WSBK – Statements by World Superbike riders in Sepang – Statements from the 1st WSBK round

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World Superbike riders’ statements at Sepang

WSBK - Statements by World Superbike riders in Sepang - Statements from the 1st WSBK round

The sixth round of the 2016 World SBK took place this weekend in Sepang, Malaysia. To complete our near-live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders at the end of their two Malaysian races..

WSBK 1st Round Declarations

Site readers – who, as everyone knows, are a little more fortunate than the others – have already been able to follow Saturday and Sunday, almost live, the progress of the World Superbike and Supersport races on the Sepang circuit (for latecomers, read, then).

Find below the statements of the drivers who distinguished themselves on Saturday during the first round, and on the following page the statements of those who animated the second WSBK race on Sunday. Honor to the winner !

Tom Sykes, 1st:
"I really enjoyed the race. The bike was giving me a lot of warnings, well in advance. We were able to react well on a few laps and overall I’m very, very grateful for all the hard work of Marcel, Danilo and all the mechanics. They worked overtime".

"We’ve struggled, more or less, over the past 12 months, and this is the first time we’ve come close. The fact that we were able to be consistent throughout the distance of the race is very good. We have to try to improve in some areas for tomorrow, because the other guys are fast. We had a bit of leeway today, but everyone will be looking to improve, including us"

Jonathan Rea, 2nd:
"I was probably a little too measured at the beginning because I expected a switch, which never happened. I could have allowed myself to be a little more aggressive in the first laps. Looking at everyone’s tires in the parc ferme, it seemed to me that it was the front, more than the rear, that held us back. I’m happy because we achieved our goal today, which was to extend our lead in the championship. What was difficult was that I had prepared my race in my head and that I followed all my strategy correctly. Tomorrow, maybe I can try to reduce the load on the front tire, change the balance of the bike a bit, so as not to strain it so hard".

Chaz Davies, 3rd:
"The race was difficult for us today. I was struggling to get the bike to turn in the middle of the curve, and I lost a few tenths here and there on the exit as well. I didn’t feel the same as usual on the bike, and I couldn’t flirt the way I wanted with the limit. We have certainly made progress from yesterday, but we are still at 95% of our potential. I expected Sykes to slow down eventually, but he didn’t. I was hoping to at least be able to strike a blow on Rea, but honestly we couldn’t do more today. We will now sit down with the team to work out a battle plan for tomorrow.".

Jordi Torres, 4th:
"The race went well in the end. We made sure to have a good pace and our strategy seems to have paid off. I had to take it slow at first and save the tire as much as possible. I think we handled the situation well, including the end where I managed to keep Lowes out of reach despite a nearly dead tire. I’m sorry for Markus, I was hoping to play an Althea BMW derby with him in the last laps. But we have both demonstrated our strength here and we have gathered a lot of information that will be useful for tomorrow. The guys in front are still far away and my goal for tomorrow’s race is to try to close that gap".

Alex Lowes, 5th:
"It was a good day and a good race for me at Sepang: I signed my best result of the year and my best qualifying! It was good to lead the race, I got off to a good start and it was nice to drive the YZF-R1 in the lead. We deserve to be more competitive every week and we have to keep working, but it was a great feeling. We made some progress in terms of pace at the end of the race, which allowed us to recover fifth place. I wanted the fourth, but we just passed it! I attacked a little too much at first to stick with Chaz and made a mistake, but if we can make some changes tomorrow to make me feel slightly better in a few areas, I think we could fight for it. podium. Maybe it’s a little too early, but overall it was a good day, I had fun. Hope we get another solid result on Sunday".

Michael van den Mark, 7th:
"I made a few mistakes in Superpole today to be honest, which didn’t stop me from being much faster on the qualifying tire. I got off to a good start in the race and I felt good in the first corners, then I immediately felt that I was lacking a bit of grip: I couldn’t handle the bike as I wanted. I couldn’t attack, I couldn’t even stay with the guys in front. I just tried to keep the pace as high as possible, but towards the end of the race I was passed by a pair of drivers. Eventually I managed to overtake Nicky before the checkered flag for seventh place, but it was clear that we both had our own struggles. We need to make some changes for tomorrow and turn the odds in our favor in the second round".

Markus Reiterberger, retirement:
"I didn’t have a bad start but lost some time during the first laps. I wanted to save the rear tire at first, but after five or six laps I felt I could push and my pace was really good. I am hoisted up to fourth place, but my motorbike suddenly died out. I tried to turn it back on and continue, hoping to save a few points, but it started again and I had to stop. I am both disappointed with what happened, but happy because the race was quite fast and we found good solutions for my bike. I hope the conditions will be similar tomorrow and that we can have a good race".

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