WSBK

Sykes Fastest After First Day in Spain

Posted:

Saturday, April 2nd, 2016

9:07 AM

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) ended his first day at Motorland Aragon fastest of all, with a lap time that was fully 0.375 seconds quicker than next best qualifier Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing ‰ÛÒ Ducati) ‰ÛÒ the rider who had led for most of the session.

A 1:50.712 Sykes was just over a second from Leon Haslam‰Ûªs track best, in a session that ended slightly prematurely, because of a red flag.

‰ÛÏI am happy enough after today and I quite surprised on the pure performances side as I still have some things I would like to improve with the set-up," Sykes said.

"In general, looking at our performance and potential consistency, I have to be happy. Even considering the windy conditions we were able to manage it quite well. Now my crew chief Marcel, all the boys in the team and I will aim to make the feel a bit more natural in a couple of corners. That is for tomorrow but at the end of day one, when we have to prepare for the races, we are heading in quite a good way.‰Û

Michael van der Mark was third fastest

Third was Michael van der Mark (Honda World Superbike Team), the first Honda man in a pack full of variety.

"We made a big improvement this afternoon and we were able to be both fast and consistent, which is good news. Our gap to Tom Sykes is still a bit bigger than I‰Ûªd have hoped but we‰Ûªre improving in the right direction," van der Mark said.

Davide Giugliano (Aruba.it Racing ‰ÛÒ Ducati) overcame some technical issues that held his progress back in the morning session to go fourth fastest overall.

New WorldSBK rider Lorenzo Savadori (IodaRacing Team Aprilia) was a strong fifth for a new team, while reigning champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the top six.

Rea tried out some new suspension and chassis adjustments, leading to gains in some areas and losses in some others. Rea and his team will now work with both this new information and data from previous Motorland tests to find a final set-up for race one on Saturday.

Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team) was seventh, 0.833 seconds from Sykes, and just ahead of the improving MV Agusta of Leon Camier.

The last two riders into Superpole 2 on Saturday by right were ninth placed Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team Ducati) and tenth placed rider Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) whose late session fall brought out the red flags as his bike re-entered the track surface at the downhill chicane.

Main Photo: Tom Sykes

WSBK Aragon, Spain: Free practice 2
1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 50.712s
2. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 51.087s
3. Michael van der Mark NED Honda Racing CBR1000RR 1m 51.337s
4. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 51.350s
5. Lorenzo Savadori ITA IodaRacing Aprilia RSV4 1m 51.461s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 51.464s
7. Nicky Hayden USA Honda Racing CBR1000RR 1m 51.545s
8. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta RC F4 RR 1m 51.568s
9. Xavi Fores ESP Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 51.592s
10. Alex Lowes GBR PATA Crescent Yamaha R1 1m 51.639s
11. Alex de Angelis RSM IodaRacing Aprilia RSV4 1m 51.674s
12. Jordi Torres ESP Althea BMW S1000RR 1m 51.728s
13. Markus Reiterberger GER Althea BMW S1000RR 1m 51.735s
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Crescent Yamaha R1 1m 52.013s
15. Matteo Baiocco ITA VFT Ducati 1199R 1m 52.433s
16. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 52.610s
17. Karel Abraham CZE Milwaukee BMW S1000RR 1m 53.271s
18. Josh Brookes AUS Milwaukee BMW S1000RR 1m 53.439s
19. Sylvain Barrier FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 53.443s
20. Matthieu Lussiana FRA Team ASPI BMW S1000RR 1m 54.891s
21. Dominic Schmitter SUI Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 55.760s
22. Saeed al Sulaiti QAT Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 56.376
23. Josh Hook AUS Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 57.107s
24. Peter Sebesteyen HUN Team Toth Yamaha R1 1m 57.174s
25. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth Yamaha R1 1m 57.753s
Top 10 will progress straight into SP2 on Saturday. The remainder of the field entered into SP1.

Supersport Aragon, Spain: Free practice 2
1 Jules Cluzel 16 FRA MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta 1'55.324
2 Axel Bassani 47 ITA San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki +0.082
3 Lorenzo Zanetti 87 ITA MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta +0.238
4 Roberto Rolfo 44 ITA Team Factory Vamag MV Agusta +0.308
5 Alessandro Zaccone 61 ITA San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki +0.349
6 Christian Gamarino 11 ITA Team Go Eleven Kawasaki +0.354
7 Kenan Sofuoglu 54 TUR Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki +0.368
8 Randy Krummenacher 21 SWI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki +0.369
9 Patrick Jacobsen 2 USA Honda WorldSSP Honda +0.527
10 Gino Rea 4 GBR GRT Racing Team MV Agusta +0.691
11 Nicolas Terol 88 SPA Schmidt Racing MV Agusta +0.717
12 Zulfahmi Khairuddin 63 MAL Orelac Racing VerdNadura Kawasaki +0.773
13 Kyle Smith 111 GBR CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Honda +1.047
14 Ilya Mikhalchik 55 UKR DS Junior Team Kawasaki +1.192
15 Kevin Wahr 19 GER Gemar Ballons ‰ÛÒ Team Lorini Honda +1.205
16 Kyle Ryde 77 GBR Ranieri Med ‰ÛÒ SC Racing Yamaha +1.253
17 Alex Baldolini 25 ITA Race Department ATK#25 MV Agusta +1.363
18 Federico Caricasulo 64 ITA Bardahl Evan Bros. Honda Racing Honda +1.370
19 Ondrej Jezek 69 CZE Team Go Eleven Kawasaki +2.110
20 Nacho Calero 10 SPA Orelac Racing VerdNadura Kawasaki +2.157
21 Davide Stirpe 6 ITA Floramo Monaco Racing Team SM Honda +2.705
22 Cedric Tangre 23 FRA Yohann Moto Sport Suzuki +2.833
23 Alexey Ivanov 161 RUS DMC Racing Yamaha +3.527
24 Aiden Wagner 41 AUS GRT Racing Team MV Agusta +3.549
25 Stefan Hill 35 GBR CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Honda +3.763
26 Loris Cresson 84 BEL MTM / HM Kawasaki Kawasaki +3.789
27 Christopher Gobbi 12 ITA VFT Racing Yamaha +3.896
28 Javier Orellana 96 SPA WilSport Racedays Honda Honda +4.890
29 Hiromichi Kunikawa 17 JPN Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki +5.577
30 Lachlan Epis 83 AUS Response RE Racing Kawasaki +6.501
31 Janos Chrobak 119 HUN Schmidt Racing MV Agusta +6.920
32 Angelo Licciardi 7 BEL R2 MotoRacing Team Kawasaki +8.195
33 Hikari Okubo 78 JPN CIA Landlord Insurance Honda Honda +8.293
34 Braeden Ortt 50 CAN WilSport Racedays Honda Honda +8.614