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WSBK-Jerez

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Pata Yamaha Hunting for Podiums at Jerez
Setup
The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team will be pushing hard to secure more podiums in Jerez this weekend at the penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship after recording their first ever double rostrum in Race 2 at the last round in Magny-Cours. Alex Lowes is currently fifth in the championship standings with 200 points after scoring his third podium of the season in France and the British rider is looking to end an already positive year on a high note. His teammate Michael van der Mark is in sixth, just 11 points behind Lowes with 189 points, as the Dutch rider aims to continue the run of form that has seen him on the podium twice in the last three races.

Lowes loves the Jerez circuit and is looking forward to getting back on his Pata Yamaha R1 after a recent private two-day test in Portimao and having had more time to recover from the injuries he sustained in his Race 2 highside in Portugal. Last year at Jerez, Lowes qualified in fourth but recorded a DNF in Race 1, before recovering to finish Race 2 in seventh. The 27-year-old is determined to return to the podium in Spain having secured his third rostrum of the season last time out in Magny-Cours, as the 2013 British Superbike Champion looks to continue his already impressive season.

His teammate Van der Mark is on an incredible run at the moment. The 24-year-old has really got to grips with his Pata Yamaha R1 during the recent rounds, with two podiums in the last three races to show for his efforts. He is also on a run of nine consecutive points-scoring finishes, highlighting the consistency the Dutch rider has as well as his outright pace. The 2014 Supersport World Champion has a superb record at Jerez, winning the WorldSSP race on his way to the title in 2014, finishing third in 2015 in his rookie WorldSBK season and recording a double top-six finish last year at the track. Van der Mark is feeling confident with the work done at the recent test and cannot wait to return to action in Spain for the penultimate round of the season.

The iconic 4.423km Circuito de Jerez is located 90km south of Seville in the sherry-producing Andalucía region in Spain. Opened back in 1985 it hosted its first WorldSBK race in 1990, becoming a permanent fixture on the calendar from 2013. The track consists of 13 corners, 8 right and 5 left-handed, plus a start/finish straight of just 600m and contains a mix of fast, sweeping corners and slow technical hairpins, with constant elevation changes. The track is incredibly popular with the Spanish fans, who always manage to create a positive atmosphere at the circuit and also in the nearby city of Jerez de la Frontera.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team hit the track for Free Practice 1 at 9:45 am local time on Friday morning, with Saturday's qualifying scheduled to start at 10:30 am, while both Race 1 on Saturday and Sunday's Race 2 due to start at 13:00 pm.

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Alex Lowes
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 5th - 200 Points
"Jerez is a track I really enjoy. We had a very productive test in Portimao and I'm feeling great with the R1. We have made really good progress with the bike throughout the year and it shows in our results. The test was another step forward and we found some really positive improvements that allowed me to ride with a lot more confidence. It was great to be on the podium with Michael at Magny-Cours and it was just reward for all the effort the team has put in, so I am looking to continue this momentum and finish the season as strong as possible plus, of course, I will be trying to get back on that podium!"

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Michael van der Mark
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 6th - 189 points
"After doing a lot of testing this winter in Jerez and the progress we have made with the bike during this season, I cannot wait to see how we will go there. It is a track I have a good record at and at the moment, we are in a very strong position after great results in the last three races and a really productive test in Portimao. My mission will be to fight as close to the front as possible again and, of course, the podium would be even better!"


 
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KUCIAR666

Registered User
SPANISH WEEKEND APPROACHING FOR KRT
The penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will get underway on Friday 20th October for recently crowned and three-time world champion Jonathan Rea and 2013 champion Tom Sykes. Even after Rea’s unprecedented third successive title win at Magny Cours two weeks ago, and KRT also securing the Teams’ championship that same weekend, there is still a lot to play for in the final two events of the season.

As the second Spanish based round of the season approaches, at Jerez de la Frontera in the region of Andalusia, securing the Manufacturers’ title for Kawasaki is the immediate aim for the entire team, but both riders also have personal goals to achieve before season end.

Rea, who has now joined an exclusive club with 50 WorldSBK race wins to his credit, is out to gain more victories than the 14 he took in his first championship-winning season with Kawasaki in 2015. Currently Jonathan has taken 12 wins this year. He has also not quite managed to secure an individual race win at Jerez, which makes it one of only two current WorldSBK venues that Jonathan has not won at least one race at. His motivation this coming weekend, even so soon after his historic three-in-a-row championship success, is still at a very high level.

Hand and finger injuries for Sykes prevented him from competing at round 10 in Portimao and made things difficult on his return at Magny Cours, but he still scored a race one podium finish and a then a seventh in race two, despite not making the optimum rear tyre choice.

Tom’s grit and determination ensured that he remained second in the championship, with a nine point lead over third placed rider Chaz Davies. Sykes is now looking to maintain or extend that points advantage to guarantee a Kawasaki rider 1-2 in the final standings. One more podium for Sykes would see him secure 100 over his career in WorldSBK, all but one having been taken on a Kawasaki.

