WSBK 2016: Rea on pole in Jerez test
The main World Superbike teams stayed in Jerez on Monday to take part in an official test day. World champion Jonathan Rea hoisted his name to the top of the timesheet ahead of Sykes, Davies… and Guintoli! Chronos and declarations.
With the exception of Aprilia, all the manufacturers took part in the official tests organized the day after the Spanish World Superbike event: BMW Althea, Ducati Aruba, Honda WSBK, Kawasaki Racing, MV Agusta Reparto Corse and Yamaha Pata took advantage of conditions bright weather – once the morning fog has passed – to prepare for the grand finale …
As always, the lap times – although official and precise to the nearest thousandth of a second! – should be taken with a grain of salt, because they do not necessarily reflect the state of the forces involved (see the timesheet below). Some pilots sometimes keep it in the grip, or prefer to promote development over improvement, regularity over speed….
Chaz Davies, for example, claims to have focused more on the schedule concocted by his team than on the times posted by his little comrades. Third in this test, half a second behind Tom Sykes and three-quarters of a second behind Jonathan Rea (!), The Ducati rider n ° 7 will certainly ride for the win on October 29 and 30 in Qatar.
Site readers – who, as everyone knows, are a little more passionate than others – know full well that while Welsh is rarely the fastest on a qualifying or testing lap, he is one of the most formidable in flamenco race. He was also downright unbeatable during the last two events at and at !
The results of this test in Spain may also differ from those of the last two WSBK 2016 races in Qatar, due to the distinctive features of the two circuits: we do not pass the 6th gear on the partially hilly track of Jerez, while we pulls it hard on the perfectly flat Losail circuit! Which seriously complicates the forecasts…
One common point, however, did not go unnoticed for Davies’ teammate: the last two tracks of the include a triple straight where the speed of passage in the curve is essential. Davide Giugliano is counting on the progress made on Monday to shine in his last outing at the helm of the factory Panigale, which he will hand over to his compatriot Marco Melandri next season…
This late test is also – and above all! – the opportunity to continue preparations for the. We try new parts offered by the respective factories – or workshops -, new gums supplied by Pirelli, new suspensions designed by Ohlins – or Showa at Kawasaki – and updates to Magneti Marelli electronics..
It is in this sense that the domination of the Kawasaki impresses – worries? – the plus: "the ruthless JR" and "Major Tom" have already validated the 2017 evolutions made to their Ninja ZX-10R. The 2015 world champion – and soon 2016? – is not only satisfied with the work accomplished yesterday on his machine, but also with that carried out with the help of a certain Fabien Foret on his own piloting.
The champion (and vice-champion and!) Has for his part gone to great lengths with his two motorcycles at his disposal, in order to prepare head-on for the end of the season and the next. In two weeks, Tom Sykes will try to take 48 points from his teammate to steal his crown … In case of failure, he will postpone his "mission impossible" to next year !
With his fourth time, Sylvain Guintoli came very close to his goal: to deliver the Top 3 of the World Superbike from the British occupation! The n ° 50 ends this test day less than a tenth of a second from the Welsh "Chazie"…
Like his main adversaries, Sylvain took advantage of this day without pressure – and offering much more driving time than the tests – to deepen his relationship with the official R1 and continue his development … although he does not. !
Conversely, Nicky Hayden will compete in his second WSBK season within the official Honda team on a new machine: the one he unveiled at the beginning of the month at the Intermot show (see also our), in the company of the pilot of French endurance Freddy Foray.
Separated by 8 thousandths of a second on the clock (!), The American n ° 69 and his teammate Michael van den Mark were however able to advance in certain areas, such as that of food: in accordance with, Honda racing motorcycles must indeed adopt the ride-by-wire system mounted on – future – road models !
Seventh time, one second behind Rea, Alex Lowes claims to have been full of informative information, good feelings and the necessary confidence during these tests. The n ° 22 Yamaha Pata rider is just ahead of the two BMW Althea n ° 81 and n ° 21: Jordi Torres, who like Alex focused on his front end, and Marcus Reiterberger, who like Tom juggled between two motorcycles. .. to progress twice as fast ?!
