WSBK Jerez test

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Productive Jerez Test Sets Guintoli and Lowes Up for Qatar

The Gaerne Spanish Round may have drawn to a close but there was no rest for Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes today as the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team completed a full eight hours of testing at the Circuito de Jerez. Fresh from Sunday's positive racing, the WorldSBK riders got straight down to business on their YZF-R1's as the track reopened at 10:00 local time, riding until the flag at 18:00.

A detailed plan of action saw Guintoli and Lowes successfully work through a raft of 2017 development parts, including chassis components, software upgrades and engine development. Retrospective testing was also undertaken to further evaluate settings from this season's earlier rounds, with both aspects proving fruitful.

The Pata Yamaha pair finalised the day by targeting their specific preparation for the Losail International Circuit ahead of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship's visit to Qatar on Friday 28th October. With 13 WorldSBK riders on track, Guintoli concluded the day fourth in the times, his confidence growing further from his already strong performance during the past weekend's races. Lowes rounded out his Jerez visit in seventh and greatly buoyed by the progress in pace made over the last 24 hours.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team now prepares for a week back at base before making the season's final trip, to the Middle East, as the series gets set to conclude under desert floodlights at the end of the month.

Sylvain Guintoli
4th / 1'41.627 / 71 laps

"It's been a good day testing for us here at Jerez after a good weekend of racing. This weekend I have felt like my feeling with the bike has really sunk in and come back to me - I have really enjoyed my riding and I've felt like I was riding better. Today was good, we did about 70 laps and it was efficient work. We've worked hard to be ready for Qatar and also to carry on the development in general so it was a very positive day!"
Alex Lowes
7th / 1'41.895 / 84 laps

"The test today was good as we've already improved the bike from the weekend, there was no miracle step but we had a good day. We've worked through a lot of stuff, focusing on everything but specifically working on improving the front end feeling, and we now understand a little more the direction and the area of the bike that we want to focus on next, which is always a good thing. We were working a lot on old tyres and got plenty of laps in and I felt quite good. My consistent rhythm, even in the hottest part of the day and on older tyres, was really strong, which for me personally was nice because I didn't get an opportunity to show that in the race yesterday, so yes it was good!"
Jerez WorldSBK Official Test Times

1. Jonathan Rea, GBR, Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.815
2. Tom Sykes, GBR, Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.056
3. Chaz Davies, GBR, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, 1'41.563
4. Sylvain Guintoli, FRA, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team, 1'41.627
5. Nicky Hayden, USA, Honda World Superbike Team, 1'41.740
6. Michael van der Mark, NED, Honda World Superbike Team, 1'41.748
7. Alex Lowes, GBR, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team, 1'41.895
8. Jordi Torres, ESP, Althea BMW Racing Team, 1'41.970
9. Marcus Reiterberger, GER, Althea BMW Racing Team, 1'42.056
10. Davide Giugliano, ITA, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, 1'42.247

 

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Althea BMW conclude il test ufficiale a Jerez

Si ? concluso solo ieri il penultimo round del Mondiale Superbike 2016 sul circuito spagnolo di Jerez, ma oggi l?Althea BMW Racing Team era di nuovo in pista per partecipare ai test ufficiali con i suoi piloti Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger.

Dopo un weekend SBK piuttosto difficile, la squadra italiana ha sfruttato le buone condizioni meteo per lavorare sul assetto delle BMW S 1000 RR dei due piloti ufficiali che, nel corso della giornata, hanno completato 64 giri con Torres e 72 con Reiterberger. Il programma di lavoro si ? focalizzato soprattutto sull?anteriore della moto, dove i due piloti hanno provato vari componenti, oltre che sullo sviluppo di alcuni aspetti elettronici.

A fine giornata, il team si ? dichiarato soddisfatto del lavoro svolto. Adesso la squadra rientra in Italia per una settimana, prima di tornare in pista per l?ultimo round del campionato Mondiale Superbike, da svolgersi dal 28 al 30 ottobre sul circuito internazionale di Losail in Qatar.

Jordi Torres
?Oggi avevamo l?opportunit? di confrontare quello che funziona bene sulla moto e quello che funziona meno bene, per capire meglio quello che ? successo in questo weekend di gare, visto che l?anteriore della moto ha continuato a peggiorare per qualche motivo, una cosa che ? successa solo qui a Jerez. L?idea ? sempre di raccogliere pi? informazioni e sensazioni possibili ed oggi abbiamo cercato di fare cos?. Abbiamo provato alcuni elementi nuovi, e come al solito alcuni hanno funzionato bene, alcuni no, ma tutto sommato, mi sento meglio e pi? positivo. E? stata sicuramente una giornata utile.?

