WSBK – World Superbike 2017: it’s off to Aragon! –

Posted on by admin

World Superbike 2017: it’s back to Aragon !

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

The WSBK teams of Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha have started their laborious – but essential – winter testing in Aragon (Spain). Of the eight drivers who turned Tuesday and Wednesday, Jonathan Rea walked away with the best time. Chronos and declarations.

The four main teams of the Superbike World Championship took part yesterday and the day before in their first offseason tests: Kawasaki with his, Ducati with the formidable Davies and the returning Melandri, Honda with the legendary Hayden and the rookie Bradl and Yamaha with the fiery Lowes and the new Van den Mark…

Titled for the second time in a row two weeks ago in Qatar, Jonathan Rea leaves Spain with the best time in practice: 1’49.8, i.e. a good half a second below the lap record set by Chaz Davies during the , last April (1’50,421).

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's back to Aragon! -

In control of its own – yes, with two "R’s"! -, vice-champion Tom Sykes managed to equal the official reference time. Chaz Davies himself on his Panigale remained four tenths behind his own mark. We expected better from the very strong man of the. But maybe he keeps some in the handle ?!

The Welsh n ° 7 shares third place with a certain n ° 69: Nicky Hayden "of course", who waits (im) patiently to unpack his WSBK configuration. Newcomer in the category, Stefan Bradl finished only three tenths behind his teammate. Not bad, for a "rookie" !

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

Withdrawn from competition for a year and a half, Marco Melandri did not take too long to regain a respectable pace: he finished half a second behind "Chazie", Ducati leader, and tied with Alex Lowes who is pursuing the development of the Yamaha R1.

Finally, Sylvain Guintoli’s replacement at Yamaha, Michael van den Mark, signs the last lap of these first "autumn" tests. Like in MotoGP, the former Honda rider will not have the right to speak before 2017 … His little comrades, on the other hand, were able to express themselves: you will find their statements below.

Chronos of the WSBK Aragon tests – November 16 and 17, 2016

  1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki ZX-10RR: 1 ‘49.8
  2. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki ZX-10RR: 1 ‘50,4
  3. Chaz Davies – Ducati Panigale R: 1 ‘50.8
  4. Nicky Hayden – Honda CBR1000RR: 1 ‘50.8
  5. Stefan Bradl – Honda CBR1000RR: 1 ‘51.1
  6. Marco Melandri – Ducati Panigale R: 1 ‘51.3
  7. Alex Lowes – Yamaha YZF-R1: 1 ‘51.3
  8. Michael van den Mark – Yamaha YZF-R1: 1 ‘51.6

Pilot statements

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

Jonathan Rea:
“The base bike worked great here and the track was in great shape for both days. We lost a little bit of time on the first day, but on the second day we really put our test schedule into practice. Kawasaki has worked hard on the engine side and we have had some improvements to the chassis which have been positive. Showa has done a good job and brought new shocks and forks to try out. We are very happy and will be able to continue our work on the suspension in Jerez la next week. On the engine side, we’ve been a lot more consistent than we’ve ever been here with race tires. We were able to do a lot of laps today and it was a very encouraging test. ".

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

Tom Sykes:
“We had two bikes in the pit in this test to try to optimize the time more efficiently, so we are relatively happy. With the hard tires we have a good result on the initial performance and on the race distance, so I’m happy. We have worked a lot with the chassis and trying to find a better balance. We have tried everything with the chassis settings, because obviously we can’t do that during a race weekend. We worked on the news. technical rules 2017 and overall we made some small tweaks to the gearbox, clutch, suspension, electronics and chassis. Thanks to the boys on the team and Kawasaki, because they worked very hard. They rarely put down their tools ".

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

Chaz Davies:
“As we started this test, we had a list of parts to try for 2017. We confirmed the potential of the new front fork, and we also tried a different reservoir to optimize aerodynamics and more of some electronic updates. Of course, it’s still early days and we’ve just started working on the new package, but I’m completely confident we’re heading in the right direction. I haven’t found my ideal setup and I’ve only used the soft tire only at the end of the last session. So the times could have been better, but that was not our priority. We go to Jerez, a very different track, to do some additional evaluations and to spot more our potential".

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

Nicky Hayden:
"I think we were lucky enough with the conditions: it wasn’t a time to go to the beach, but for the end of November we had two really nice days. We did a good number of laps and we had was able to try some things. Of course we kept working with the 2016 bike trying to develop what we still could. Yesterday we spent a lot of time evaluating the Pirelli tires with a few positives. We worked on this that we think will be the same on next year’s bike, but for other things like the clutch for example, we’re not sure yet if that’s the one we’ll be using in 2017. But we have worked on the brakes and suspension settings that we can put to use for the future. Overall we can be happy with what we have done. ".

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's off to Aragon! -

Stefan Bradl:
"It was two days of intensive testing. Almost everything was new to me. So we had a lot to learn, but I think we did a good job. I was able to adapt very quickly to the bike and the two long ones. Race simulations taught me a lot as they gave me a good feeling for the future and let me know how to change my style for tire handling. We tried a few things about the suspensions front and rear as well as about the geometry of the bike. We played with the set-up and found our own direction to go. The feeling progressed exit after exit. It was a very useful test in getting to know the bike. both the bike and the team and I think everyone can be happy with what we’ve done so far ".

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's back to Aragon! -

Marco Melandri:
“It was a moving experience to get on the bike in these colors and make my debut with this new team. The last two days have been exciting and productive. I quickly found the feeling on the bike, and in the race. together we are not far from the front lines, especially in terms of pace. We still have room for improvement, which is normal at this stage, but we know what areas we need to focus on. We had some difficulties. braking, although we made good progress on day two. Having said that, I’m really happy with the bike, both in terms of engine and chassis, and I’m also getting closer to peak physical condition. following tests, we will try to find some more improvements, but now we can start working on the details ".

WSBK - World Superbike 2017: it's back to Aragon! -

Alex Lowes:
“We’ve been working really hard over the past two days and overall it has been a good test in Aragon,” said Lowes. “The last day was probably the best I had on the R1. I maintained a steady pace during long race simulations. I leave the circuit feeling satisfied. The technical developments have been positive. new additions to the team and the way the structure works seem to have given us a good step forward. Michael seems quick on the bike. He is relaxed and smiling, which is a positive point! After these two interesting days , we know where we need to progress and I think the team is doing a good job of getting there. So I look forward to continuing the work in Jerez next week. ".

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *