Althea Racing

Very mixed conditions today at the TT Circuit of Assen where the third round of the World Superbike Championship is taking place this weekend. The Althea Racing team is ready for the challenge that bad weather may present, and will line up on race day with its two riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano.

This morning the Superbike riders were out on track for the first free practice session. On a cold but dry track (16˚C) Carlos and Davide got straight down to work. By mid-session Checa was lapping in under 1m39 and he continued to lower his times from there on in. In the final minutes he recorded a fast lap of 1m37.7, his best of the session, which assured him of overall second position at the session’s end. Giugliano made good progress during the 45 minutes available, registering his best lap time in the final phase of the session. A best of 1m38.5 positioned him eleventh at the end of this first free practice.

In the afternoon’s qualifying session the track temperature went down to 8 degrees. Carlos went straight out, making a couple of immediately fast laps which placed him fourth. Davide, lying in nineteenth position after the first couple of laps was still working to find his rhythm when, just minutes after the session opened, rain began to fall, forcing all riders to return to the pits. It was of course impossible to improve on lap times after that and so riders instead used the available time to test wet set-ups. The Althea Racing team will continue to work tomorrow, despite the fact that weather conditions for race day remain a complete unknown.

Carlos Checa:

“I was aware that rain could catch us out at any time and that I therefore needed to make some fast laps right away, in the first minutes, also because if it rains tomorrow morning, today’s session will be what sets the positions for the Superpole. So I’m fairly satisfied, we’re fourth for now and will continue to work on set-ups tomorrow so that we are prepared for Sunday’s races, whatever the conditions.”

Davide Giugliano:

“We went back on track when it started to rain hard but unfortunately we left it late and in the short time available I was unable to find the right feeling. I hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow morning for second qualifying because starting from 19th place will not be easy – from that grid position the first corner is a long way off and you see nothing. If, on the other hand, we have the chance to fight it out in the Superpole – even if it’s a wet one – we can at least try to improve our position. So I hope for a dry one tomorrow, then if it rains on race day I don’t mind as I’ve always gone ok in the wet here.”