WSBK – WSBK 2016: Demonstrative Sykes and Rea, Stealth Guintoli – Demonstrative Sykes and Rea, Stealth Guintoli

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WSBK 2016: Demonstrative Sykes and Rea, Stealthy Guintoli

WSBK - WSBK 2016: Demonstrative Sykes and Rea, Stealth Guintoli - Demonstrative Sykes and Rea, Stealth Guintoli

The World Superbike riders completed their last major 2015 maneuvers in Jerez on Friday. While Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes atomized the official track record on the new Kawasaki, Sylvain Guintoli prowled his Yamaha… Balance sheet.

Demonstrative Sykes and Rea, Stealthy Guintoli

During three days of testing (Wednesday to Friday), Sylvain Guintoli completed 167 laps of the Jerez circuit (Spain) at the controls of his brand new R1. His best time and the 166 others are unfortunately confidential, the Yamaha Pata team having chosen not to install a transponder on their machines….

Sylvain’s fans must therefore be satisfied with his official statements to estimate the shape of their idol: "it’s a very interesting project, I really enjoyed driving the R1 in Jerez and I can’t wait to continue our good work and the development next year".

"We experimented with lots of different settings and geometries to better understand the YZF-R1", specifies Guintoli:"we also did a lot of work on electronics, software and strategies, time consuming processes that need to be accomplished".

Concentrated on their fundamental work, the Blues of Iwata isolate themselves from the pressure of the stopwatch … apparently and temporarily! Because from the bottom of their box, the Japanese engineers scrutinize the slightest jerk of their Superbike and record everything, to continue working during the winter break….

"We managed to amass a ton of information and need a little time to develop parts", explains the experienced n ° 50:"guys are going to be busy this winter and i am already looking forward to measuring the progress next year !"

"The Yamaha Pata team would like to thank Guintoli for his hard work over the past two days, taking sole responsibility for testing all the last elements.", insist the Japanese. Recall that Alex Lowes was catapulted by his own R1 into turn 3 on Wednesday evening and could not complete his tests….

Sylvain’s former teammate at Honda, Michael Van den Mark, does not appear in the last two daily rankings (see page 2), victim of tendonitis in his right arm that he will be able to treat during the truce.

On the contrary, in great shape, after enjoying a day off (Wednesday), the two members of the official Kawasaki team finished at the top of the timesheet. Author of the best lap times the first two days of the week, Jonathan Rea is finally beaten by Tom Sykes…

Slightly behind the new "Number One" of the discipline on Tuesday, the Ninja n ° 66 took his revenge on Friday by turning two tenths of a second faster on qualifying tires. Even more impressive, "Super Sykes" beats its official record by one second (1’40.292 set during the).

Delighted with his best lap times – whether on soft or hard tires – the English driver is above all delighted with how his race simulation was going: "we continued to set good times after 22 laps", he said at the end of the tests.

"This is the best reward for me because that’s what we fought on last year", recognizes" Major Tom ". In 2015, in fact, the Kawasaki rider had fallen back into his faults: starting like a cannonball – at the start of the race, he let the victory slip away – see the podium – in the very last laps…

Jonathan Rea, on the other hand, is also very satisfied with the progress made on the 2016 ZX-10R: "in the end, i’m very happy because we did a lot of race simulations and tests in november, which is unheard of for me".

The use of the qualifying tire on Friday would have been another revelation: "It opened my eyes a little to the points to improve regarding the settings of our new bike", declares the reigning world champion.

"Johnny fell twice during his tests pushing the bike to its limits", reports its chief mechanic Pere Riba,"and we understand very well why he fell. Better to fall now than during the season", relativizes the former Spanish pilot !

"Everything was going well, I was doing long rides on hard tires", details Rea, certain that he could have improved his time – and beat Sykes ?! – if he had turned a little more Friday afternoon (44 laps and an end of tests sounded by his Ninja after his fall, against 98 laps for Sykes!).

The ruthless "JR" leaves Jerez relieved to be in good health and impatient to resume testing to better defend his crown … against Tom Sykes of course, but also against the Ducati riders with whom Jonathan shared the track in weekend !

"Champion of the end of the 2015 season", Chaz Davies is not the first rider of the Bologna Reds: this enviable status goes to the new rider of the private Ducati Barni team, Xavi Fores, but the official n ° 7 remains particularly confident.

"We have drawn important conclusions from the trials carried out last week in Aragon", assured" Chazie "Friday evening."The new parts represent a real step forward. The fork, in particular, gives a finer and more direct feel".

Davies and his team were also able to compare their performance during these tests with those established during the. "We focused on the beat", insists the Welshman. He could thus have maintained over several laps his best time recorded in the race..

Would Chaz Davies be in better shape than his fifth place in Friday’s standings suggests? We’ll find out in less than three months, when the 2016 championship opens in Australia at the Phillip Island circuit. !

Davide Giugliano also focused on the substance: "since pure speed was not a problem in the past, we focused our work on our performance on worn tires", comments the n ° 34 of the official Ducati team.

Returning from a very long back injury, the Italian rider was able to realize that the factory Panigale had made a lot of progress during his absence. He also remembered that riding a Superbike required iron health !

"So far I have only been able to do a little rehabilitation and training in the pool"Said Davide. His arms would have tasted a little bit during the tests and deserve a few muscle building sessions. Forza Davide !

Finally, if their official websites unfortunately remained silent at the end of these last tests of the year 2015, it would be unfair not to highlight the work accomplished by Nicky Hayden, Leon Camier and their respective teams, Honda Pata and MV Agusta Forward.

Like Sykes, the "Kentucky Kid" completed an impressive number of laps in two days (176!) And finished fourth, just a second behind the leader. The English driver ranks last, of course, but hoists his F4 to less than a tenth of the No. 34 Panigale. To be continued … Stay tuned !

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