WSBK – Superbike tests in Aragon: Sykes and Biaggi stay ahead –

Posted on by admin

Superbike tests in Aragon: Sykes and Biaggi stay ahead

WSBK - Superbike tests in Aragon: Sykes and Biaggi stay ahead -

Top riders Aprilia, Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki completed three days of intensive testing yesterday in Aragon (Spain). We find unsurprisingly at the top of the timesheets the champions Biaggi and Sykes, while Camier completes the “ podium ” !

A week after the end of a 2012 World Superbike season dominated by Max Biaggi and Tom Sykes (read) the … Five teams took part in these first "autumn" tests and represented four different manufacturers: Aprilia Racing Team and Aprilia Red Devils Roma, Ducati Althea Racing, Kawasaki Racing Team and Suzuki Fixi Crescent.

For all these teams, this race in Spain was an opportunity to put on the aluminum rims and the 17-inch Pirelli tires that the 2013 regulations now impose on them (read the last part of our). And like three months ago, Mister Superpole was the fastest.

Indeed, the fastest driver over the three days is none other than Tom Sykes! At the controls of his ZX-10R all in black, the Ninja n ° 66 dominated his nine little comrades and thus consolidated his status as (future?) Superbike champion.

His time of 1’57.6 on race tires is just a second from his record set in July during the 2012 Superpole (1’56.552), but it is also better than the time of the following test day (1’57.254 ).

However, it should be noted that a strong wind was blowing from the front in the endless return straight. Tom declares himself to be generally satisfied because "our aim is to improve what we have done on the bike this year, this is what we have done here".

"The 17 "wheels seem to work well on the Ninja ZX-10R, which is positive", emphasizes Sykes."The trail was a bit greasy this afternoon (Wednesday, Editor’s note) but we still managed to have a nice time with the soft gums", adds the 2012 vice-champion.

Helmets for € 1 … or € 7,600 !

While Aprilia France is currently offering Max Biaggi’s Replica helmet to buyers of RSV4 or Tuono for an additional euro (read), Tom Sykes has decided to auction the helmet he wore during the . Adorned with a huge "17", this unique Shark paid homage to Tom’s former teammate:. The funds raised will be paid in full to the unfortunate Spanish pilot. The amount reached, two days before the virtual hammer blow, is currently € 7,600… ?

The 2012 champion only returned two tenths to his great rival and also managed to drop below the 1’58 mark, which he had failed to do during tests in July. Max Biaggi demonstrates that the new Pirelli are running perfectly smoothly on the RSV4.

These three beautiful days will they make the Roman Emperor want to defend his title next year? These fans are hanging on his Twitter account … But apart from a few pictures of fruit dishes or sunrise in Monaco, nothing new…

Author of the third best time at the end of the two following days, Leon Camier completed on Monday the 5,344 meters of "Motorland" in 1’58.2, a time comparable to that which he had set during the "summer" tests ( 1’58.179).

Very irregular over the whole of the 2012 season, the No. 2 of the Suzuki team has, however, been more talked about – for good – during the last races. By securing the same time as Eugene Laverty, Camier proves that his GSX-R 1000 is getting closer to the pace of the best.

"I’m a little frustrated that the wind has picked up this afternoon", noted however" Kamir "," because without that I’m convinced that we could have gone a little faster "". But the other pilots too, isn’t it ?

"At the moment, I feel we still have some work to do on the 17 inch wheels. But the good news is, we’re not too far from the rest", indicates the great Leon, accompanied by the Australian driver Josh Waters (replacing Sylvain Guintoli at short notice, read) during this outing … and for the entire 2013 season?.

Hired next season by the Red Devils Roma team, Michel Fabrizio will not have taken long to understand his new bike, the RSV4! The n ° 84 is positioned only three tenths behind Noale’s official driver, Eugene Laverty.

Did the Roman team do well to abandon Ducati in favor of Aprilia? Only the future will tell … In the meantime, the engine failure of the official Checa Panigale RS13 will undoubtedly have strengthened the n ° 84 and its men. !

Not content with having blown out its 40 candles on Monday, El Toro n ° 7 detonated its "Superquadro"race in full straight line of the pits Wednesday, causing a long interruption so that the marshals clean the track.

The Althea team does not officially report this incident and their 2011 champion is content to declare at the end of his third trip on the Panigale – the very first against some of his rivals – that his "impression is positive".

"We are still a bit far in terms of times, but we are here to work on the bike and to try things to better understand what is missing and what we need to go faster.", Carlos observed last night..

"The 1199 Panigale is an extreme motorcycle and the riding style required is different as well "", analyzes the Spanish pilot who is only"beginning of the adventure"."The 17-inch tires work well once the track is warm", adds Checa. We are free to deduce that on a fresh track, it is not yet quite that…

Sixth time tied with Carlos, Loris Baz could not improve the last afternoon because "the track was slower, the wind had picked up and I was very tired". The Frenchman is indeed recovering from a very large mess at Magny-Cours…

"When I got here I wasn’t 100%", estimates the n ° 76, but that did not prevent him from completing 60 laps the first day then 70 the two following ones, that is to say approximately"1050 km"traveled at the controls of his official Ninja, proudly reports" Bazooka "on his Twitter account.

"We tried a lot of things and really enjoyed the 17 inch tires (dimensions that he was still using at the start of last season in Superstock, Editor’s note) ", rejoices our national Loris from whom we expect a lot next year after his superb bursts of shrapnel in 2012 !

Just a second from Checa and Baz, Davide Giugliano says he is satisfied with the work accomplished and must be relieved above all not to have hurt himself during his fall on Tuesday! Like his Spanish teammate, the transalpine pilot "working hard to find his feet on the new bike".

This adaptation seems particularly strong: "the Aragon circuit is very different from Misano where we did our last tests", testifies the n ° 34 which had"a little hard to switch from one to the other because of these differences".

Alex Hoffman (test rider for Aprilia) and Josh Waters (rider tested by Suzuki Fixi Crescent!) Bring up the rear by completing the lap of the Spanish circuit in just over 2 minutes.

The performance of the Australian pilot, in particular, is honorable: "I had never driven on this track (…), and at the same time I had to get to know the Suzuki Fixi Crescent which is very different from the Australian Suzuki".

"Next to this bike my Australian Suzuki looks like a road bike !", even attests the 2012 and 2009 Australian Superbike champion. The team manager – for a few more weeks – for his part considered himself delighted with Josh’s participation in these tests..

As for the performance of his titular driver Leon Camier, Jack Valentine finds it just as successful: "according to the Pirelli technician, if we had competed in a race we would have fought for the podium", assures the big English boss."And it’s a very good impression on which to end the season".

Chronos of the WSBK tests in Aragon – October 15, 16 and 17, 2012

  • 1. Sykes (Kawasaki): 1 ‘57.6

  • 2. Biaggi (Aprilia): 1 ‘57.8

  • 3. Camier (Suzuki): 1 ‘58.1

  • 3. Laverty (Aprilia): 1 ‘58.1

  • 5. Fabrizio (Aprilia): 1 ‘58.4

  • 6. Checa (Ducati): 1 ‘58.5

  • 6. Baz (Kawasaki): 1 ‘58.5

  • 8. Giugliano (Ducati): 1 ‘59.4

  • 9. Hoffman (Aprilia): 2 ‘00.7

  • 10. Waters (Suzuki): 2 ‘00.9.

Related articles

Leave a Reply

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