WSBK – World Superbike: 8 extra hours in Misano – Sykes, Rea and Giugliano above the lot

World Superbike: 8 additional hours in Misano

WSBK - World Superbike: 8 extra hours in Misano - Sykes, Rea and Giugliano above the lot

The day after Rea’s magnificent double – the unstoppable Kawasaki quadruplet! -, the main WorldSBK teams stayed in Misano for an official test day. We take the same and start again ? Report and statements.

Sykes, Rea and Giugliano above the lot

The Kawasaki team was not present during the "pre-misano" tests, but that did not prevent them from dominating the helmet and sliders the eighth round of the WSBK 2016, these two factory riders trusting the two most high steps of the podium after securing the first two places on the grid in Superpole !

Always super fast on a lap, Tom Sykes set the best time of the test yesterday: 1 ‘34.674, half a second below the best time posted in the race this weekend by Alex Lowes on his official Yamaha, and 46 thousandths of a second below the record set last year by Jonathan Rea.

The 2015 world champion, in fact, ranks in a solid second place, conceding only a tenth of a second to his teammate n ° 66. The Ninjas would first of all have worked for 2017, reviewing many points including their suspensions – exclusive on the set – Showa…

The domination of the Kawa ‘Boys therefore continues, and may not stop any time soon: the ruthless "JR" and "Super Sykes" have extended their contract with their employer for two years! Good news for the supporters of the Greens and the two British drivers. Too bad for the others…

The only other rider to drop below 1 ’35 yesterday, Davide Giugliano is doing his best to keep his handlebars within the official Ducati team. Studious therefore, the Roman mainly focused on tires: Pirelli offered pilots no less than four new front and three rear slicks !

For his part, Chaz Davies took advantage of these "extensions" in Misano to work on the twin-cylinder of the Panigale R and, above all, on its front end which betrayed it on Sunday in the race. Victim of a small fall without gravity at the very end of Monday afternoon, "Chazie" ends at a distant – disturbing, disappointing, insignificant? – sixth place.

Fourth, far behind the Ducati n ° 34, Leon Camier confirms that his MV Agusta F4 is still a tone below the Kawasaki and Ducati, but that it certainly does not have to "be ashamed" against the BMW S1000RR, Honda CBR1000RR SP and Yamaha YZF-R1…

Beaten by a thousandth of a second by Mister "Kamir", Jordi Torres completed the Top 5 of these official tests. The "Spanish Elvis" mainly focused on Magneti Marelli electronics, common to all Superbikes. Like Davies, he ended up going over the limit of his bike and the Pirellis, falling harmlessly in slow turn 4..

One breath away from Davies and two from Torres, Michael van den Mark turned a little faster than his experienced teammate, the "rookie" – in WorldSBK! – Nicky Hayden. The two HRC pilots were able to complete many laps: 99 for the American Stakhanovist…

The "Kentucky Legend" and "Magic Michael" have focused their work on the cycle part of their Fireblade and have clearly divided the task in terms of tires: rear tires for the n ° 69 pro of gliding, and front tires for the. n ° 60 pro front wheels ?

Supported by the engineers in charge of MotoGP, the Yamaha Pata team worked on the development of the electronic strategies of their factory R1s, as well as their engine and chassis. Restrained by the wet track in the morning and not his still a little fragile shoulder, Lowes would have liked to complete more than 64 laps…

In the end, the 2013 English champion finished this test in eighth place, in the middle of a grouped and particularly tight shot since only four tenths of a second separate Camier (4th) from Canepa (11th!), The replacement for Guintoli (see page former).

Finally, on the handlebars of their Aprilia RSV4s, Lorenzo Savadori and Alex de Angelis took advantage of the still wet track early in the morning to put on pairs of intermediate tires and improve their feeling on a dry track … while Jonathan Rea had a quiet breakfast !

In the afternoon and on a perfectly dry track this time, the two members of the IodaRacing team tested and validated a new configuration of links for the rear shock absorber, and reviewed four new soft rubbers brought by Pirelli..

No official statement from the two drivers has been communicated by their team, but the latter beg us to believe that the information gathered during this test day will be interesting for the rest of the season. Checking at the next meeting, set for July 7-9 in Laguna Seca: stay tuned !

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