FIM Supersport World Championship
Magny-Cours, France
September 29, 2017
Free Practice Two Results (all on Pirelli tires):
1. Lucas MAHIAS, France (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:41.668
2. PJ JACOBSEN, USA (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:42.182
3. Sheridan MORAIS, South Africa (Yamaha YZF-R6), 1:42.209
4. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:42.222, crash
5. Alessandro ZACCONE, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:42.372
6. Gino REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-6R), 1:42.464, crash
7. Jules CLUZEL, France (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.504
8. Hikari OKUBO, Japan (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.617
9. Kyle SMITH, UK (Honda CBR600RR), 1:42.794
10. Lorenzo ZANETTI, Italy (MV Agusta F3 675), 1:42.808, crash
More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:
WorldSSP: Mahias takes home advantage on Friday in France
Red flagged free practice session sees title fighters locked at the top
The first day of activity at the #FrenchWorldSBK round saw French rider Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) conclude the opening sessions leading the combined timesheets courtesy of a best time from FP1.
Mahias’ best effort of 1’41.502 on Friday morning was the quickest of the day in the WorldSSP class Magny-Cours, with his title rival Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) just behind him second, followed by Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) in third.
PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing) completed a top five of riders whose best times of the day all came in FP1. Sixth and seventh respectively on the combined timesheet were Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing) and Alessandro Zaccone (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), who both recorded their best times in FP2.
Friday’s WorldSSP top ten also featured Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda), Michael Canducci (Puccetti Racing Junior Team FMI) and Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven).
An incident-packed FP2 session was red flagged twice due to crashes meaning the riders had to maintain their concentration in their pitboxes whilst waiting for the action to resume. The first incident saw Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing), Roberto Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag) and Caricasulo crash at turn 5, with the second red flag being shown later due to a crash at turn 6 involving Sofuoglu, Rea, Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing) and Lorenzo Zanetti (Team Factory Vamag). None of the riders were seriously affected by the crashes.
On Saturday at the Pirelli French Round the WorldSSP riders will undertake FP3 at 9.20am local time, followed by SP1 at 2pm and SP2 at 2.25pm.
More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta Reparto Corse:
ALL THE MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE RIDERS MADE IT INTO THE TISSOT-SUPERPOLE2 AT MAGNY COURS
The third round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship 2017 took place at the Magny Cours circuit, in France. On the opening day of free practice, all the MV Agusta Reparto Corse’s riders made it on their respective Tissot- Superpole2.
WorldSBK – FP1, FP2
After 17 full laps during the FP1 heat, Leon Camier and his MV Agusta F4RC lead the WorldSBK group of riders, spacing the World Champion Jonathan Rea of 0,304s. Camier will keep the provisional pole position up to 3 minutes from the end, when he will be passed by Rea’s best time, closing with the second place with a 1’38.032 lap time. Again, the MV Agusta F4 RC is the best Italian bike on track.
In the second session, the English fought hard for the provisional pole but he wasn’t able to improve his morning’s lap time, ending in 7th final position and thus entering the Tissot-Superpole2, despite he couldn’t take advantage of his tire because of a inconvenience to the swingarm.
WorldSSP – FP1, FP2
After lapping into the top position area for the entire FP1 session, PJ Jacobsen closed the morning FP1 session in 4th position, with a time of 1’42.157, only 0.6s far from the leader. PJ’s teammate Alessandro Zaccone was stable in top 15, closing with a 1’42.713 lap (12th position) the FP1 heat.
When the FP2 session is over, Jacobsen keeps the 4th position in the combined timesheet results, while Alessandro Zaccone is able to further reduce his lap time, closing in 7th position of WorldSSP class, and getting the pole in the ESS standings.
Both riders directly enter into the Saturday’s Tissot-Superpole2.
Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – I am quite happy with this result since I know we could do better on this track. Of course we still have work to do on the bike but I am quite sure we can stay with the first guys, both in qualifying and race. Thanks to my time for their support and hard work here in France.
Patrick “PJ” Jacobsen #99 WorldSSP – Today it was a good day for us. Unfortunately, the second session was interrupted for some oil on track and, after the red flag, the rest of the session was a little bit slippery in one area and we couldn’t improve our lap time. I am P4 in the combined result and of course I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend.
