WSBK-Sepang

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he Althea BMW Racing Team readies itself for the torrid conditions of Malaysia

Sepang (Malaysia), Tuesday 10 May 2016

After its home round at Imola, the Althea BMW Racing Team has a much greater distance to travel this week to reach Malaysia, and the Sepang International Circuit, where round six of the 2016 Superbike World Championship is taking place this weekend.

The Sepang International Circuit is located roughly 50 km from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. This cutting-edge racetrack facility was inaugurated in 1999 and hosts the F1 and MotoGP championships, as well as the Superbikes. The track is 5543 metres long, with 5 left-hand corners and 10 right-handers. The tropical conditions of Malaysia, with high temperatures, considerable levels of humidity and the risk of thunderstorms (often arriving during the afternoon), will surely play an important part in the weekend?s events.

Jordi Torres competed in the 2015 edition, closing race one in tenth before reaching the podium in race 2, in third place. After the encouraging results of Imola, the Spaniard is keen to improve further this coming weekend. For Markus Reiterberger on the other hand, this will be his first visit to Sepang. The young German cannot wait to learn the Malaysian track and take on this new challenge.
Jordi Torres
?I like the Sepang track but we?ll have to see how it is this time because I know they?ve resurfaced the track and modified the corner profiles. We hope for the best, but it will be the same for everyone of course. Last year didn?t go too badly, I even reached the podium in race two. We?re competitive on the straights and this will be important on the Malaysian track, but we still have to find good acceleration through the turns, that are long, and work also on traction control. Imola went quite well in the end, and so we want to continue in the same direction to develop the bike as well as possible.?

Markus Reitenberger
?I?m really looking forward to Sepang and am excited to ride this weekend, as I?ve never been to Malaysia. So I only ?know? the track from watching GP races and from seeing it on the Playstation game. I think it could be a good one for me anyway, with the long braking areas and long straights. I hope we can start with a good base setting and improve session by session. I also hope we can also solve the problems we had in Imola in terms of braking and vibration, the team has some ideas and so I?m looking forward to getting started!
Track Information:

Country: Malaysia
Name: Sepang International Circuit
Length: 5.548 km
Pole position: right
Race distance: 16 laps/88.768 km

SBK RECORDS: Best lap ? Davies (Ducati) 2?04.707 (2015). Superpole ? Guintoli (Aprilia) 2?03.002 (2014).

2015 SBK RESULTS: Race 1 ? 1. Rea (Kawasaki); 2. Davies (Ducati); 3. Biaggi (Aprilia). Race 2 ? 1. Davies (Ducati); 2. Rea (Kawasaki); 3. Torres (Aprilia)

Weekend schedule (CET +6):

Friday
10.15 ? 11.15 ? SBK Timed Practice 1
13.30 ? 14.30 ? SBK Timed Practice 2

Saturday
10.45 ? 11.00 ? SBK Free Practice
13.30 ? 13.45 ? Superpole 1
13.55 ? 14.10 ? Superpole 2
16.00 ? Race 1

Sunday
11.25 ? 11.40 ? SBK Warm-up
16.00 ? SBK Race 2
?

 

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Lowes Flies Solo as Pata Yamaha Heads to Sepang

Alex Lowes will take on the sole responsibility for the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team this week as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship travels east to the Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia. Due to the ankle injury sustained during a qualifying accident at Imola less than a fortnight ago, Sylvain Guintoli is forced to miss the sixth round of competition on medical advice. Given the short time between the events, despite the efforts of Yamaha and the team, it has not been possible to secure a suitable replacement rider for the Sepang races.

Equalling his best result of the season so far, a sixth place, in Imola's second race, Lowes is eager to push forward with the progress made and information learnt at the Italian circuit and to build on the ever-increasing development to the YZF-R1. 2016 provides his third visit to the 5,543m Malaysian track and although temperatures are expected to reach close to 40?C with humidity levels high throughout the weekend, the British rider is confident he is up to the challenge having already experienced his YZF-R1 in the heat of Thailand just two months ago.

Guintoli will not participate in the Sepang round, having undergone further investigation and scans on his left ankle following his Superpole high-side at Imola on Saturday 30th April. The Frenchman will receive additional analysis in the coming days before a final treatment plan is decided upon and any updates will be delivered in due course.

The Sepang International Circuit has hosted the WorldSBK Championship consecutively for the past three years but its return later this week will see the first international competition to run on its updated and resurfaced layout. A very wide track with countless opportunity for overtaking, 2016 sees many of the 15 corners re-profiled to provide smother surfaces, heightened grip, differing cambers and better drainage - necessary due to the frequent late-afternoon thunderstorms. Located just over 50kms from Kuala Lumpur, the circuit's prime feature remains the two consecutive main straights, measuring almost one kilometre apiece and joined by a first-gear hairpin, providing spectacular last-lap battles. The weekend's two 16-lap races will run at 16:00 local time on Saturday and Sunday afternoon's with Friday's first taste of WorldSBK action commencing at 10:15.