After the Jerez races on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd, which are scheduled for 20 laps, the championship will relocate to the Losail International Circuit in Qatar for the final round. The Losail action will be run under floodlights again but in a new initiative for this year the races will be held on Friday and Saturday, 3rd and 4th November, not the more traditional Saturday and Sunday.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks after Magny Cours and winning my third World Championship. Feelings are finally starting to sink in. I've been enjoying these weeks doing a lot of PR back in Belfast and visiting the Monster Energy Cup Supercross in Las Vegas as guest of Kawasaki and Monster. I'm very much looking forward to getting back to business and although I have never won a WorldSBK race in Jerez, I'm fired up for the challenge. The circuit has been resurfaced recently so Friday will be very important to understand our base setup. The latest feelings with the ZX-10RR have been great so I expect a strong weekend, where I'm expecting a lot of travelling support from Northern Ireland.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “We still have things to do before the end of the season and I am looking forward to riding again at Jerez. We have won there before and done a lot of testing there. I am definitely looking forward to getting on the bike again, even though I am not 100% yet with my hand injury. In my eyes, I am considerably better than I was at Magny Cours in the previous round. So that gives me extra confidence and motivation. Hats off to the team of people who have looked after me and helped me to get to this stage. It is unbelievable how far we have come with the injury in such a short space of time. In the approach to Jerez we need to do what we did in France again because I was pleasantly surprised in our pace there. It worked out nicely for me.”
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Althea BMW returns to Spain for the penultimate SBK round

Rome (Italy), Tuesday 17 October 2017
The Althea BMW Racing Team and its riders Jordi Torres and Raffaele De Rosa are ready for the penultimate round of the 2017 Superbike World Championship season, taking place this coming weekend at the Spanish track of Jerez de la Frontera.

The recent Magny-Cours round proved to be a tough one for the two Althea BMW men. Wet conditions definitely didn’t help, with Jordi scoring a best of eighth and Raffaele tenth in the weekend’s races.

This weekend though, and racing at his home track, Torres hopes to improve on the results he scored at the 2016 edition of the Spanish event, when he crossed the line eighth in both races. De Rosa came home in fifth place in the Stock1000 race, winning the title at this very track. Both riders are still in with a chance of improving their overall positions in the standings in the last four races of the 2017 season.

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"I really want to do well in front of my Spanish fans of course, improving on last year’s less than fantastic results. We need to continue to work hard right to the end, also because I can still improve my position in the overall standings, so I hope for two good races ‘at home’, in which I score as many points as possible.”
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“We head to Jerez now, a track where I’ve raced many times. I can’t wait to get started. I know they’ve resurfaced the track though, so we need to see how that it, what kind of grip it offers and which tyres we’ll have to use. There was some improvement at Magny-Cours and so I hope we can continue to move in that direction, to close the season as well as possible…”

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Track Information:

Country: Spain
Name: Circuito de Jerez
Length: 4.423 km
Pole position: right
Turns: 5 left, 8 right

SBK RECORDS: Best lap – Rea (Kawasaki) 1'41.136 (2015). Superpole – Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'39.190 (2016).

2016 SBK RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Davies (Ducati); 2. Sykes (Kawasaki); 3. Rea (Kawasaki). Race 2 – 1. Davies (Ducati); 2. Rea (Kawasaki); 3. Sykes (Kawasaki).


Weekend schedule (CET):

Friday
9.00 – 9.30 – STK1000 Free Practice
9.45 – 10.45 – SBK Timed Practice 1
13.45 – 14.15 – STK1000 Free Practice
14.30 – 15.30 – SBK Timed Practice 2

Saturday
8.45 – 9.10 – SBK Free Practice
9.45 - 10.15 – STK1000 Timed Practice
10.30 – 10.45 – Superpole 1
10.55 – 11.10 – Superpole 2
13.00 – SBK Race 1
15.00 – 15.30 – STK1000 Qualifying

Sunday
9.30 – 9.45 – SBK Warm-up
10.00 – 10.15 – STK1000 Warm-up
13.00 – SBK Race 2
15.15 – STK1000 Race
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Giugliano and Takahashi ready for more WorldSBK action at Jerez
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Spanish Round

Circuito de Jerez, Spain
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The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has reached the south of Spain to take part in the penultimate event of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship, which takes place this weekend at the ‘Circuito de Jerez’. Davide Giugliano and the returning Takumi Takahashi will take to the track on board their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machines in what is the last European event of the year before the season finale in Qatar.

Giugliano is eager to return to action after his positive weekend at Magny-Cours a fortnight ago. The 27-year-old Italian rider well performed in front of the French crowd, while improving his feeling and synergy with the bike, much to the satisfaction of the team. The fast and flowing nature of the Jerez circuit suits Giugliano’s riding style like no other track on the calendar, so the former STK1000 champion is looking forward to getting started.

Takumi Takahashi will be back on board the WorldSBK-spec version of the Fireblade after his debut at Portimão last month where he scored his first World Championship points. Unlike the Portuguese event, however, the Japanese rider will approach this event not only with some experience of the bike and Pirelli tyres but also with previous knowledge of the track, which will be a massive help for the three-time Suzuka 8 Hour winner.