Finally, a small disappointment for Leon Camier, who is 2 seconds from the reference time and does not reach the Top 10 of this test. The official MV Agusta pilot – who has just finished for a year – suffers from a top speed deficit: his F4 did not exceed 265 km / h on the small Andalusian circuit, while the Ninja of the "Number One" reached 271.4 km / h. The Qatari event promises to be difficult for the English n ° 2 !
Pilot statements
Jonathan Rea:
"It was a very positive day. It was perhaps the most positive of the season. I talked for a long time with Fabien Foret who helps me to improve my driving, to negotiate the turns differently. am not a fan of testing and woke up with little motivation but little by little everything we tried worked out. We were quick and consistent all day and when we put all the items tested together we achieved We have been trying and fine-tuning a few things for 2017, including new forks, and we not only felt good not only with them but also with the shock that we fitted at the very end. Even on worn tires we were able to turn really fast. I was happy all day. Even in the hot conditions we managed to be fast. I am very grateful to Kawasaki and Showa, and my whole team who worked hard Thanks also to Pere and Paolo, and Fabien, who helped me change my position on the bike. There were a lot of positives today ".
Tom Sykes:
“It was a very busy test, with a lot of laps. We had the opportunity to study a whole variety of settings with the suspensions and the chassis. There was a pair of new Pirelli tires and new electronic finds too. . I had two bikes so we could make direct comparisons in terms of geometry. It was a big day of testing in dry conditions, and it was really nice to have two machines because that makes the test even more so. efficient. The guys have worked hard all race weekend and during this test, and now they have to prepare the crates for the flight to Qatar. Thanks to the whole team, I hope that thanks to this test, we can be even stronger in Qatar ".
Chaz Davies:
“Today we stuck to a program, without doing too many laps or chasing the clock. We just went through a few current and 2017 parts. We tried new things for the suspensions and a bit of electronics. – it all turned out to be pretty positive – as well as a pair of new tire compounds. Compared to this weekend, the track was a bit fatter as the temperatures were higher, but it was a productive day nonetheless . We had our fastest lap in the hottest conditions so we are leaving Jerez happy. ".
Sylvain Guintoli:
"It was a good test day for us, after a good weekend of racing. This weekend, I really had the feeling of coming into harmony with the bike: I really enjoyed riding. and I thought I was riding better. It was a good day, we did about 70 laps and our job was efficient. We worked hard to be ready for Qatar, and to continue development in general. It was so a very positive day! "
Nicky Hayden:
NC
Michael van den Mark:
NC
Alex Lowes:
"Today’s test went well because we have already improved this weekend’s bike. We didn’t do a miracle, but we had a good day. We worked on a bunch of things, taking everything into account, but we specifically sought to improve the front end feel. We now understand a little better in which direction and on which area to focus our next work, which is always a good thing. rode a lot on worn tires, did a lot of loops, and I felt pretty good. My pace was consistent, even in the hottest of the day and on the tired tires, it was really solid which was nice for me because I didn’t have the opportunity to demonstrate in the race yesterday. Yes, it felt good! "
Jordi Torres:
"Today we had the chance to see what works well on the bike and what works less well, to better understand what happened over the weekend: the front end of the bike seemed to be getting progressively worse for an unknown reason, a phenomenon that only happened to me here in Jerez. The idea is to keep collecting information and feelings. This is exactly what we have today. We also tested some new pieces, some of which have worked well, some not so, but overall I feel better and more optimistic. It was truly a useful day for you ".
Marcus Reiterberger:
"The day went a little better than this weekend. We had two motorcycles to work on (only one is allowed on the events, editor’s note), with different settings, which allowed us to test and test them. compare to find good solutions. We also tested three new rear tires that Pirelli had brought, some new parts from Ohlins, as well as electronic updates. Once all this is tuned in, I think we can definitely improve the moto. It won’t happen overnight, but I think looking ahead to the winter testing and next year, we will be able to find a good direction to take. ".
Davide Giugliano:
“It’s been a positive day overall. Our priority was to improve the configuration of the bike this weekend, in order to be faster in higher temperatures, when the grip is weaker. We managed to improve our performance slightly. speed, without even pushing for a lap and riding on fairly worn tires. My shoulder still gets in the way of driving, but we have made good progress. We still need to improve the rear stability to allow me to turn faster and optimize my speed on the angle, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on in Qatar to end the season on a high note. ".
Leon Camier:
NC
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