Alex Lowes
Championship: 10th / 59 points

"I'm really keen to get out to Sepang and try to improve the results both for Yamaha, me and the team. I'm hoping some of the things we have learnt over the last race at Imola will transform over and we can take a step closer to the front guys.

"It's a very wide track that actually needs a lot of precision to make sure you are not adding another 200m to your lap due to the size and there are many very hard braking zones from high speeds so the bike must be working well under braking. The track is quite flat but some corners can be quite bumpy too but hopefully the resurfacing should have helped with that this year. It's probably the hottest race of the year but overall Sepang is a fun track to ride!

"It's a great shame that Sylvain's injury means that he cannot ride here, he has a lot of experience and speed at this track, but I wish him the best and look forward to being back to full team strength at Donington Park."

 

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Hayden and van der Mark confident ahead of Malaysian round

The Honda WorldSBK Team has arrived at the Sepang International Circuit, where this weekend the sixth round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship takes place. Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark will attack the recently resurfaced Malaysian circuit aboard their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines, with the aim of mixing it up in the battle for honours in the two races, scheduled this Saturday and Sunday at 4pm local time (GMT+8).

Hayden is the rider on the WorldSBK grid with the most experience at Sepang, having raced there thirteen times in his MotoGP career. The American rider has yet to step on the podium in Malaysia, although his results there are nevertheless impressive: he was fourth on six occasions, four of them consecutively from his 2003 debut.

After winning the World Supersport race in style in 2014, Michael van der Mark wrapped up last year?s WorldSBK weekend at Sepang with a top-5 finish less than two tenths of a second ahead of former teammate Leon Haslam at the line. The 23-year-old Dutchman is eager to battle again for top positions, in order to try and increase his 2016 tally of four podiums.


Nicky Hayden 69

In Malaysia, motorcycle racing is becoming more and more popular, especially as motorcycles are increasingly being used as the main vehicle of transportation in the country. The track is one I know well: it?s big, long, wide and has a bit of everything. It?ll be interesting to try it again after the recent resurfacing and to see how the tyres will perform with the new asphalt, whether it?ll increase or lower the tyre wear and the general grip. This is a top-class venue and the event is always great fun for riders and fans, so I can?t wait to get started!

Michael van der Mark 60

I?m looking forward to Sepang and curious to try out the new track surface. The circuit has put together a great deal of work on resurfacing and reprofiling some of the corners. The new surface is much needed, as the old asphalt was a bit too bumpy last year. I?m confident that we will be able to return towards the front of the field, as last year the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP performed really well on this track. Compared to Imola, this is a completely different track and our base set-up should work well here. We are ready to get going and are hungry for some good results.


Pieter Breddels-Technical Manager

Sepang is a track that layout-wise suits the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP, and the results we had in Thailand ? a circuit that is in some ways similar to it ? boosts our confidence for the weekend ahead. Last year?s results were not that bad and, knowing that the bike has improved considerably, we will surely be looking for more. With the new track surface and the different camber of some corners, things won?t be exactly the same but that applies to everyone. We have some small adjustments scheduled around the pivot point of the bike, but the base set-up of this year should work well there anyway, so hopefully we can build on from that and have a successful weekend in Malaysia.

 

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Rea And Sykes Work On Race Performance At Sepang

On a completely resurfaced track at Sepang in Malaysia KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes finished combined qualifying in tenth and 11th places respectively, as they concentrated their efforts on preparing for race one on Saturday afternoon rather than posting one fast lap time today.

With several other riders putting in soft tyres at the end of the first day, to try and get into Superpole 2 directly, Rea and Sykes preferred to work in their own way with race pace settings, to ensure they are fast over full race distance on the latest model Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

After the first experience of the resurfaced and reprofiled asphalt at the 5.543km circuit in Sepang for all riders it has proved to be grippy, at the possible expense of accelerated tyre wear.

Hence both KRT riders worked right to the end of their available track time on Friday on finding a full race set-up, rather than go for one fast time on fresh tyres towards the end of the second hour.

The session finished just before a wet weather front came in and soaked the track, with thunder and lightning ? and a few light spots of rain here and there - the backdrop to the end of the ever-changing second practice session.

Now Tom will go forward to Superpole 1, where he will ride to join Rea and the rest of today?s top ten in Superpole 2. This session will determine the final grid positions for race one on Saturday. The first 16-lap race of the weekend will be held at 16.00 local time in Malaysia.

Jonathan Rea stated: ?I am good in the first split time and not so good in the middle two. We focused on using the harder tyre because I think for everybody it is quite a gamble to use the softer tyre on this new tarmac. It seems all the times in front were set on the softer tyres. So we are not panicking and just working for the race. Everything feels fine. We learned quite a lot today because we worked with the bike quite a lot ? electronically we changed some things. Our consistency seems quite good it is just that the surface here is bringing a good lap time with the softer tyres.?

Tom Sykes stated: ?We focused a lot more on durability and endurance today and I am very happy with our pace considering where we still need to improve. I think we have a good pace over distance. We sacrificed positions in qualifying to get that but it is not the end of the world. We just have to do three extra laps in Superpole tomorrow. I think we are prepared better for the race now after we made a small change, so it was better to understand that that than to put in a new tyre and go for a lap time. If we had done that we would probably have had two more question marks for tomorrow?s race. A 15-minute session on Saturday makes it very tricky to judge your race performance.?