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Davide Giugliano 34
We get to Jerez after the positive weekend at Magny-Cours, where we worked hard and well to improve the package. I think we are heading in the right direction, so now I’m looking forward to Jerez, which is among my favourite tracks and one where I’ve always been competitive. I hope I will be able to put my speed to good use in order to keep improving the bike and have fun out there.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Takumi Takahashi 72
I have tested with MotoGP at Jerez before so I already know the track, which is without a doubt a massive help heading into my second-ever WorldSBK round. Last time out at Portimão I got to know this version of the Fireblade and started to understand the behaviour of Pirelli tyres, so now I’m looking forward to getting back on track. The team works really hard and their support is great, so I’ll be giving my very best and hopefully we will get a good result together.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Ronald ten Kate
Team Manager
After a positive weekend at Magny-Cours we are looking forward to Jerez, where we are hoping to maintain the upward trend and aim for some good results. For Davide it means two consecutive race weekends on the bike which will be a big help. Takahashi knows his way around Jerez, so this will help him aim for better results than he had Portimão where everything – the track, bike, tyres and the championship – was completely new for him.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Althea BMW hard at work in Spain
Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Friday 20 October 2017

The penultimate round of the 2017 Superbike World Championship is underway at the Spanish track of Jerez de la Frontera. The Althea BMW Racing team took part in today’s two timed practice sessions, concluding this first day of action in thirteenth place with Jordi Torres and in fourteenth position with Raffaele De Rosa.

In the morning’s first timed practice, Spanish rider Torres made a good start to his ‘home’ race weekend, completing a series of fast laps to position eighth at the session’s end, thanks to a best time of 1’41.330. His team-mate De Rosa set a fastest time of 1’42.053 to close the first session in twelfth place.

The afternoon’s second session proved to be a tougher one for the Althea BMW pair. Despite some difficulties, De Rosa was able to lower his time, by half a second, in the final minutes (1’41.585) while Torres managed to shave a fraction of a second off his best (1’41.313). The Italian squad therefore rounded out day one in 13thplace with Torres and in 14th with De Rosa.

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"It looks like everyone’s having a few issues with the new asphalt to be honest, me included. Perhaps the electronics don’t help but we seem to be lacking grip and stability. I don’t have the right grip to be able to lean over fully and it’s difficult to know how hard we can push. Every time I put a new tyre in I would only manage a couple of laps before there was a drop in grip. So a few problems but we’ve collected a lot of information that I hope helps us to find a compromise for the bike for tomorrow. I’ll do my best in SP1 in the hope of being able to move on to SP2.”

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"We've finished day one and although we did our best to get into SP2 we were unfortunately unable to do so. I’m a little more comfortable on the bike I think, but a small crash this morning at turn 1 caused me to lose some of the feeling with my bike. We’re also working to improve grip over race distance, important considering the new asphalt. We have a few things to test tomorrow and so I hope I am able to improve on today’s performance.”
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KUCIAR666

Registered User
REA AND SYKES LEAD THE FRIDAY FIELD
Under clear skies the 12th round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship got underway at Jerez with Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes (KRT) ending the opening day in first and second places respectively on the timesheets.

After FP1 Jonathan Rea was a clear leader on pace and he maintained a strong advantage even after suffering a fall in the early stages of the afternoon FP2 session.

Jonathan was able to return to action at a high pace after taking to the track again for the last part of FP2, but it was his remarkable morning lap time of 1’40.291 that put him 0.597 seconds ahead of his team-mate Sykes in the final Friday rankings.

Still recovering from left little finger and hand injuries Sykes worked his way into the Jerez race weekend, eventually finishing second fastest and making progress all through Friday’s two hours of track time at the 4.423km long circuit in the south of Spain.

Tom set a personal best lap time of 1’40.888 on the recently resurfaced Jerez circuit late this afternoon and headed up a five rider group that was separated by just 0.008 seconds.

The KRT riders will now lead today’s top 10 qualifiers into Superpole 2 where final grid positions for the first race on Saturday will be determined.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “The bike worked well today. We made a long stop in the first pit stop this morning, understood the bike and made some good changes. I then went out and I felt confident with the bike. Step by step we are getting into an area where we can start to use the softer rear tyre, and that is fine. We need to understand the front tyres a bit more now. I had a strange crash, only on my second lap this afternoon, not doing anything silly. So it caught me off guard a little bit. We need to understand the data more. The bike was quickly fixed and we were able to get 20 solid minutes of track time in at the end, which were important.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “We are just fine-tuning the bike set-up and getting things sorted, so we improved our pace towards the end of the second session. I can go to bed tonight fairly satisfied with the work we have done. Our improvements today were a bit of a setting thing, a bit of a rider thing, and we did a lot of laps to understand things. I still cannot force the bike in some areas like I would like to, but even with this injury I feel I am still able to do the job. In the end we put in the tyres we normally use for a race and tried something closer to our race set-up. The lap times are pretty close behind me and a lot of riders set similar pace.”
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Giugliano and Takahashi with some work to do after opening day at Jerez
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Spanish Round

Circuito de Jerez, Spain
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Day one of the Spanish WorldSBK Round of 2017 has drawn to a close for the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team, with Davide Giugliano and Takumi Takahashi 17th and 20th, respectively, in the combined times of today’s two practice sessions at ‘Circuito de Jerez’. Both riders will therefore take part in tomorrow’s Superpole 1 with the goal to advance to the second and final qualifying session.

