KUCIAR666
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The final SBK round gets underway at floodlit Qatar
The Althea BMW Racing Team, competing in the final round of the Superbike World Championship at the Losail international circuit in Qatar, have completed day one of practice under the floodlights. While Jordi Torres positions seventh on the timesheets, Raffaele De Rosa and Markus Reiterberger lie 15th and 17th respectively.
The first timed practice session took place in the early evening and in typically hot conditions (air temperature 30?C, track 33?C). The Althea BMW trio went straight to work in terms of adapting their BMW S 1000 RR bikes to the Qatari track. Jordi closed ninth, followed by Raffaele, riding the BMW Superbike for the second time this season, in tenth place. Markus, riding at Losail for the first time, finished in 18th position.
In the second timed practice, which took place at 9pm local time, all three Althea BMW men improving on their performance. Torres was able to lower his time by almost a second, to close seventh (1?58.303). The Spaniard will therefore take part in Superpole 2 tomorrow. De Rosa recorded a best time of 1?59.192, to finish 15th and Reiterberger positions 17th thanks to a time of 1?59.526, meaning both will compete in tomorrow?s Superpole 1.
Jordi Torres
?Session one didn?t go as expected because we had some problems, with a lot of movement at the rear of the bike. My technicians worked like champions to solve this issue before session two and we were able to do a lot better. We also made a long-run in order to understand which tyre to use in the race. We?ve seen that we have the pace today, now we have to see if conditions are the same tomorrow? We?re feeling quite confident though.?
Markus Reitenberger
?I?m enjoying the track, a new one for me. Unfortunately, I probably lost about 80% of session one due to some technical problems, so it was hard to learn the track as I only completed about eight laps. The second session started better but I had some more problems. So it was not an easy day and I?m down in seventeenth place, which isn?t good of course. I need more track time. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow.?
Raffaele De Rosa
?For the first day here in Doha it?s not gone too badly, and I?m happier than I was after the first day at Laguna Seca. We are also a little closer in terms of lap times which is good. I know that we, both me and my BMW, can improve further, and the important thing is that I?m having fun riding the bike. We?ll see what tomorrow brings but I hope to be able to do well in both the Superpole and the race.?