Stand in rider for the injured Sylvain Barrier, Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki), had a standout first day, going ninth overall and proving to be the fastest Kawasaki rider. Another Aussie, Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) was 18th. Gianluca Vizziello (Go Eleven Team Kawasaki) was 19th and Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) 20th. Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) placed 23rd.

 

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Positive Pace for Lowes in Sepang Practice

Alex Lowes took his Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK YZF-R1 to fourth position in the combined times at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship completed its first free practice sessions in the tropics. Qualifying directly for Saturday's Superpole 2 shoot-out, Lowes' best lap - a 2'04.262 - came in the final ten minutes of the afternoon's session, beating the darkening skies and rolling thunderstorms that threatened to interrupt proceedings.

The newly-resurfaced Sepang Circuit offered up multiple challenges to the Pata Yamaha Team as it set about data-capture and strategy management ahead of the weekend's two 16-lap races. With grip levels changing as almost every new lap was laid down, Lowes worked through numerous settings to refine the chassis balance on his YZF-R1 with a solid plan for more of the same come tomorrow's final practice session at 10:45 local time.

Saturday's schedule sees the British rider return to the 5,543m track for the afternoon with Superpole qualifying at 13:55 before the first Sepang WorldSBK race at 16:00.

Alex Lowes
4th / 2'04.262 / 29 laps

"Our best Friday position so far this season here at Sepang, as our raw pace and direction was better than it has been for the last few Fridays. We have also highlighted some areas today that definitely need to be improved for race distance, and I need to have more confidence on corner entry, but we have a clear plan now so let's get our heads down and see if we can improve for tomorrow. The new surface gave a really strange feeling at the start as it's unusual to progress by over 10 seconds during the day on a dry track! The damp patches and general grip has improved but let's see what happens tomorrow now it's rained so heavily."



Paul Denning - Team Principal

"We got lucky today in getting two dry sessions as the big thunderstorm and heavy rain arrived just after the chequered flag of FP2. We certainly missed Sylvain today and the additional information that he could have delivered at a track that he has gone so well at in the past, but Alex did a great job on a very tricky new surface which changed in its grip characteristic almost every outing. No mistakes, full commitment every lap and when it counted Alex put together a couple of very strong laps to get himself towards the top of the timesheets. When rear grip is good in the YZF-R1, as we have seen many times, the lap times come to the riders relatively easily - in fact they can be surprised by how fast they have gone - but we are still trying, with the help of the factory engineers who are in attendance this weekend, to find the best balance in the chassis and electronics to allow Alex to have better confidence on worn tyres. There is not much time to work on that before the first race tomorrow so it will be a case of some educated guesses, qualify as best we can and see what we can do when the lights go out tomorrow afternoon."

 

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Althea BMW Racing Team effectively manages day 1 at Sepang

A first day at the Sepang International Circuit conditioned, as expected, by very hot conditions but the high temperatures did not prove to be a stumbling block for the Althea BMW Racing Team, that was able to effectively manage both the weather conditions and the new Malaysian track surface to close day 1 in third place with Markus Reiterberger, a ?rookie? at the Malaysian track, and sixth with Jordi Torres.

In the morning?s first timed practice, riders had a first opportunity to evaluate the track conditions and, with a track temperature of 43?C, the two Althea BMW riders were immediately comfortable on the new asphalt. Markus Reiterberger, here in Malaysia for the first time, used the session to get to grips with the layout. Despite his lack of experience at Sepang, the young German was quickly able to set some fast times, concluding fifth thanks to a time of 2?06.552. At the end of the opening session, Jordi Torres (on the podium here last year) concluded with the seventh fastest time, a 2?07.147.

At 1.30pm local time, the Althea BMW men were back on track for session two of timed practice. In the opening stages, all riders soon improved on their morning?s best times but it was Reiterberger who immediately took the lead, the first rider to duck under 2?05, setting a 2?04.854. Thanks to a fast time of 2?04.312 recorded ten minutes before the end, Torres too was temporarily able to lead the pack this afternoon.

After a very positive first day, the Althea BMW riders concluded third (Reiterberger ? 2?04.239) and sixth (Torres ? 2?04.312), both qualifying easily for tomorrow?s Superpole 2.
Markus Reiterberger
?I?ve had a really good day and have really enjoyed riding my BMW here. In session one I carried out some useful tests and was able to improve a lot from the first to the second session. In the second practice, with new tyres, I was up at the front for a while and then I also made a long-run. It started to rain a little mid-session but that soon stopped so in the last ten minutes everyone went back out to improve their times. I?m pleased with third, but also a little disappointed because I know I could have done a faster lap but I had a small problem during my fast lap and then came across traffic on the next one. But third is a good start and I?m feeling very confident for tomorrow.?
Jordi Torres

?Today went quite well, and it seems that the track suits the BMW. The new asphalt is strange though, as it rained yesterday and this morning there was still water on the track, despite the high temperatures it doesn?t dry! Also, the new surface consumes the tyres more than last year. Making a fast lap is relatively easy, but completing the whole race with consistent pace will be a different matter. Tomorrow we?ll try a slightly different set-up to see if we can find a better solution for the tyre wear, and then I hope to be able to complete two competitive races.?