Davide Giugliano had a steady start to the day as he got to grips with the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 around the fast-flowing 4.423 Km Andalusian track, which has been recently resurfaced. It took some time for the 27-year-old to find the right feeling with the bike, but in the final stages of FP2 he was able to improve on his morning’s lap time by 1.2secs after logging a 1’42.218 time with two minutes to go before the chequered flag was deployed.

Takumi Takahashi jumped back on the WorldSBK-spec version of the Fireblade for the first time since his series debut at Portimão five weeks ago. The Japanese rider worked hard with his crew to adjust back to a different machines and tyres he is used to racing at home, and to reacquaint himself with the circuit, where he has tested previously.

World Superbike action at Jerez will resume tomorrow morning at 8:45 local time (GMT +2) with Free Practice 3, which will be followed by Superpole 1 (10:30) and Race 1 (13:00).






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Davide Giugliano 34
17th
It took us quite a bit of time to find some direction today because apparently the settings we found at Magny-Cours did not really work here, and back-to-back evaluation did not give us the results we were looking for. We tried many changes and that meant I could not stay out on track for as long as I would have liked. In the end we were able to improve a little so I hope tomorrow we will be able to continue in the right direction. The 15 minutes of Superpole 1 could turn out to be in our favour tomorrow.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Takumi Takahashi 72
20th
It was good to get back on track without having to learn my way around it, so the start of the day was quite positive for me. I was looking to improve further, but with the temperature rise we switched to the softer tyre compound, which I never tried before, so it took me a while to get use to its behaviour. I obviously wished we were further up in the timesheets, but now we know what to do so it’ll be easier to improve tomorrow.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Ronald ten Kate
Team Manager
We did not expect such a slow start to the day, but unfortunately the set-up we found in France did not suit this track for Davide. We had to try different things before we could find a direction, but we eventually did find it so we are now looking forward to tomorrow, and I’m confident we can make up some ground to the top. Takumi continues to build up experience in the championship: it’s only his second WorldSBK event of his career and, despite knowing the track already, he needs some more time on the bike and on Pirelli tyres before he can find the right feeling with the package. He’s getting there, though.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Pata Yamaha Show Potential on Friday in Jerez
Free practice
After securing a sensational double podium last time out in Magny-Cours the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team once again demonstrated their competitiveness as they enjoyed a great start to the penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship on a glorious Friday at Jerez. Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes were almost inseparable as only 0.001s split the teammates on the overall timesheets at the end of the day, with van der Mark finishing in third and Lowes fourth as both riders secured their places in SP2.

Van der Mark has a great relationship with the Jerez circuit, having secured a podium in WorldSBK last year at the track and winning the WorldSSP race at the track in 2014. It was a stunning sunny day in Southern Spain and the Dutch rider continued the rich vein of form that has seen him record two podiums in the last three races as he immediately looked competitive in FP1, setting a 1:41.102 to sit in fifth on the timesheets at the end of the session. The 24-year-old Dutch rider tried out some different tyre variations in the afternoon's FP2 session, before reverting to the softer option rear for the final few minutes, with the 2014 WorldSSP Champion going out on fresh rubber and managing to improve to a 1:40.890 on his 22nd lap of 26, which was good enough for him to secure third on the overall timesheets, just +0.599s off the pace of the leading rider.

Lowes immediately took a liking to the new track surface at Jerez, one of his favourite circuits, as he shot into second on the timesheets with a 1:41.637 on just his fifth lap in FP1. Battling at the top of the timesheets for the entire session, the 27-year-old British rider improved late on to a 1:40.890 to end the morning in second. As the temperatures rose in the afternoon and confident with his one-lap pace, Lowes decided to focus on race pace in FP2. The 2013 British Superbike Champion ran a 21-lap race simulation, showing incredible consistency and collecting valuable data for his team in the hot conditions at Jerez, setting a best time of 1:41.244 in the session. Lowes ended the day in fourth overall with his time from FP1, just one-thousandths of a second behind his teammate, and just 0.002s off the rider in second.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team will return to action on Saturday at the Circuito de Jerez at 8.45 am local time for FP3, with qualifying starting at 10:30 am and the 20-lap Race 1 at 13:00 pm. Check out the full results.

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Michael van der Mark
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 3rd - 1:40.890
"I am really happy with P3 today! This morning we started off with our base setting and improved and improved, although it was quite difficult because the track was dirty. We didn't change anything before FP2, as we wanted to see the condition of the track, so I went out this afternoon and did some okay lap times. We then tried the harder tyres but they didn't feel very good so we went back to the softer option and changed some setting with the front of the bike which meant I was fast again and during the last few laps I improved my time. I am really happy with the bike as we didn't change it at all and we were fast and very consistent, so I am happy. It has been a long time since we have had weather like this, so we are enjoying it but it could make it difficult for the tyres to last race distance. It will be interesting tomorrow, I think we have a good pace and we found a good setup to work with the tyres. We won't make many changes, maybe some small ones, but I have felt good since we first arrived so I don't want to change too much, we will just look at trying to improve our consistency. The new tarmac is amazing, it was just unlucky the rain during the last couple of days made it dirty, but it is so smooth and they have taken out all of the bumps. They did an amazing job which shows in the lap times because everyone is really fast!"

