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World Superbike
WSBK: Phillip Island Friday Ticker
Notes and quotes following the opening day of the 2013 Superbike World Championship season.
Aprilia Racing's Eugene Laverty (Photo: Aprilia Racing)
Aprilia Racing
There are two Aprilias out front on the first day of test sessions for the Australian Superbike weekend: Michel Fabrizio's private RSV4 and Eugene Laverty's number 58, while teammate Sylvain Guintoli ended the day in ninth place. The qualifying session had 13 riders packed into less than one second, an extremely tight ranking in terms of a single lap, but this shifts a bit where race pace is concerned.
In fact, as foreshadowed by the recent testing, tire wear will be a crucial point for the races. Precisely for this reason Aprilia Racing focused on their long distance work, managing to find a good compromise between pure speed and consistent pace. There are still two more 45 minute sessions before the races and they will be crucial for last minute fine tuning and for choosing the best performance tire option. The fast Phillip Island track has proved to be very selective, as is demonstrated by the numerous crashes both in Superbike and the other categories.
Eugene Laverty, second in the qualifiers, feels satisfied with his situation: “This morning we weren't extremely fast, but in the afternoon we made some changes on my RSV4 to adapt it to the conditions and we took a big step forward. My single lap is good, but the key is to maintain consistency for the entire race. There are a lot of riders who don't stand out in the single lap but they've got an excellent race pace, and we're also doing well in that department. I don't have any particular problems and even when I'm lapping fast I'm careful not to wear the tires quickly so that helps me to be consistent.”
It was a good day for Sylvain Guintoli as well, by now perfectly at ease both with the super-fast Aprilia RSV4 and with his new team: “It was definitely a positive day. I'm able to ride comfortably and that allows me to maintain a good pace over several laps. We weren't able to get in a really fast lap because we were testing a front tire that was softer than what I needed, but the important thing is that we know we can still shave a few tenths off. Tomorrow it will be crucial to get everything sorted, put in a good Superpole and be ready for the races on Sunday.”
There are two Aprilias out front on the first day of test sessions for the Australian Superbike weekend: Michel Fabrizio's private RSV4 and Eugene Laverty's number 58, while teammate Sylvain Guintoli ended the day in ninth place. The qualifying session had 13 riders packed into less than one second, an extremely tight ranking in terms of a single lap, but this shifts a bit where race pace is concerned.
In fact, as foreshadowed by the recent testing, tire wear will be a crucial point for the races. Precisely for this reason Aprilia Racing focused on their long distance work, managing to find a good compromise between pure speed and consistent pace. There are still two more 45 minute sessions before the races and they will be crucial for last minute fine tuning and for choosing the best performance tire option. The fast Phillip Island track has proved to be very selective, as is demonstrated by the numerous crashes both in Superbike and the other categories.
Eugene Laverty, second in the qualifiers, feels satisfied with his situation: “This morning we weren't extremely fast, but in the afternoon we made some changes on my RSV4 to adapt it to the conditions and we took a big step forward. My single lap is good, but the key is to maintain consistency for the entire race. There are a lot of riders who don't stand out in the single lap but they've got an excellent race pace, and we're also doing well in that department. I don't have any particular problems and even when I'm lapping fast I'm careful not to wear the tires quickly so that helps me to be consistent.”
It was a good day for Sylvain Guintoli as well, by now perfectly at ease both with the super-fast Aprilia RSV4 and with his new team: “It was definitely a positive day. I'm able to ride comfortably and that allows me to maintain a good pace over several laps. We weren't able to get in a really fast lap because we were testing a front tire that was softer than what I needed, but the important thing is that we know we can still shave a few tenths off. Tomorrow it will be crucial to get everything sorted, put in a good Superpole and be ready for the races on Sunday.”
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