World Superbike riders’ statements at Laguna Seca
The eighth round of the World SBK 2017 took place this weekend in Laguna Seca, USA. To complete our near-live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders at the end of their two American races..
#USWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki n ° 1), 1st:
“It was great to win today and we did it by completing 25 good laps. From the first one Tom started and I struggled to get through this stage. But once my horizon cleared, I I put my head in the handlebars: I knew it was gone. As soon as the opportunity presented itself I took the lead and I set my pace. We made real progress on the settings in 24 hours. I felt good with the tempo yesterday, but I found it to be a difficult start to the race. I left my team leader Pere to manage the settings, and I was not didn’t go into detail. He found a good warm-up plan, which seems to have worked. Everything seemed easier and I didn’t have to change anything during the race. I just played with the electronics a bit on the engine brake parameters. I would like to thank my whole team for giving me an excellent set. It’s a good way to go on summer vacation ".
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki n ° 66), 2nd:
“I was in a bit of a rush to get to the front of this second run and hoped to go on my own. Coming out of the last corner, I looked at the big screen and saw my teammate. I wanted the drivers battling behind for a while, but it didn’t. The bike was very consistent and we stayed in the big 1 ’23 and small 1′ 24 in the race. I made a few mistakes on one lap in trying to adjust the rear brake and the engine mapping, to try something else. We have to be satisfied with the second because yesterday like today, I gave everything in the race. Well done to the guys in the garage because the pace today was faster, the race was faster when I felt a lot more serene. I’m a little disappointed to lose points in the championship, but there is still a long way to go ".
Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° 7), 3rd:
“It was a mostly lonely race but still difficult. Our start was not bad, but our competitors’ were better. It will be something to work on during the summer holidays. The bike was making a lot of noise today. "So we’re going to take a look at that, but I’m not sure it affected our performance. Our rivals had a great race. I struggled with the grip from the first stroke, on the big corner holds." I did my best to take second place but we would have needed more laps. We will now take a break which will be important to resume training and come back to 100%, even though my physical condition was ok here. Then we will do a test at Lausitzring which will be very important for the second part of the season. ".
Marco Melandri (Ducati n ° 33), 4th:
“Of course we expected a better result after practice. Yesterday’s race was a bit strange and after the warm-up we thought we had found the right direction, which should at least lead us to the podium. once again we struggled in the race. It seems our base setup is really competitive, but it doesn’t perform as well in hot conditions, where we struggle with grip. We have to figure out why. anyway, it’s a positive first half of the season. I gradually adapted to the bike and I feel more and more comfortable. Obviously we wanted to do better here after winning at Misano. The tests at the Lausitzring will be very useful. We will improve, my team is working very hard and I am optimistic for the future ".
Marco Barnabo (Ducati Barni, manager):
“The two fifth places (by Xavi Fores, Editor’s note) are a positive result. The second round was harder than the first, but we are satisfied because we reach sixth place in the general classification, and the fifth is getting closer. next goal is to progress in the set-up to allow Xavi to fight with the top four riders. We believe we can do it and we will work hard for the next event. ".
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50), 6th:
NC
Leandro Mercado (Aprilia n ° 36), 7th:
"Today’s race was really good! We made a number of changes in the morning all of which were aimed at gaining grip to avoid yesterday’s problem, it paid off. So I can say that I’m happy. I got off to a good start and was able to keep up the pace from around the first to the twentieth lap. Certainly we still have to improve the last part of the race, but I have the feeling that we made a stage. I am therefore satisfied. I had a good feeling with my bike and I managed to ride better than yesterday, so everything is positive: we had a very good qualifying session yesterday, obtained a good result in first round and an even better second. This weekend has been very useful in many aspects, one of them is the accumulation of experience and important information for the races to come. I want to thank my team for the excellent and hard work done, and I hope we will continue with this your way the next races ".
Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia n ° 32), 8th:
NC
Alex Lowes (Yamaha # 22), 9th:
“It was a very difficult race. I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike but after everything we’ve been through this weekend it was already good to finish and get a result. J I really lacked confidence in my front end here at Laguna Seca and those 25 laps were hard work, but I did what I could. I couldn’t attack hard, it was just a matter of driving the more regularly as possible and try to figure out what we can do to improve our pace going forward. It is clear that as a team we have not had the best setup this weekend. Now is the time to rest and come back stronger, to fight for podiums in the next races in Germany. We have already shown that we can achieve it "
Michael van der Mark (Yamaha n ° 60), 10th:
"I was strong today, I felt a good start, but right from the first lap I didn’t have a good feeling with my R1. It’s quite strange because we changed a lot for the race. It was a tough weekend; The only really positive session was on Saturday morning, but the track temperatures were much cooler. As soon as the temperature started to rise, we struggled a lot. It is difficult to understand why we can do the same pace from round one to the last, but not early enough at the start. We have to understand why, and of course, we are not happy, but we will work hard during the break to make sure we get back on track. beating us at Lausitzring "
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