| | Biker News - Regularly updated
Category: Superbikes
-
Indianapolis (USA), 9 August 2015 - An extremely demanding weekend for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini has just come to an end where they found a stubborn adversary in the American Indianapolis track. The characteristics of the Indy track penalised the RS-GP, especially in the second half of the race when tyre wear kept Alvaro Bautista from battling for a finish in a position that would have earned him championship points, where he had been hanging on, and it kept Stefan Bradl from holding onto the positions he had gained after a good start. The German rider also had to deal with pain in his recently operated right wrist, but he is leaving the United States with good sensations after his debut on the Aprilia.
At the start Alvaro Bautista was unable to find his way through to move up in position through the first turns, finding himself stuck in a thick group of riders. Bradl, on the other hand, got off the line well, even moving up to thirteenth position at the beginning of the race. However, both riders suffered a drop in grip which was particularly penalizing in right-handers. Alvaro finished his race in 18th place, whereas Bradl crossed the line in 20th.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Director)
“We had some difficulties with the rear tyre in a way that we had never experience before, especially on the right side, so much that both riders at a certain point were forced to slow down significantly. For Stefan the pain in his operated right wrist added to the problems, so both riders lost a bit of their edge toward the end of the race. The fundamental problem, which was closing out turns, has an impact on the grip and that is where we need to work. Thanks to Bradl’s comments, which add to the great job Alvaro is doing, we may have identified some new solutions that we’ll be testing in the next race at Brno."
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“This was a difficult race in terms of the result which was certainly not the best, but I should point out that we did a good job with both riders throughout the weekend and this is important in view of the coming rounds. Alvaro rode a good race, but when the tyres began to wear he struggled a lot to maintain a good pace, whereas in the final phases of the race Bradl was feeling the pain in his injured right race and he crossed the finish line under a lot of stress.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This was a really hard race. We had the same difficulties that had come up in practice. At the start I struggled because on the first turn I found myself stuck in a group of a lot of riders and wasn’t about to gain any positions. From there on I tried to set my pace and I was in the zone to be able to battle for fifteenth place and a points finish, but I had trouble keeping up with the others. This track posed some difficulty for us, especially when we started feeling the tyre war. In right-handers I was losing a lot of time. In any case, we finished the race and collected some more fundamental information for 2016. I’d like to thank the team for their hard work this weekend.”
STEFAN BRADL
“After spending three days on the track I expected to have problems with my right wrist today. Already this morning in the Warm Up session I started feeling some pain and after the midway point of the race I wasn’t able to control the bike as I would have liked at a lot of places on the track. In any case, we gave it our all and I consider this first weekend for me on the RS-GP as a positive one. I learned a lot about the bike and together with the team we made a lot of changes in the little time we had available, doing a good job. I wasn’t used to riding the entire race distance on this bike and if you add my injury to that obviously I wasn’t able to be as fast as I would have liked. For the moment we are satisfied anyway and we are looking forward to Brno where we’ll try to take a step forward.”
-
The Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland drew to a close yesterday with Honda Racing’s Conor Cummins taking a second podium finish on his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP.
The final Superbike race of the day took place in wet weather conditions and saw the race reduced to four laps of the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit. Cummins, 29, started the race from 11th and quickly moved up into the lead group.
By the end of the second lap Cummins had slotted into second place and had started to close the gap on the race leader. A close finish across the line saw the ‘Ramsey rocket’ take second place, just behind race winner Peter Hickman.
Earlier in the day Cummins placed fifth in the first Superbike race. A strong start saw the Manxman running with the top six, but a red flag on the fifth lap saw the race stopped and results declared from the fourth lap. The race winner was Bruce Anstey with Padgetts Honda.
Conor Cummins
I love the Ulster GP and this week has been great with two podium finishes, I think in the first Superbike race yesterday I had the pace to push for another podium finish but unfortunately the red flag came out and put pay to that. The Fireblade has been faultless all week and I have really enjoyed riding it round here for the first time, it suits the circuits fast flowing nature so well and I hope I’ll be back next year for another go!
Neil Tuxworth Overall it’s been a positive meeting for Honda Racing and Conor, we’ve had two-second place finishes and a solid fifth with the Fireblade. Conor was very strong in all races and I am sure would have finished higher in the first Superbike race, but due to the red flag the results were taken from the fourth lap. The second race was fantastic for Conor and he just lost out on the win by half a wheel, another lap and I am sure he could have taken the win.
-
Aprilia showed its stuff today at Sepang in Superpole, the session that decides the starting order for the WSBK races tomorrow on the Malaysian track.
Torres took full advantage of the session on a qualifier tyre and rode his RSV4 RF to second place, just 27 hundredths of a second behind Sykes' pole.
With this performance Jordi, a rookie in World Superbike this year, confirms his growth, improving on his performance at Laguna Seca when, for the first time, he took a spot on the front row, but with the third best time.
Max Biaggi, the six-time World Champion, did an excellent job in his second wild card of the season. Almost three years after retiring from racing he battled valiantly, leaving many of the Championship protagonists behind and he missed a spot on the front row by just over a tenth of a second. For him this is an excellent fourth best time that places him on the second row and improves on the fifth spot on the grid that he took at Misano.