 

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Second place for Hayden in opening day of action at Sepang

Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark got an encouraging start to the Malaysian WorldSBK round by finishing in second and seventh places, respectively, in the combined classification of today?s two free practice sessions contested at the Sepang International Circuit. Therefore, the Honda WorldSBK duo will begin their battle for pole position directly from Superpole 2, which is scheduled for tomorrow at 13:55 local time (GMT +8).

The morning session saw Hayden and van der Mark in third and fourth places after sitting pretty in first and second until the very final minute of track action. The Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine proved to be competitive straight away on the track which only three weeks ago was fully resurfaced with changes made to the camber of some corners.

With dark clouds getting closer to the circuit, free practice 2 started in dry conditions but halfway into the session, drops of rain started to fall on sector two, which forced the majority of riders back into the pits. The rain stopped quite quickly, meaning riders could make the most of the remaining thirty minutes of track time before the chequered flag. In the very last part of the session, Nicky logged a 2?04.167 which helped him move all the way up to the front, before the American was displaced by Savadori in the final seconds. Van der Mark also improved his position and, with a 2?04.385 lap-time, he was 0.434secs off the lead, although only two tenths of a second away from his teammate.

Nicky Hayden 69
2nd / 2'04.167

We started off very well this morning, the bike felt great immediately and it was moving less off line in a lot of places. The team did a great job today, as every little tweak we made was in the right direction, even though the bike set-up didn?t really need any major change. It would have been nice to be the fastest, but at the end it?s only Friday. Regardless, we did some good laps and the long run we did in the second session went well. We?ll see how it goes tomorrow, because we have a relatively short morning practice and another short qualifying session tomorrow before race one.


Michael van der Mark 60
7th / 2'04.385

This morning we went out on track not knowing what to expect, as the whole circuit has been recently resurfaced. We had to find out how it was and in some areas it was quite tricky, because water was seeping through the asphalt. I immediately got a good feeling with the bike and step by step we were able to get quicker. This afternoon we made some small changes, nothing major really, and I felt I could have been faster in my last outing before the chequered flag. Nevertheless, I?m happy with the bike and how it well it handles; the only thing we need to work on is our race pace, to make sure the tyre can last until the end.

Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager

It was a really positive day. Despite having to get used to the new surface, both riders were able to stay in the top 5 in the morning session and the settings chosen were clearly working very well. We went back to the kind of set-up we had used in Thailand and from there we started with some little adjustments. They went separate ways concerning the front tyre, the duration of which is going to be crucial for the races. In the afternoon, Nicky was again very fast and until the very end it looked like he could have stayed at the top, but nevertheless he showed great form and he is happy with his position. Michael got into a little bit of a battle with Jonathan (Rea) on his last flying lap and that didn?t allow him to improve his time and be further up the timesheets. He is just a couple of tenths away from his teammate and that?s not bad at all.

 

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Torres and Althea BMW Racing Team fourth in Race 1 at Sepang

In the torrid Malaysian conditions, the Althea BMW Racing team riders have concluded race 1 of this sixth round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship. Making a great recovery throughout the 16-lap race, Jordi Torres crossed the line in fourth place on his BMW S1000 RR today; Markus Reiterberger was having a great race too, and was lying fourth ahead of his team-mate when, on lap 12, an unexpected technical set back with the bike unfortunately forced him to retire.

Superpole 2: after a first exit with the race tyre, the Althea BMW pair positioned sixth (Torres) and ninth (Reiterberger). The lap times of all riders came down with the qualifying solution mounted, with Markus concluding in sixth position, thanks to a very fast time of 2?03.549, and Jordi eighth (2?03.855). The Althea BMW riders therefore earned spots on the second and third row of the grid for the weekend?s two SBK races.

SBK - Race 1: very hot and dry conditions for the weekend?s first SBK race (air temperature 32?C, asphalt 46?C). From sixth on the grid, Reiterberger was lying ninth through the opening laps. From lap six on, he proved to have stronger pace than those immediately ahead of him, allowing him to make up some places to position sixth on lap seven. Continuing to lap with times similar to those of the fastest riders, the young German passed both Hayden and Giugliano to move into fourth. The BMW rider was managing his race well when, on lap 12, an unexpected technical setback with his bike unfortunately forced Markus to retire, an issue that his technical staff are now investigating.
Torres did not make the best start, finding himself tenth through the first corners but thanks to a strong pace he was back up to seventh by lap six, battling to catch VD Mark immediately ahead of him. In the second half of the race, the Spaniard continued his recovery, passing both Hayden and then Giugliano to move into fourth. Able to defend himself from Lowes in the final stages ? the most critical phase with regard to tyre management ? the Spaniard crossed the line in fourth position.

