19th July 2013
Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam are both relatively satisfied after the opening qualifying session for the eighth round World Superbike championship event at Moscow Raceway in Russia today.
The British pairing finished in seventh and 12th places respectively in this afternoon’s 45-minute session while series leader Tom Sykes set the pace with provisional pole position.
Lap times are close, however, with 26-year-old Rea just half a second behind Sykes and Haslam, 30, a further 0.5s back. Both Honda CBR1000RR riders are confident of improvements in their settings for tomorrow morning’s second qualifying session before the afternoon Superpole sessions to determine final grid positions for both Sunday’s races.
Jonathan Rea – P7 1m36.084s
It’s not been a bad day although we got off to a sluggish start this morning, setting up a base map for the electronics, but the guys worked pretty well to get it in the ball park. We’re there or thereabouts and we didn’t use a lot of tyres today, trying to focus more on what’s happening when the tyre gets old. I tried a different front today, which I liked, but I had some positives and some negatives. Tomorrow we need to work on the exit on to the back straight where we’re a little weak so we’re looking at different options. Maybe gearbox ratios will make things a little better there. Otherwise, it’s half a second to the front, but it took us a while to wake up this morning. We’ll all sit down together to discuss options and come back strong in the morning.
Leon Haslam – P12 1m36.585s
We had a few little niggles this morning and managed to rectify the bulk of them this afternoon. There was a bit of an issue with the new tyre but we kept with it and the times came good again. So, we just need to look at a bit of a set-up for the newer tyre, but on old rubber the bike was pretty good. There are only really two options for the rear and we’ve tried them both now. They both look good for the race so it’s a question of what we do with set-up and electronics to see which is the better option.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
We were a little behind in the morning session and had to make some adjustments, but we recovered quite well and made some progress this afternoon. We didn’t really go for a lap time in that qualifying session and didn’t use new tyres. Also, the ideal times look better so we’re not too concerned. It’s all quite close at the top so it should be an interesting day tomorrow.
2013 World Superbike championship, round eight – Moscow Raceway, Russia
First qualifying results:
1 Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 1m35.567s
2 Davide Guigliano (ITA) Aprilia 1m35.615s
3 Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW 1m35.891s
4 Carlos Checa (ESP) Ducati 1m35.921s
5 Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aprilia 1m35.964s
6 Leon Camier (GBR) Suzuki 1m36.013s
7 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Pata Honda 1m36.084s
12 Leon Haslam (GBR) Pata Honda 136.585s
Michael van der Mark set the sixth fastest time in this afternoon’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s eighth-round World Supersport championship race at Moscow Raceway in Russia.
The 20-year-old Dutch rider, who returned home last week after testing a Honda CBR1000RR for the upcoming Suzuka 8-hour race, ended the session less than a second off the provisional pole time of Kenan Sofuoglu.
Van der Mark’s Pata Honda team-mate, Lorenzo Zanetti, dropped down the timing sheets after setting the sixth fastest time in this morning’s free practice session. The 26-year-old Itallian could finish the day no higher than 17th but is confident of improvement tomorrow if the 3.931km Moscow Raceway remains dry.
Michael van der Mark – P6 1m38.975s
It wasn’t too bad today, even though it took me some of the first session to get used to the CBR600RR again after riding a Superbike last week. At the end we found quite a good time this morning, but we had a few things to improve for qualifying. That was OK, but it started to rain a little at the end. It wasn’t too bad so I kept pushing and did quite a good time on my last lap. Tomorrow I think we can improve both the bike and the lap time.
Lorenzo Zanetti – P17 1m39.751s
It was a strange afternoon because this morning I started in sixth place. I like the track and it felt OK, but we tried a different set-up this afternoon and I lost the feeling completely. I did the same lap time as this morning on an old tyre and when we put a new one in it started to improve. I did one lap faster and then it started to rain a little. When it stopped, I only had one lap left and made a mistake, otherwise I’m sure I could have stayed in the top ten. We’ll check everything on the data with the team this evening because I need to improve immediately tomorrow. I also hope it can stay dry – if it rains, I have a problem. But we’ll keep calm and work together because the race is not until Sunday.
Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator
Both guys did well this morning but this afternoon Lorenzo began to struggle a little. He’s not happy with some aspects but we need to look at all the data because 17th of course is not good. He was fast this morning though, so I’m sure we can get him back up there tomorrow. I was pleased to see Michael adapt quickly back to the Supersport machine. He was going well this afternoon and finished sixth, and apart from the two guys at the front, everyone is really close. He kept improving his lap times, even with a bit of rain at the end of the session.
2013 World Supersport championship, round eight – Moscow Raceway, Russia
First qualifying results:
1 Kenan Sofuoglu (TUR) Kawasaki 1m38.088s
2 Sam Lowes (GBR) Yamaha 1m38.240s
3 Vladimir Ivanov (RUS) Kawasaki 1m38.691s
4 Andrea Antonelli (ITA) Kawasaki 1m38.792s
5 Alex Baldolini (ITA) Suzuki 1m38.919s
6 Michael van der Mark (NED) Pata Honda 1m38.975s
17 Lorenzo Zanetti (ITA) Pata Honda 1m39.751s