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Alex Lowes
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 4th - 1:40.891
"I felt quite good today! I was a little concerned before about how the bike would react to the new surface here at Jerez but the R1 is working really well. There are still a couple of things I want to improve for tomorrow but I would say it has been a really successful first day and I am looking forward to qualifying and Race 1 tomorrow. We do so many laps at Jerez during the winter that if they change one thing about the track, we notice it straight away. I think the changes have been positive and they did a fantastic job, it wasn't that bumpy before, but now it is great, which is always really nice. We just need to make a few small changes and we will be ready for tomorrow. I think the key for fighting at the front tomorrow could be down to consistency. Today the tyres dropped off quite a lot on the new surface, but that should change as the weekend goes on and the track will get better and better. Today I felt good, we will try and improve the bike a bit overnight and hopefully tomorrow I can fight at the front!"


Paul Denning
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal
"It's nice to be in Jerez with such beautiful weather for late October and despite some concerns regarding one or two parts of the new asphalt, in fact, there has been no problems either with the surface itself or tyre durability. We have had another very strong Friday and it demonstrates how much progress Yamaha, the team, and the riders have made in terms of developing and improving the WorldSBK R1. Alex did a 21-lap run this afternoon which is always fantastic preparation for the race and gives his guys very detailed data to work on in terms of improving and trying those improvements in FP3 tomorrow morning. Michael also did a medium-length run and improved his pace significantly at the end of FP2, meaning that both Pata Yamaha R1s look very competitive and if all goes well, in what looks like it will be a very close battle for the podium, hopefully, our guys will be a part of it."

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KUCIAR666

Registered User
Unlucky race 1 for Althea BMW at Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Saturday 21 October 2017

Competing in the penultimate World Superbike round at Jerez in Spain this weekend, Althea BMW Racing rider Jordi Torres concluded race one in thirteenth position while his team-mate Raffaele De Rosa unfortunately failed to finish due to a crash.

Superpole 1: after early morning fog saw the final free practice reduced to just 15 minutes in length, both Torres and De Rosa were back on track for SP1. Lapping first with the race tyres, Jordi was lying fifth followed by De Rosa, sixth, towards mid-session. Back on track with the qualifying tyre, both were able to improve on their times, completing two fast laps each. De Rosa ended the session in fourth place (1’40.916), Torres fifth (1’40.992), both therefore securing places on row five of the grid for race 1.

SBK - Race 1: Starting from row five, De Rosa and Torres were lying 13th and 14th but a crash for Raffaele, and also Badovini, at turn 6 on the opening lap, saw the race brought to a stop with a red flag.
The race was restarted a few minutes later but unfortunately De Rosa was unable to compete due to the damage caused to his bike in the crash. Torres was therefore the only Althea BMW rider on track for race one. After a quick restart, the Spaniard was in thirteenth place through the first laps. Battling with Laverty during the early stages, and then with a brake lever issue, Torres maintained his position – thirteenth – for almost the entire duration of the race, crossing the finish line in that same position.

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"We were unable to put together a good lap in Superpole and my grid position conditioned me in the race. Unfortunately, Raffaele and I came into contact on the very first lap and I’m really sorry that he crashed and was unable to restart. When the race resumed, I got away well and thought I had a little extra compared to those immediately in front of me but then from about lap four, I started to have gear lever problems. The situation got gradually worse and harder to manage but I did all I could to stay upright and finish the race. I hope for a different kind of race tomorrow…”

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"We tried to improve on our performance in Superpole but I’d hoped for more to be honest. We had good pace in morning practice though and so this boded well for the race… I got away well in the race, immediately making up one position but unfortunately as I was exiting turn six, I came into contact with Jordi, and fell as a result. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just one of those things… I’m unhurt anyway and so we’ll do our best to run a good race tomorrow…”
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KUCIAR666

Registered User
REA TAKES JEREZ WIN WITH SYKES THIRD
New 2017 FIM Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea (KRT) secured a cherished first-ever win at Jerez after race long pressure inside the podium positions paid off at the end. Tom Sykes (KRT) was also in the podium fight throughout, from his fourth place on the grid, taking third place. This was Sykes’ 100th podium finish in WorldSBK.

An incident that saw two riders crash out on the first lap of the original 13.00 race start brought out the red flags and the race was restarted at 13.21, over a shortened distance of 19 laps.

Having finished second in Superpole Rea was in contention for the race win from the start, taking the lead for six laps before Marco Melandri came past.

Getting involved in a fight with Chaz Davies for a time in the mid-section of the race, Rea eventually got free and started to pursue Melandri again. Rea was gradually catching ground to the lead as the race unfolded, with both Rea and Melandri setting lap records on the new Jerez track surface.

After Melandri’s bike experienced a technical issue Rea re-took the lead and won by just over a second from Davies, his first ever WorldSBK win at the 4.423km Jerez circuit.