Jordi Torres
?In the end the race went well. We?d worked to have good pace and our strategy seems to have paid off. I needed to take it easy early on and save the tyre as much as possible. I think we managed the situation well, also because I was able to hold off Lowes at the end, despite a tyre that was practically finished. I?m sorry for Markus, as I was hoping to have an Althea BMW derby with him in the final stages. But we?ve both proved to be strong here and we?ve collected a lot of information that will be useful for tomorrow. The front guys are still a way ahead of us and so my aim for tomorrow?s race is to try and reduce that gap.?

Markus Reitenberger
?My start was not bad though I lost a little through the first laps. I wanted to save the rear tyre in the initial stages but after five or six laps I felt I could push and my rhythm was really good. I got up to fourth place but then suddenly my bike switched off. I tried to turn it back on and continue, hoping to save a few points, but then the same thing happened and so I was forced to stop. I?m disappointed about what happened but at the same time I feel good because the race was quite fast and we found some good solutions for my bike. I hope that conditions are similar tomorrow and that we can complete a good race.?

 

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Top 8 result for van der Mark and Hayden in race one at Sepang

The opening race of the Malaysian round has been contested today at the Sepang International Circuit, with Honda WorldSBK Team?s Michael van der Mark and Nicky Hayden crossing the line in seventh and eighth positions, respectively. The two riders will get another chance tomorrow as round six of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship will draw to a close with the second and final encounter of the weekend, scheduled at 4pm local time (GMT +8).

The Saturday afternoon action started with the sixth-round Superpole, which saw Nicky Hayden claiming his best qualifying result of his rookie WorldSBK season, in fourth place. Unable to take the best out of the qualifying tyre, Michael van der Mark found himself on the fourth row of the grid in tenth position.

As the race got underway, Hayden and van der Mark battled hard in the first few laps, with the American eventually getting the better of his teammate and starting his chase of the riders ahead. After a couple of successful overtaking manoeuvres, Hayden began experiencing grip issues and could not hold on to his pace as some of his rivals went past him. In the final part of the encounter, he was caught by van der Mark, who won the battle for seventh place over his fellow Honda WorldSBK rider.

Michael van der Mark 60
7th

To be honest, in today?s Superpole I made a couple of mistakes that didn?t allow me to be much faster on a qualifying tyre. I got a good start to the race and I was feeling good in the first couple of corners, but immediately I felt I was missing some grip and I couldn?t handle the bike the way I wanted. I couldn?t attack and not even stay with the guys at the front. I was just trying to keep the quickest possible pace but towards the end of the race, I was passed by a couple of riders. Eventually I was able to overtake Nicky for seventh before the chequered flag, but it was clear that we were both having our own difficulties. We need to make some changes for tomorrow and turn our luck around for race two.


Nicky Hayden 69
8th

It surely wasn?t a fantastic race and it?s a bit of a shame, really, especially considering how the day started out. This morning in FP2 we were really strong and even if my Superpole wasn?t perfect, I still got my best qualifying place of the season. Despite a little electronic glitch at the start of the race I was still in a decent position but already from the second lap I had a huge drop off of grip. I still managed to make a couple of passes but the feeling with the bike was definitely not the same as before. We will surely go for a different tyre tomorrow and hopefully we?ll be able to put up a better fight.


Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager

Nicky was great qualifying in fourth place but, before the race, we decided to make a gamble regarding the rear tyre to use. That really didn?t work out, even though we had some good information about it from before. From as early as the second lap it was clear that the tyre wasn?t working properly and by halfway through the race, his pace had slowed down considerably. There is a lot to analyse for tomorrow and it?ll surely be a long night for the guys. Michael didn?t have a good lap in Superpole but he got a good start to the race. He spent most of the race in eighth position and had some issues with the handling of the bike and tyre wear, which will both be addressed tonight. It hasn?t been the best of days but we are looking forward positively to tomorrow.

 

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Sykes Wins From Rea In Kawasaki Racing Team 1-2 At Sepang

The first race of the FIM Superbike World Championship weekend in Malaysia belonged to front running winner Tom Sykes and the latest model Ninja ZX-10R, with second placed Jonathan Rea (KRT) closing out a strong 1-2 for Kawasaki at a hot and sunny Sepang.

On a day when the top two Kawasaki riders and the Ninja ZX-10R proved to be untouchable the front-running tactics of Sykes worked to perfection as he won his second race of the year and narrowed the gap to the second place rider in the championship to 23 points.

Sykes led across the start line on every single lap, setting a new lap record of 2?03.637 to go with his new track best of 2?02.246 which he had set to win Superpole just a few hours before the first race got underway. Sykes now has 34 career Superpole wins, and 28 race wins, to his credit.

In second place in the 16-lap Sepang race Rea achieved his main goal or the day, extending his championship lead over second ranked rider Chaz Davies. In keeping Davies in third place today Jonathan now has a 39 point lead to take into race two on Sunday. Rea had finished Superpole in third position, for a front row start.