Alessandro Zaccone #61 ESS – After we spent several races in search of the right setting, today I’ve been able to really ride the way I like, the way I enjoy it and the way it allows me to stay with the first. The hard work on the bike has allowed us to make a big step forward. We definitely started this round in the right way, being even able to end with the third ideal time. I now really look forward to go back on track tomorrow. Big thank to all my squad for their great job.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
GRT Yamaha Enjoy Superb Start in WorldSSP at Magny-Cours
Free practice
The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team got off to an almost perfect start on Friday at Magny-Cours, round ten of the 2017 FIM Supersport World Championship. Title contender Lucas Mahias dominated proceedings at his home round, topping both sessions and ending the day 0.599s clear of the rest of the field, whilst his teammate Federico Caricasulo also showed incredible pace to finish in third on the overall timesheets.
Mahias’ seventh podium of the season last time out in Portimao saw him arrive in France trailing championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu by just four points with two races remaining and the French rider knows he needs a good performance at his home race to give him the best chance of becoming the 2017 WorldSSP champion. Therefore, Friday took on an even greater emphasis for the 28-year-old from Mont-de-Marsan in South West France and he did not disappoint the passionate French supporters. In FP1 he showed sensational pace right from the word go on his Yamaha R6 and ended up setting a 1:41.502, less than a second off the outright lap record at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, and 0.599s quicker than everybody else. In FP2 he tried a different setting but it was not an improvement, so his team returned to the setup from the morning. Mahias immediately found his groove again, setting a 1:41.688 to top an afternoon session that was broken up by two red flags. The disruptions meant none of the top five improved their times from FP1, with Mahias the only rider to break the 1’42 barrier during the day and finishing 0.599s ahead of his championship rival Kenan Sofuoglu in second place.
His teammate Federico Caricasulo also enjoyed a superb Friday. The 21-year-old Italian settled into a rhythm straight away in FP1 and was always near the top of the timesheets throughout the session. On his final run, he set a 1:42.141, which would be good enough to secure third on the timesheets. Early on in FP2 he hit a patch of oil left by another rider and crashed at Turn 5, luckily, he was unhurt and able to remount immediately, with the red flag being shown for the incident. When the session resumed, he went back out and tried some different settings before the second red flag appeared for oil on the track. Realising his place in SP2 on Saturday was secure, Caricasulo spent the remainder of the session focusing on improving on his already impressive race pace. His time from FP1 was good enough for third on the combined timesheets and saw him 0.639s off the pace of his teammate.
To round off a great day for Yamaha, Kallio Racing’s Niki Tuuli and Sheridan Morais finished in fifth and sixth respectively, meaning there were four Yamaha R6s in the top six. Check out the combined results from Friday.
The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team return to action on Saturday morning at 9:20 am local time for FP3, with qualifying starting at 2 pm and Sunday’s race at 11:30 am.
Lucas Mahias
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team – 1st – 1:41.502
“I am very happy as it was a very good day for me! It was a big surprise because, at the beginning of the day, we didn’t really try and push. It is only the first day but I am really confident with my R6. It is my home track, which obviously helps and I have a lot of experience here as well. We worked a lot to try and improve the bike in-between the sessions but we found that at the start of FP2 it wasn’t an improvement, so we changed a few settings, went back out at the end of the session and my feeling was very, very good. Even with the oil on the track after the second red flag, I managed to improve my time in the session, which is good for tomorrow. I hope for good weather tomorrow, but if it rains, I am very confident in the wet too!”
Federico Caricasulo
GRT Yamaha WorldSSP300 Team – 3rd – 1:42.141
“It was not a bad day! We had a good FP1, but FP2 was kind of strange. I crashed after just a few laps on some oil. After that, I tried a few new settings on the bike but there was another red flag, so I realised that I would not lose my position in the top ten. I then spent the rest of the session trying to improve the feeling with my R6, without worrying about the lap times. With that in mind, I am very happy to have finished in third and I am looking forward to tomorrow!”
Filippo Conti
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team Manager
“We had a very good day! Lucas finishing in first at his home track was great and Federico was also really quick and we are very happy he ended the day in third. This morning we started well, we always try and finish FP1 in the top five and then focus on trying out different settings in the afternoon to work on the rider’s race pace. We tried a different setting with Lucas in FP2 but it didn’t improve his feeling so we went back to the settings from the morning. It has been a fantastic day and we are definitely heading in the right direction. I would like to say thank you to the riders and the team for their efforts today, plus, of course, Yamaha for providing us with such a good package. The weather doesn’t look great tomorrow but we will try to find a way to ensure that we are quick no matter what the conditions.”