Marcus Reitenberger

?Oggi ? andata meglio rispetto al weekend appena passato. Avevo due moto a disposizione, con setting diversi, abbiamo quindi provato e comparato le moto, lavorando per cercare le migliori soluzioni. Abbiamo testato tre nuove gomme posteriori portate dalla Pirelli, dei nuovi componenti Ohlins ed anche alcuni aggiornamenti elettronici. Una volta che il tutto verr? messo assieme, penso che riusciremo a migliorare la nostra moto. Non succeder? da un giorno all?altro ovviamente, ma credo che, guardando avanti ai test invernali ed alla prossima stagione, potremo trovare una buona direzione da intraprendere.?

 

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Jerez Test Sessions See Rea And Sykes Lead The Field

Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes from the Kawasaki Racing Team were first and second quickest respectively in the official one-day Superbike World Championship tests at Jerez in Spain. Rea set a 1?40.815 best lap, which was under lap record pace. Sykes was also under the lap record and just 0.241 seconds behind his team-mate. He was also over half a second faster than the next quickest rider.

The 4.423km circuit provided dry and eventually warm conditions throughout the eight hour long test session. Rea and Sykes each worked toward 2017 settings, with Sykes running two machines back-to- back to allow for clear comparisons in chassis geometry. He also worked on settings to take into the final challenge in Qatar in two weeks? time.

Rea used one machine all day and as a result set fewer laps than Sykes. He had a very positive test session overall, and set his fastest time after putting all the optimum material and settings together near the end, when the track was at its hottest. Sykes set 93 laps today and Rea 56.

Both Jonathan and Tom were also pleased with the progress shown by the Pirelli tyres they tried, and each feels confident going into the final races in Qatar.

The next round, the last of the season, will take place at Losail International Circuit, with racedays on 29th and 30th October. Either Jonathan or Tom will be crowned champion, as only they can score enough points over the final two races to win the title outright.

Jonathan Rea, stated: ?That was a very positive day, maybe the most positive of the season. I spoke for a long time with Fabien Foret, who is helping me to improve my riding, seeing how I am attacking the corners in a different way. I am not a testing guy and woke up today with little motivation but step-by-step everything we were trying out was working. We were consistently fast all day and then, when we put all the items together we had been testing; we made a good step forward. We tested and refined some things in readiness for 2017 including some new front forks, and found not only a happy feeling with the forks but a rear shock we tried near the end as well. Even with used tyres we were able to lap very fast. I was happy all day. Even in the hot conditions we were able to be fast. I am very thankful to Kawasaki and Showa, and all my crew, who worked hard. Also to Pere and Paolo and to Fabien, who has helped me change my riding position on the bike. There were many positives today.?

Tom Sykes, stated: ?It was a very busy test, lots of laps, and we had an opportunity to do a variety of things with the suspension and chassis set-up. There were a couple of new tyres from Pirelli and also new electronic stuff. I had two bikes so we could do direct geometry comparisons. A massive day of testing in dry conditions and it was really nice to have two bikes, as it makes the testing even more effective. The lads have worked hard all race weekend and during this test - and now they have got to prepare the crates for the flyaway round in Qatar. Credit to all those guys in the team and hopefully on the back of this test we can be even stronger in Qatar.?

Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Jonathan Rea, stated: ?Each rider is different and Johnny is a really strong Sunday rider; a race rider. He is always working but his strongest point is Sunday. During the tests he is doing the job well but this time he was really, really accurate with all the details he gave to the development staff. This was very positive because we used different things in engine management and suspension, thinking about 2017 and all the results have been very good. All the tests we made have been clear and gave a very strong lap time. We have a very solid package. We tried a new rear tyre from Pirelli that has been working fantastically well. We also tested some things to work out what the base will be to start from in the final round of this year in Qatar. I am so pleased with this test.?

Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Tom Sykes, stated: ?It was nice to have a test day again and we started with some 2017 items. In a Monday test after a race you have the best reference possible and the weather conditions were similar. We simulated the character of some 2017 material this morning and it was working better than expected. Soon after we started to focus on the remaining 2016 round at Qatar. We have a target there and we had clear planning today to help us achieve it. We went through all our items, with one exception, and we found some clear improvements. We will take all this through to the first free practice session in Losail.?