Overall, the all-new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R has won seven of the 11 races run so far in 2016, with Sykes and Rea aiming to add to that total in race two tomorrow. Kawasaki?s lead in the Manufacturers? Standings has grown to 43 points. The second Sepang race will take place at 16.00, local time in Malaysia, on Sunday 15 May.

Tom Sykes stated: ?I really enjoyed the race. The bike was giving me plenty of warning, well in advance. We were able to respond in some laps in a good way and overall I am very, very grateful for all the hard work from Marcel, Danilo and all the mechanics. They have worked overtime. We have struggled to some degree over 12 months now, and this is the first time we have come a bit closer. The fact is that we were able to be consistent for race distance, which is very nice. We need to look to try and improve in some areas for tomorrow, because the other guys are fast. We had a bit of a gap today but everybody will aim to improve and we need to be one of those who also improve.?

Jonathan Rea stated: ?I was probably a little bit too conservative in the beginning because I was waiting for that crossover point, which never happened, so I could afford to be a bit more aggressive in the first laps. I think that looking at everyone?s front tyres in parc ferme that appears to be more of the limitation compared to the rear. I am happy because we achieved out target today, which was to further extend our championship lead. It was hard here because I had prepared my race in my head and followed the whole strategy right. Tomorrow maybe I can try to take some of the energy out of the front tyre, change the balance a little bit, to not give the front tyre so much of a hard time.?

Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) performed a great job in his first ride in WorldSBK, finishing ninth. Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) scored his best result of the year for 15th in the race, with his team-mate Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) in 16th place. Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) was 17th and Gianluca Vizziello (Go Eleven Team Kawasaki) 18th from 19 finishers.

 

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Stunning Superpole, Leading Lap and Fifth Place Fight Back for Lowes at Sepang Race One

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team's Alex Lowes stormed to a stunning second position during this afternoon's MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Superpole session at the Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia, after setting a 2'03.002 qualifying lap. The British rider's confidence grew as he lined up on the front row for the first of the weekend's 16-lap contest, firing off the line to lead the pack into the first corner. A determined race throughout, Lowes concluded the opening contest with a strong top five position.

Holding fast at the front for the majority of race one's opening 5,543m lap, Lowes lost the lead at the final hairpin, crossing the line for the first time in second place. The determination of the Brit shone through as he fought hard with the four-strong front group maintaining fourth position for the ensuing five laps before a mistake at turn four saw him running wide and demoted to ninth. Never one to shy away from a fight, Lowes dug deep, mounting a fresh charge as his pace improved and closing down fast on the riders ahead at the halfway stage. Picking them off one by one, he re-took three places in the first half of lap 13 taking another to round out the top five by its close. Fourth fastest on track for the closing stages of the competition, the British rider put on a standout performance against the soaring Sepang temperatures, demonstrating the development of the WorldSBK-spec YZF-R1 and the hard work of his Pata Yamaha crew - boosting his championship position by two places to eighth in the standings with a total of 70 points.

The efforts do not end there as Lowes and the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team will be back at the Malaysian track at 11:25 local time tomorrow for warm up ahead of the concluding race of the weekend at
Alex Lowes
Race: 5th / +18.613 / 16 laps. Championship: 8th / 70 points

"It was a good day and a good race for me at Sepang, obviously my best result of the year so far and my best qualifying as well! It was good to lead the race, I got a good start and it was nice to ride the YZF-R1 at the front. We deserve to be more competitive every week so we need to keep working but it was a great feeling. We made some steps with the pace at the end to recover to fifth place - I wanted fourth but couldn't quite make it! I pushed a little bit too hard to stay with Chaz at the beginning and made a mistake but if we can make some changes tomorrow to give me a bit better feeling from the bike in a few areas I think we could challenge for the podium. Maybe it's a bit too soon but overall today felt good, I enjoyed it and hopefully but we can have another solid result on Sunday."


Paul Denning - Team Principal

"Congratulations to Alex and the whole Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team for an excellent day's work here in the heat of Sepang. To qualify on the front row in second position, lead the race for a lap and then recover from an off-track excursion to a strong fifth position honestly leaves no negatives to dwell upon. We can't expect to improve to the level of the championship contenders in one step, it's still very early days for the YZF-R1 in this championship and with the continued support of Yamaha, and excellent work by the crew we seem to have taken some small steps forward.

"It's slightly meaningless but we can also take some confidence from the fact that if it weren't for the lap-six excursion, based on the pace for the rest of the race, Alex would have finished less than four seconds from the podium. Let's try and improve the bike further still and have a similarly strong day tomorrow."

 

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Difficult conditions for the Althea BMW Racing Team in Race 2 at Sepang

The Althea BMW Racing team overcame the very wet conditions that characterised Race 2 of the sixth Superbike World Championship round taking place today at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Bringing their BMW S1000 RR bikes over the line and scoring some important points for the standings, Markus Reiterberger concluded the race in tenth place, Jordi Torres thirteenth.