Leon Haslam was a bit farther back. The English Aprilia Racing – Red Devils team rider had been one of the main players in the last free practice session to get into Superpole, finishing in second place behind his team mate, Torres, but he was unable to exploit his tyre in the decisive session where he finished in eighth place for a spot on the third row.
Max Biaggi: “I'm pleased with the final outcome because just toward the end of the qualifiers we figured out a few things and I hope that this is the step forward we were trying to find for the races. This is a demonstration of why it is essential for me to take full advantage of every single session. My testing here, which was conducted in only one day because of the rain, cannot compare to the race weekend habits of the riders who compete throughout the entire season and are accustomed to certain automatisms. Tomorrow I hope to ride two nice races. I want to stay with the leaders and that is why starting well will be important.”
Jordi Torres: “This morning we did very well and we worked on my RSV4 with a race tyre because we are quite worried about wear, which is the aspect where we still need to make progress and we'll use the warm up session to improve. I am feeling much better with the qualifier tyre now, thanks to increasing experience and in Superpole we pushed well. Maybe I needed be just a bit fiercer to do even better. Now we'll just wait for the races tomorrow. I'm starting from an excellent position and hopefully we'll do well.”
Leon Haslam: “This morning everything went very well, but unfortunately in the afternoon, both in the last free practice and in Superpole, some problems came up that we are assessing now. We need to improve something on our race pace, but above all we need to get back the feeling I had this morning with my bike. If we can do that tomorrow I'll be able to ride two great races.”
-
HEAT, RAIN AND A TRACK TO LEARN DID NOT STOP THE SIX-TIME WORLD CHAMPION
Sepang (Malaysia), 24 March 2015 – Max Biaggi's return to the track and Aprilia at Misano Adriatico raised the enthusiasm of the fans and staff, especially considering the absolutely stellar performance. The second chance to see the six-time World Champion in action is scheduled for the weekend of 2 August when the number 3 RSV4 RF will take on the second wild card of the season on the Malaysian track of Sepang in the tenth WSBK round.
Precisely to prepare for this task, Max Biaggi and the Aprilia Racing test team conducted 4 days of tests at Sepang. This is a good opportunity for the Roman champion to get his bearings on a track where he has not raced for ten years and even then, never astride a Superbike. Unfortunately the unfavourable weather and a few technical problems kept Max from carrying out all of the scheduled work, postponing further tests for the race weekend.
Max Biaggi: “Unfortunately they were some unlucky tests. For 3 out of the 4 days we had available it rained. Of course I had to take a spill and we also had a couple technical problems that slowed down my work, but those are things that are just a part of racing. We hope to be more lucky next week. Sepang is still an exciting track, but the only black spot is that I found the asphalt to be rather more bumpy that I remembered it.”
Romano Albesiano (Aprilia Racing Manager): “Max hadn't been on this track for a long time, so that's why it was important to conduct these tests at Sepang. The nice result from Misano mustn't make us forget that Max has been out of racing for almost three years and certain mechanisms need to be recovered. Now our attention is entirely on next week. Since we can never quite take full advantage of the practice sessions, it will be important to continue our work from these past few days during the race weekend as well.”
-
LEON HASLAM ON THE SECOND ROW WITH THE SIXTH BEST TIME
Laguna Seca, 18 July 2015 – The Laguna Seca Superpole brought Jordi Torres his first front row start in a Superbike race. The rookie rode his Aprilia RSV4 RF to the third best time, giving the excellent work done since yesterday a concrete conclusion, with an apprenticeship that had him improving lap after lap on a track that he is tackling for the first time.
For Jordi this was a great opportunity. The California track is short, demanding and has a few places suited for overtaking, conditions that make a good start particularly important. Keeping up with the fastest is also the prefect chance to learn some Superbike riding secrets, gaining fundamental experience for a rookie in the factory derivative category.
Jordi Torres: “Being on the front row here at Laguna Seca is a dream come true for me. When I first got here I never would have even imagined achieving this result. Playing the video games I would always win on this circuit which I have always liked, but being third in Superpole has a decidedly different taste. We did a good job and finally I was able to take full advantage of the soft tyre. It is just a first step and my goal in the race is to stay with the leaders to learn from them, using the battle to continue growing and improving my riding style. This is a short track with only a few points where you can overtake, so starting out front is essential.”
A few indecisions, on the other hand, kept Leon Haslam from putting his best foot forward during the qualifying session. The English Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils rider, looking very good in terms of race pace, had a small problem in FP4 just before Superpole. At the decisive moment Leon had to wait a few minutes before getting onto the track, so he was forced to speed up the usual programme in the 15 available minutes. Despite this, and in spite of a few mistakes in his two flying laps, Haslam was still able to finish on the second row with the sixth best time, a starting grid spot that does not jeopardize his ambitions for the two races.
Leon Haslam: “It wasn't a perfect afternoon. In FP4 a small problem cost us some time and even at the beginning of Superpole I had to stay in the garage for a few minutes. Then, during the two laps with the qualifier tyre, I made a couple of mistakes that kept me off the front row. It's a shame because grip was really quite good and we had the potential for a better result. Now we just need to analyse everything that happened today and set up the changes we need to make for the races.”
|