After an early issue while changing gears Sykes had been part of a train of four leading riders, which became six after he had clipped some trackside gravel on lap five, dropping back from immediate contention with the leading group before recomposing himself and pushing on again.

Racing at high pace just behind Chaz Davies - his rival for overall second in the championship - Sykes tried all he could to get back ahead before the chequered flag. He finished just under half a second behind, in an eventual third place after Melandri’s exit.

Sunday’s race, again scheduled for 13.00, will now see Rea and Sykes start from the third row of the grid, as they finished on the race one podium.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “So, so nice to tick that box for a Jerez race win. I really wanted it, even before the problem for Marco. I was riding way over my limit to try to chase Marco down. The gap was slowly coming, some laps not changing, but tenth by tenth I was getting excited. In the end he had a problem and I am really sorry for him because he did not deserve that. We both deserved to be able to fight to the end. I was trying to manage the race a little bit in the beginning because I did not get a long run in yesterday, after my big crash, so I was not sure how the tyre choice we made was going to play out. Arguably, I gave up too many positions when Marco came past but in the end we go it done. I went all in to that race. With the position we now have in the championship I went in over my head - but it was fun to ride like this.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “We had a good race set-up at the end of FP2 on Friday and FP3 today, on used tyres, so I was relatively happy in the hot conditions. The pace stayed very consistent and it was quite nice at the end. Unfortunately at the beginning of the race there was a little bit of stop-start so I could not set my usual rhythm and I lost some time. In the first three laps I had a small issue with gear selection, and then missed a gear coming onto the straight. I lost some track positions but regrouped and then the pace was acceptable. Chaz found some speed from free practice but apart from that, the top four or five were very similar in pace. We were just not able to bridge that gap to the guys in front.”
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has challenging race one at Jerez
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Spanish Round

Circuito de Jerez, Spain
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The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team did not enjoy an easy day at the office as the opening race of the penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship was contested today at ‘Circuito de Jerez’. Davide Giugliano was forced to a late retirement with two laps to go, while Takahashi was 16th at the end of the reduced 19-lap Spanish encounter.

The initial race was red flagged on the opening lap due to the crashes occurred to Italy’s Badovini and De Rosa at turn six. As the new 19-lap encounter got underway, Giugliano maintained his position while trying to get up to speed on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2. The 27-year-old Italian was unable to keep a consistent pace throughout the race and eventually had to make his way back to the pits as the WorldSBK field entered the penultimate lap.

Takahashi’s performance was affected in the initial stages of the race after the Japanese rider crashed unhurt at turn 13 on lap four. He eventually managed to get back on the bike and continue the race to gain some more experience in the series.

Race two will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2) after the traditional 15-minute warm up scheduled at 9:30.






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Takumi Takahashi 72
16th
First of all, I would like to apologise for the crash. Fortunately I was able to jump back on the bike and continue, but for some reason I wasn’t able to make our tyre choice work under these conditions. Already this morning things felt a little bit different. In the second part of the race I was able to lap in the 1’42secs, but I’m confident that after evaluating today’s data I will be able to be quicker tomorrow.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Davide Giugliano 34
DNF
It was quite a difficult race for me, because straight away I did not have feeling with the front-end of the bike, which was moving around quite a lot. Obviously, this prevented me from pushing and riding the way I wanted and things got worse as the race progressed. With three laps remaining I was told to make it back to the pits and so I did, and that’s how the race ended. We still have work to do but hopefully we’ll be able to make some changes and be in a stronger position for race two.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Ronald ten Kate
Team Manager
It has clearly been a difficult race for both riders, although for different reasons. And it has been a quite hectic day overall given the late start to the day and the reduced time in FP3, which took away some precious time to try and improve the package. Davide could not find the right feeling with the front-end, while Takumi could not adapt well to the change in temperatures from yesterday, especially because he’s still getting used to the different tyres. We are now analysing the data in order to come up with a plan for tomorrow.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Pata Yamaha Battle Hard for the Podium in Jerez Race 1
Race
The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team highlighted their recent progress, following on from their double rostrum in Magny-Cours, as both riders were once again in the podium mix during a restarted Race 1 on Saturday at Jerez, the penultimate round of the FIM 2017 Superbike World Championship. Alex Lowes started from the front row and rode to a superb fourth place after battling with the championship front-runners for the duration of the race. His teammate Michael van der Mark crossed the line just behind Lowes in fifth after another determined ride to further cement the Pata Yamaha Team as genuine podium contenders.

After ending Friday's practice in fourth, Lowes recorded his best qualifying result of the season on Saturday as he started from the front row in third. In the original race, he had a good start and was battling with his teammate for third when the red flag appeared on the first lap. In the restarted race, the 27-year-old British rider once again battled with van der Mark during the first few corners, before taking his teammate on lap 3 for fifth and becoming involved in an excellent six-way fight for the lead. Keeping pace with the championship leaders, Lowes rode brilliantly and after Marco Melandri retired from the lead he was promoted to fourth. Some minor issues with his Pata Yamaha R1 that meant he didn't quite have the same confidence to catch Sykes and Davies for the runner-up position and Lowes crossed the line in fourth, just 3.652s behind the race winner Jonathan Rea after a very solid ride. This result sees Lowes remain fifth in the championship standings with 213 points and the 2013 British Superbike Champion will line up on pole position for Sunday's Race 2.