Superbike - Race 2 ? a full wet track and heavy rain for the second SBK race today, the first time the Superbike riders were riding in these conditions. Both Althea BMW riders made an understandably cautious start and were lying 11th (Markus) and 13th (Jordi) at the end of the opening lap. While the German made up one position, the Spaniard lost some ground in the early stages. At mid-race the pair positioned tenth and fourteenth; Torres was able to make up a place in the final phase meaning that the Althea BMW men crossed the line in final tenth (Reiterberger) and thirteenth (Torres) position.

After Round 6 of the 2016 Superbike World Championship, Jordi Torres lies seventh in the general standings with 103 points, Reiterberger positions thirteenth with 53 points. BMW is fourth in the manufacturer's classification with 111 points, while Althea BMW also lies fourth in the team rankings (156 points).
Markus Reiterberger
?First I want to say thanks to my team for helping me during this great weekend, which I?ve really enjoyed. I was a bit nervous before this second race as I had no idea what we could do in the wet. I was cautious in the early laps as I wasn?t used to this type of conditions. Then I was able to build confidence and make up some time in the second half of the race. I finished tenth which, considering it was my first SBK race in the rain, I?m very happy with. After some rather difficult events, I feel we?ve really made progress here and I?m looking forward to the next races.?
Jordi Torres

?With the rain we knew it would be difficult, but for everyone of course, seeing as we had no idea what the grip would be like in the wet. For us it was useful in understanding more about the bike?s behaviour in the wet and how we are fixed in terms of traction control. I was able to understand a lot of things, and the data we?ve collected will be useful for our continuing development. I wanted to be further forward of course but it wasn?t possible today. Considering the conditions, we weren?t too far from the leaders in terms of time and we take this as a positive as we continue our work to prepare as well as possible for Donington.?

 

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Untimely Exit for Lowes at Rain Soaked Sepang

The Malaysian wet season made itself known at the Sepang International Circuit this afternoon as heavy rain interrupted proceedings for the final day of MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship competition. Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK rider Alex Lowes ran competitively on his YZF-R1 around the saturated track running a strong sixth place until a high-side at turn 12 ended his run early.

Running sixth for the opening lap of the concluding contest, Lowes continued to hold the front group as the race began before suffering with rear-grip issues and dropping to ninth on the fourth revolution. Using the ensuing five laps to regroup, the British rider commenced his comeback on lap nine, increasing his pace and returning to his opening position of sixth by lap 12. Continuing to close the gap to the top five on the following lap, a high-side into the entry of turn 12 resulted in Lowes' early retirement from race two, requiring treatment by the circuit's medical staff. Suffering a fracture to his left clavicle, he will return to the UK tonight, for further assessment in the coming days.

Alex Lowes
Race: DNF / -4 Laps. Championship: 9th / 70 points

"I really struggled from the start of race two with rear grip coming out of the corners compared to the guys around me. I tried my best to perform as well as I could, using different lines and changing my body position to compensate, and then with about six laps to go I tried to push a bit more. I actually managed to make some good passes and was looking at another top five finish but then ultimately I tried a bit hard for the grip I had and paid the price for it. It was quite a heavy crash and I'm in quite a bit of pain but I just need to get myself fixed up and hopefully be back as soon as possible."


Paul Denning - Team Principal

"A very disappointing end to a largely positive weekend here in Sepang. Having been so fast in the wet at Assen we hoped that we would have a good opportunity in the extreme wet conditions this afternoon but unfortunately we weren't able to provide Alex with as much rear grip as everybody would have liked on this very different Sepang circuit layout and surface. As always Alex applied himself 100% to achieve the best result possible, and having learnt to maximise his potential was going forward and another decent result was on the cards. The accident was extremely unfortunate and whilst Alex describes it as his mistake, and perhaps as a team we could have chosen a better setting for the YZF-R1, ultimately you also need a bit of luck in racing and it seems to be rolling against us pretty heavily at the moment. Let's see how Alex, and indeed Sylvain are at the end of next week and hope that we can represent ourselves well at Donington Park in a fortnight's time."

 

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Superb maiden WorldSBK win for Hayden in race two at Sepang

Nicky Hayden came out on top in today?s race two at Sepang International Circuit to claim a spectacular maiden race win, in what was only his sixth FIM Superbike World Championship round as full-time rider in the series. Michael van der Mark completed the Malaysian event with a sixth place finish. Hayden?s impressive performance in race two marks the return of Honda to the top step of the podium for the first time since 2014, when Jonathan Rea was victorious in race two at Portim?o.

Hayden got a great launch from fourth place on the grid and immediately set his sights on the lead, which he was able to take before the completion of the first lap. From then on, the 34-year-old never looked back and continued to master his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP perfectly around the wet 5.543 Km Sepang International Circuit. By lap eleven of sixteen Hayden had a four-second margin over second place, which he carefully managed up to the chequered flag in spite of a quick drop of grip as the track was drying out.

Michael van der Mark?s performance was hindered by his poor starting position, although the young Dutchman was able to make up several places in the early laps courtesy of a great feeling with his bike in full-wet conditions. As soon as the track started to get drier, though, the 2014 World Supersport Champion began to experience some grip issues that did not allow him to stay with the front-runners.

