WSBK Portimao test: Rea mate the Ducatis and chaperone Razgatlioglu
Twelve riders took part in a test day the day after the 2017 World Superbike event in Portimao. The double champion Rea has again beat the official Ducatis … and formed the Ninja Razgatlioglu, foal of Sofuoglu in Superstock ! Balance sheet and declarations.
Page 1 – Rea concrete and Razgatlioglu amazes !
Yesterday, eight teams registered for the 2017 Superbike world championship reinvested the Portimao track in order to develop their 2017 machines, or even get a bit ahead of 2018. Imperial this weekend on the same Portuguese track, Jonathan Rea was featured again at the top of the timesheet on Monday evening…
Author of the Superpole, a masterful double and two lap records in the race (!), The ruthless "JR" once again reigned supreme on this test day, posting at the beginning of the afternoon a 1 ‘42.313 that none of the eleven other drivers participating in this test managed to beat.
Even the Ducati officials who accompanied him to the podium last Saturday remained at good bad distance of "Number One" Kawasaki: Chaz Davies turned – without falling, unlike Sunday … – almost four tenths of a second slower, Marco Melandri – victim of a small fall without consequence – was relegated to seven tenths.
Only Tom Sykes, who remains the record holder in Portimao thanks to his pole position signed in 2013 on a less bumpy tarmac (1 ‘42.360), would undoubtedly have been able to approach "Johnny", or even beat him ?! But the No.66 Kawasaki Racing Team, badly injured on the left little finger on Saturday morning, was unable to get back on his ZX-10RR.
On Sunday evening, "Major Tom" told his fans that his operation had gone well: "The doctor seems delighted with the way it went. The fracture was pretty bad, it had broken my finger in half, so it was more than a dislocation. (The doctor) also diagnosed two other hand injuries: a fracture line in the ring finger and radius on the wrist, "he said..
But "I have suffered from this injury in the past," recalls "Super" Sykes, "and four days later I was riding in Australia. So I already ran with a broken wrist. We’ll see how that plays out and the way my fingers are recovering ". "See you in Magny-Cours, Tom?"
Rea even better time, Sykes back from the hospital
Saturday midday in SP2, the two motorcycles of the Aprilia Milwaukee team had qualified on the first row of the Portuguese grid. Extremely fast on one lap, the RSV4s of Laverty and Savadori were significantly less so over both races….
Saturday in particular, the Irish n ° 50 and the Italian n ° 32 turned on average a second slower in the lap than the northern Irish n ° 1. So this Monday, Eugene and his teammate Lorenzo focused on the "race" configuration of their machines and did not shine as much as in Superpole in terms of pure time..
Like a certain Sykes in 2011-2012, the two Aprilia riders must imperatively find a way to less martyr their rear tire. Youdjine "and" Sava "appear in fifth and eighth positions after the test, cut short by a few showers. Did they solve their problem? Mystery and balls of Pirelli…
The other teams and pilots also have a lot of work to do before aligning themselves with Rea’s times: the two Yamaha Pata team riders for example, Van der Mark and Lowes, are still a second behind the leader, supervised by the two Aprilia.
Like their Ducati colleagues, Michael and Alex are still very satisfied with their tests. The Dutch n ° 60 in particular did not save himself: climbed on his first podium with the R1 on Sunday, he completed 83 laps on his Superbike the next day. A nice warm-up for the GP of Aragon where he will be ready to take control of Valentino Rossi’s M1 !
On the handlebars of his S1000RR, Jordi Torres set the ninth fastest time in practice, very close to those of Lowes and Savadori. Falling early in the morning on Monday, the Spaniard no.81 fortunately did not hurt himself but was forced to ride on his mule on which the BMW Althea team mounted a new swingarm.
The "Spanish Elvis" was exceptionally accompanied by Michel Fabrizio and not by Rafaelle de Rosa who has replaced Max Neukirchner since this spring. The former Ducati official (3rd in the WSBK 2009) did not turn as fast as his little comrades but hopes his comments will be useful. Check in two weeks at Magny-Cours !
Finally, Bradl was injured on Saturday in the race, the Honda Red Bull team could only field one driver: Davide Giugliano relayed Takumi Takahashi yesterday on the handlebars of the late Nicky Hayden’s Fireblade. The Italian driver and the Batavian team have to do a lot of groundwork … of timesheet !
Also at the bottom of the rankings is the name of another transalpine driver: Riccardo Russo who jumped during the season from the Guandalini team’s R1 on the Team Pedercini’s ZX-10RR. The new Ninja n ° 84 finishes 10th, far from the third Kawa rider…
The Puccetti Kawasaki team has put itself forward by pointing to fourth place in the standings of these Superbike tests thanks to its Superstock 1000 rider, Toprak Razgatlioglu !
Razgatlioglu already strong as … a Turkish No.54 !
Victorious in Portimao – in front of our national Marino! – and relaunched in the race for the European title STK1000, the young protege of Kenan Sofuoglu had the opportunity to test the Ninja ZX-10RR of his colleague Randy Krummenacher, injured and replaced by Anthony West until the end of the season.
This was not really a first for Toprak since he was briefly mounted on the ZX-10R of the Grillini team during the opening round of the WSBK 2016: the Turkish driver who replaced the "boot "lift Josh Hook fell in practice, had in turn crashed heavily at Phillip Island and was ultimately unable to participate in the races…
On the equally technical and impressive circuit of Portimao this time, the n ° 54 "bis" (he wears the same race number as his mentor!) Did not commit the slightest odd. During a few laps, he even had the opportunity to be opened the track by Jonathan Rea Himself !
If the five-time chmapion of the Supersport world Kenan had not succeeded in his transition to 1000 cc, Toprak confirms that he is perfectly at ease in command of the "big" Ninja. His "exceptional" instructor has doubly complimented him, on Twitter and in his official statement..
"I can help but it was you who posted this chrono, old man!" Jonathan replies to a very grateful Toprak. "43.2 for an SBK rookie is awesome! Keep working hard!" Who knows, the young Turkish driver will perhaps become the best Ninja driver in the future, a title that Rea has just stolen from Sykes (34 wins in WSBK against 33).
In the report of his test day published last night by Kawasaki (read the statements of the drivers on the next page!), The two-time world champion also congratulates the young Turkish man, but does not forget to underline the effectiveness of the ZX-10RR by the way … It’s not only on the track that Jonathan Rea is excellent !
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