Van der Mark was third overall on the combined timesheets after Friday's practice and went on to qualify in fifth on Saturday. When the lights went out during the original race he got a great start, moving up to third and was battling at the front before the red flag came out. In the restarted race, he again got a good start and immediately was involved in a battle with his teammate Lowes for third. Unfortunately, he did not quite have the same front-end feeling with his Pata Yamaha R1as he enjoyed in practice and found himself running wide at a number of corners. Undeterred, he fought hard to stay with the leading group of six once he was passed by his teammate. Managing to match their pace, he fought valiantly as he and Lowes chased down the leaders but in the last few laps maturely decided to bring his Pata Yamaha R1 home in an excellent fifth place. This result means the 2014 Supersport World Champion is now sixth in the championship standings with 200 points, 13 behind his teammate. Van der Mark will line up just behind his Lowes in the middle of the front row to make it a Yamaha 1-2 for Sunday's Race 2 in Jerez.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team return to action on Sunday at the Circuito De Jerez confident they can build on their encouraging Race 1 results, with Warm Up scheduled for 9:30 am local time and Race 2 scheduled to start at 13:00 pm. Check out the full race results.

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Alex Lowes
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 4th +3.652s
"I had a difficult start after the red flag when Michael passed me on the inside of Turn 6, we both ran wide and lost a bit of time to the lead group. Then I was struggling to get past him, but when I managed to overtake, my pace was pretty good but then I found it difficult to get into a rhythm to actually catch the leaders. From half race distance, I picked up an unusual vibration and it meant that I did not have the confidence I had in the race simulation I ran on Friday. I am certain we can improve for tomorrow and it shows how far we have come to be disappointed with fourth position and so close to the podium! I am looking forward to Race 2 as I feel I can do a better job, especially starting from pole, but I enjoyed it today and I am happy with a solid race!"

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Michael van der Mark
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 5th +7.329s
"I had a good start in the original race until I ran wide after Tom Sykes made contact with me at Turn 2, but then we had the red flag. I then had another good start but found the first few corners were a bit difficult as I tried to work my way to the front. To be honest, I struggled with the front-end feeling, I kept losing the front grip, so I struggled a lot to stay with Alex and the other guys. It was a really difficult and long race because I didn't feel as good as I did during practice, so we have to find a solution for this. Anyway, we scored some good points and tomorrow we start from the front row. Hopefully, I can get another good start and a better feeling with the front."


Paul Denning
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal
"It was a really exciting race for the top six positions today, especially in the first half, and it was great to see Pata Yamaha, Alex, and Michael as a part of it. Alex didn't get the best of starts from the front row and when the top guys in the championship are all at the front that doesn't help, but he and Michael both dug in and did everything they could to fight for the podium. We didn't quite have enough today but racing so closely with the championship contenders gives both our guys a much clearer picture of where we need to improve and where the priorities are to take the next steps with the R1. It was a very solid and focused performance by both, they start first and second on the grid tomorrow and with a few overnight improvements let's see if we can turn that into a podium challenge!"
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Top ten for Jordi Torres at Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Sunday 22 October 2017

The penultimate round of the 2017 Superbike world championship came to an end today at the Jerez track in Spain. The Althea BMW Racing team and rider Jordi Torres crossed the line in tenth place, Raffaele De Rosa thirteenth.

Superbike - Race 2 - the two Althea BMW riders got away well, lying tenth (Torres) and twelfth (De Rosa) through the first corners but the race was stopped almost immediately when lap one crashes for other riders left dirt on the track. After a quick restart, Torres was lying twelfth after lap one, De Rosa 15th. A consistent pace allowed the Spaniard to make up three positions in the early stages, to place ninth on lap four. Losing a little ground in the latter part of the race, Jordi crossed the line in final tenth position. De Rosa made up one place in the first laps but struggled to maintain the kind of pace needed to reach those immediately up ahead of him. It became a somewhat solitary race for the Italian, who finished up in thirteenth place today.

After this penultimate round of the 2017 championship, Torres retains ninth place in the standings with 149 points while De Rosa has 48 points, and positions 16th.

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“We made some big changes to the bike between yesterday and today. So it behaved differently in race two, with corner entry a little easier and better feeling at the front. I got past a few riders early on but in the end couldn’t do more than tenth today. It’s not the result I would have wanted of course, particularly racing here at my home track, but we struggled with the new asphalt. I hope I can make up for things at Losail, in the two last races of the season…”

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“I got away quite well but then at turn six there was a contact, Savadori crashed and I lost some ground as I tried to avoid going down too. From there I worked to catch the group ahead and was gradually catching them until about lap eleven, lying about a second a half behind. From there though I started to struggle to maintain the pace and my right arm was also hurting me. A pity because the first half of the race wasn’t bad. I always try to take the positives from each weekend anyway, and now we’ll try to end the season well in Qatar…”
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
Spanish Round draws to a close for the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
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Spanish Round

Circuito de Jerez, Spain


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The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has completed the penultimate event of the 2017 World Superbike season, with Takumi Takahashi and Davide Giugliano 15th and 17th, respectively, at the end of the shortened second encounter of the weekend.