Nicky Hayden 69
1st

I?m really happy for this win. Last night I was so frustrated that my crew chief asked me if I was OK and told me not to give up. I told him not to worry, and that I was just a bit of a sore loser. This morning in the dry we had good pace and great potential. When it started raining I knew I had to go for it: I?m definitely not in the championship fight and that meant I could risk a bit more. In the first laps I took some chances to get to the front and I didn?t want to get caught up racing in a pack like in Assen. I wanted to be at the front with clear visibility. As I got to the front the bike worked so well because the team knows the bike inside out and the set-up was perfect. I tried to stay as comfortable as possible while in the lead because we weren?t sure of tyre durability on this track with the new asphalt. I managed to pull a gap and definitely in the end wasn?t easy, because those guys were coming for me. I was able to hold on to the lead and get my first win in a long time. It?s been a few dry years but I never stopped trying; to get a win at this point in my career in Superbike is truly amazing.

Michael van der Mark 60
6th

In the warm up this morning we tried something different again but it didn?t really work out. Before the race I didn?t know what to expect and I think the rain came a bit like a gift for us. My start wasn?t so good and I got pushed wide at the first turn, but I immediately got a good feeling in full-wet conditions and was able to bridge the gap to the front. As soon as the track started to dry out, I started struggling with the grip and couldn?t brake as hard as I wanted to. I?m really disappointed because the result could have been much better and I feel we were still missing something. I?m really happy for Nicky and his first win; we on the other hand have to find that competitive set-up again, the one that allowed us to do so well in Australia and Thailand. I?m pretty sure we will be back at the front in Donington.

Pieter Breddels
Technical Manager

Nicky simply put together the perfect race today. The rain didn?t catch us unprepared, because we had already a good set-up for the wet from day one at Assen. He got a great start and was able to get a 3-4 second margin that he managed right to the end, despite a great comeback by Giugliano. Nicky was able to counter attack whenever he saw that the gap was closing too much. So, it was a victory after a long time both for him and us, and we?re over the moon. We hope that this is only the beginning. Michael was doing well at the beginning of the race but unfortunately, with the track drying up he had a severe drop of grip. He did well to hold on to sixth and I?m confident that the next round he will fight for more.

 

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Race Two Podium Extends Rea?s Championship Lead

In a wet second Superbike World Championship race at Sepang Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jonathan Rea secure third place and a strong points score to extend his championship lead to 42 points. Tom Sykes (KRT) could not replicate his race one victory in the wet of day two and he finished up eighth. He is still third in the overall championship standings.

With no previous wet experience to call on at the resurfaced Sepang circuit both official Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R riders had little time to find a good set-up on full wet tyres. Starting from pole in the case of Tom and third place in the case of Jonathan they made good launches from the startline in search of more podium success.

Rea led early on and was able to hold onto a good pace for most of the race, even fighting back in the later stages to reclaim third place and a podium from his nearest championship rival Chaz Davies. In doing so he managed to keep his points total moving ahead once again and he now has 257 points to Davies? 215, after six rounds.

Soon after the start Tom realised his set-up was not going to allow him to challenge and despite fighting for every point he dropped back to finish eighth, on a drying track surface that made his set-up issues more profound. He is still a healthy 62 points ahead of the fourth placed rider in the championship and leaves Sepang with another race win on his record thanks to his Saturday performance.

Today?s wet race was won by American Nicky Hayden; his first victory since joining the WorldSBK championship from MotoGP. The next round will be held at Donington Park in the UK, over the weekend of 27-29 May.

Jonathan Rea stated: ?It is so difficult in a weekend when you have all dry sessions, a dry race one - and then two hours before race two a monsoon comes in! I am proud of my team because they were so reactive to the changing conditions. I feel we got it quite close and my bike was giving me quite a lot of feedback out there. The strategy in the wet was just to do the rhythm. It was important to keep the corner entry traction off the tyre, as normally that is the first area that suffers. So when I set off it was just about managing everything. Nicky was too far in front for me to want to really grit my teeth and go for him. I was happy with our performance and that was the maximum we could do. Maybe if I had the race again I could have gone with Nicky in the beginning but third was the result we got today and we achieved our target for the weekend. That was to increase our championship lead, so I am happy we did that.?

Tom Sykes stated: ?It was a big shame after the strong run we have had over the other parts of race weekend. I looked at a small change for the dry conditions today but heading into the wet we took on some experience from the Assen weekend and then went racing. But when the water cleared the grip from the surface was quite high. Unfortunately we did not have the perfect set-up for the grippy surface. I was not able to push the tyres onto the ground and get the traction we needed. Other than that, I felt if we would have made some changes we could have been stronger. I am disappointed not to capitalise on our momentum from yesterday?s win, but this is racing sometimes.?

Replacement rider for the injured Sylvain Barrier, Anthony West (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki), had a great ride to fifth place on his privateer machine despite having no previous experience of riding this machine in wet conditions.

Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) once more scored a point for 15th place with stand-in rider Gianluca Vizziello (Go Eleven Team Kawasaki) 16th. Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) was 19th and Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) 20th.