WSBK – WSBK riders spin … their thumbs in Portugal –

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WSBK riders tweak … their thumbs in Portugal

WSBK - WSBK riders spin ... their thumbs in Portugal -

Last week, the Portimao circuit (Portugal) hosted important World Superbike teams. Unfortunately for them, the rain and low temperatures greatly limited the ride. The pilots had to do with… or rather without.

A week after the Honda Pata team (read), it was the turn of the Aprilia Red Devils, BMW Italia, Ducati Aruba, Ducati Althea, EBR Hero and Suzuki Crescent teams to travel to the southern tip of Portugal, on the magnificent track from Portimao, to start their pre-season trials.

Like Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van den Mark, Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres (accompanied by Aprilia test pilot Max Biaggi himself!), Sylvain Barrier, Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano, Nico Terol and Matteo Baiocco, Larry Pegram and Niccolo Canepa, Alex Lowes and Randy de Puniet spent more time in the garages than on the track…

It is all the more difficult to establish an assessment of these – very – winter tests as the times signed by the pilots have for the most part not been communicated by the teams. The Aprilia team tells us, however, that its n ° 91 (Haslam) was the fastest of the riders equipped with a transponder, completing the wavy track in 1’43.5, that is to say one second of the Superpole of Tom Sykes the year passed (1’42.484).

The Suzuki team also communicated the best lap times of its two pilots: Lowes turned a round 1’44 while our compatriot De Puniet – who was discovering Portimao and continues to acclimatize to his GSX-R1000 and Pirelli – s’ is satisfied with a 1’45.7.

Like the BMW Italia team which drives Sylvain Barrier, the Suzuki Crescent team has unfortunately kept the comments of its riders to themselves … The other teams, on the other hand, let their riders express their satisfaction – their motorcycles are great. ! – and their regrets – the weather is terrible … Site has compiled their statements below.

For the moment in WSBK, it is on Twitter that it beats the most! The 2013 and 2014 world champions, in particular, are constantly looking for each other: Tom Sykes criticizes Sylvain Guintoli for never focusing his number one on the front of his CBR1000RR, and Sylvain tells him to take advantage of the team presentation photos to see the in front of the Fireblade precisely because in the race, he will only see his exhaust … The atmosphere is good-natured !

Fortunately, there is good news: the weather is much better in Jerez, which is now hosting the last "European" WSBK tests for two days. Tomorrow evening, the teams will complete their luggage: towards Australia and the Phillip Island circuit, where the traditional official tests will be held on February 16 and 17. Stay connected !

Aprilia Red Devils

Leon Haslam: The weather really did not spare us for these tests but I am still quite satisfied. We were quick this afternoon and I can say that my feeling on the RSV4 is improving lap after lap. There is still a lot to do and I look forward to riding in Jerez to continue our progress and ensure we perform well for the start of the season..

Jordi Torres: I can only be satisfied with the work we have done today. We made the best of our half day on the dry track. The feeling was good, the bike is running perfectly and the team has been perfect. Now we have to do as many laps as possible. I need to get used to the tires, to a new bike and here I also had to learn the Portimao track. Completing the tests just two seconds from a driver as fast and experienced as Leon gives me confidence. Hopefully now we can have good lap times in Jerez and continue to learn !

Max Biaggi:We didn’t have much time, especially since my fall (Wednesday) limited me a bit (Thursday). We are not yet at the optimum level but we have already started working on some details. The automatisms come back. It’s always a pleasure to get back on the track but I have to get used to it again. I have to shoot more so I hope we have better weather in Jerez to do a better job.

Ducati Aruba

Chaz Davies: It was good to be able to get back on the bike after the winter break. Unfortunately, the weather limited our room for maneuver and we were not able to fully assess the new solutions that we had to test because the track conditions were never good. My feeling with the bike was still quite good and it’s positive. I really hope we have good weather for our next test in Jerez so that we can continue to work and also see where we are compared to the other teams..

Davide Giugliano: These two days were unfortunately compromised by bad weather. We couldn’t start working in the dry until Thursday afternoon. It still gave us a glimpse of the 2015 bike. We tried to identify a basic set-up for electronics and suspensions, using worn tires and without worrying about lap times. We will have two more days of testing in Jerez next week so we can continue to prepare for Phillip Island. We hope to have good weather conditions so that we can work well during these two days..

Ducati Althea

Nico Terol: There are a lot of differences ! (between Moto2 and World Superbike, NLR) The Superbike is more powerful, the engine is incredible. There are more electronics and the tires are different. I really like it. In my opinion, Moto2s are stiffer and harder. This Superbike is easier to ride, power and electronics being the two main differences. The 2015 bike is brand new. The problem here in Portimao has been the weather. I need to do more kilometers on a dry track in order to better understand all the parameters.

Matteo Baiocco: We haven’t had a lot of time to test the bike in good conditions here, but I think things are going in a positive way for the coming year. Little by little, the bike continues to progress. Next week I’ll be testing new electronics setups in Jerez, it should be interesting, and then we can leave confident for Australia..

EBR Hero

Larry Pegram: A lot of guys told me that Portimao is a very difficult circuit and it is definitely the hardest track I have ever ridden. So I mostly learned the track and chained laps. We made a lot of changes to the electronics, but barely touched the tires or the settings. I was happy with what we did, but wished I had had one more day on the track. In the end, we almost achieved the equivalent of a test day over the two days. As I had to learn the track, get used to all the different incline changes and blind corner approaches, I didn’t really care about my lap times. I’m really happy that Niccolo rode so well, especially since he managed to run around the same time as on his bike last year. We’re on a pure European track and he’s also fast so I’m happy.

Niccolo Canepa: Due to the varying weather conditions we only did 44 laps which is not too bad but I would have liked to have done more. During these two days, we worked very hard and modified the bike a lot. I am very happy with the progress made. I think my times were good compared to the other riders, and also compared to last year, mine as well as the bike (EBR) last year. The team works very well together and we are all headed in the right direction. The EBR has to be handled differently from a Ducati, but every time I get out I know I improve my understanding of the bike. The technicians, the suspension engineer and I learn how to adjust it to find the perfect feeling. I think we’re all doing a good job and I’m excited to do some more testing.

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