The initial race was red flagged on the second lap after the crash involving Eugene Laverty and Chaz Davies at turn two immediately after the start. Just like yesterday, a new event of 19 laps was called by race direction, which got underway after a short break.

Giugliano got a good launch from row six and was thirteenth at the end of the opening lap. The Italian rider then lost a handful of places after having to avoid Savadori – who crashed in front of him and – dropped down to 18th, right behind his team mate Takumi Takahashi.

At the end of lap four, the Italian rider returned to the pits after experiencing some braking issues, before making his way back to the track on fresh tyres to collect some more data for the team.

Meanwhile, Takahashi was involved in a battle with Riccardo Russo, which lasted almost the whole encounter. The 27-year-old Japanese rider made a move on his rival with three laps to go and successfully defended his position to claim one more point in the series.

The final round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit in a fortnight’s time.






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Takumi Takahashi 72
15th
In the first part of the race I could not make the most of the new tyres, so it took a while before I could improve my pace. I also experienced some arm pump, which surely didn’t help. I’m happy to have at least scored a point, even though I was aiming for a better result today. I really want to thank the team for their support and effort, it was a great experience to work with them this year and, who knows, maybe one day our paths will cross again.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Davide Giugliano 34
17th
Obviously this hasn’t been the type of end to the weekend we were looking for, especially after showing a little step forward this morning in warm up. I’m glad that I was able to avoid Savadori when he landed in front of me after coming off. But that obviously cost me time when slowing down to avoid him, although I was already having some braking issues that forced me back to the pits early on. We decided to get back on track with new tyres and I hope I was able to give some useful data to the team ahead of Qatar.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team



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Ronald ten Kate
Team Manager
It was an eventful race, no doubt. Many things happened today that prevented us from performing the way we wanted, and we definitely have to take a look back at all happenings in order to get back in the right direction for the season finale. Davide looked a bit more comfortable on the bike this morning but a braking issue put him out of contention for a finish in the points from early on. Hopefully the data we collected after he returned to the track will help us for the future. We want to again thank Takumi for his professionalism; it was great to have him with us and we know he gave his best in what was a quick transition to a very different series.

- Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
 

KUCIAR666

Registered User
REA WINS AS KAWASAKI TAKES MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
R12_Jerez_WorldSBK_2017_Sunday_Yoda_GB41020.jpg



Kawasaki won the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship Manufacturers’ title today after Jonathan Rea (KRT) won his second race of the weekend. This was Rea’s 14th victory in his third consecutive championship-winning season. Tom Sykes (KRT) could not find optimal rear traction in race two at Jerez and he finished fifth.

At the conclusion of a successful Jerez weekend Kawasaki’s third successive Manufacturers’ Championship arrived one round early, and is now added to the 2017 Riders’ Championship for Rea and the Team’s Championship for the Kawasaki Racing Team.

The second race was started on schedule at 13.00 but was almost immediately halted and restarted after clash between two riders brought out a red flag. Over a reduced race duration of 19 laps, Rea was not to be denied and set a new lap record of 1’40.640, to secure his second win of the Jerez weekend.

Rea has now scored 52 race wins in his WorldSBK career, making him equal second best of all time alongside another three-time champion, Troy Bayliss. He also scored his 110thWorld SBK podium with his race two win, taking him one place above Carl Fogarty, and making him the third most successful WorldSBK rider in that ranking.

Having reached a total of 100 race podiums in WorldSBK on Saturday, Sykes was unable to add to it with his fifth place today, fighting against an unexpected lack of rear traction. He still set strong lap times and fought all the way to finish just six seconds from the win. Tom is tied on points for second place overall with Chaz Davies, with one round to go. He is ranked third in the points table as he has fewer wins in 2017 than his rival.

The final round of the season takes place under the floodlights of Losail, Qatar, with races behind held on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th November.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “Kawasaki won the Manufacturers’ Championship today and it is not just the bike, the rider, the management, the crew chief, it is every single person inside the team and at the factory race department in Japan. Everyone has made this result and I am super-proud to be a part of it. In the race I had a really nice hash tag on my dash today for a little bit more motivation on the grid. My mechanics were building me up right before I left the grid and I knew today I had to go. I feel like I steered the bike around today. The win came from my crew chief Pere Riba because he asked me to trust him with some front geometry changes and a front tyre change. It was awesome.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “Kawasaki has had a great run in the past few years and certainly they have a great team together which helps them reach their goal. For the manufacturer, to get this title is probably as special as the riders’ championship. Today they got their prize for their effort. Fifth was not what I was looking for today. I was struggling with the bike set-up today if I am honest I could not find the rear traction. I just tried some things while riding the bike and finally it was OK to keep the lap times in the low to mid 1’41s. That is as fast, or faster, than yesterday but for whatever reason I just could not get that grip on the rear. It is something so, so small but unfortunately you spend a lot of time on the side of the tyre here.”
 
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