. Today we kept making some good progress, although on the second day it’s always a bit more difficult to keep improving. We hit a few walls today but overall I was able to make some steps forward. The team worked really hard and I’m thankful that they came here for this test during the summer break. We needed these two days, especially on a track where we still have to race. It took me some laps to readjust to this version of the Fireblade after riding the endurance one but now we’re ready. Obviously we don’t know where we’ll stack up until we come back here for the race, but I’m sure we’ll find out really quick where we fall in line. Now I look forward to race in Germany.

Michael van der Mark 60

The test was really good for us and a very useful one, because it has been a long time since I last came here – 2010 I think. We did a lot of laps – 119 today alone – but we were also able to gather some good information. Today we tried a couple of things that worked out really well and in the end we were able to improve the bike quite a lot. I’m really happy because we were not only fast but also very consistent on the long run; of course there is still room for improvement but we have a really good base to start with, so I cannot wait for the German round to start.

Patrick Jacobsen 2

The test went really well; we were able to try new things and managed to improve in each and every session. Given our performance especially on the last day, I think we have found a good set up for the round, so now I cannot wait to get back on track and do my best for a strong result. The track is OK and very unusual for Europe; it reminds me more of an American Indy track circuit! It is a bit bumpy, but I know where now so it won’t be too much of a problem.

Pieter Breddels

Technical Manager

It’s been a very good test and we’ve been blessed by good weather on both days. Apart from the usual work on setup and gearing, we tried new brake calipers and added some angle to the chassis settings, which added more stability to the bike. Both Nicky and Michael liked this change. With PJ the main focus was obviously the rear suspension because it has given us a bit of an up and down performance so far in the season. We also worked on the clutch, although that didn’t give us a big improvement in terms of lap times. It was important for PJ to ride the CBR600RR again after Suzuka. We’re now confident and ready for the German round as well as for the final leg of the season.