Aragon WorldSBK/SSP/300/R3 Friday Times – Quotes – Notes – Images

WorldSBK 2024 – Round Ten
Aragon – Friday

WorldSBK Friday Report

It was a BMW 1-2 on Friday at Aragon as Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) led Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) by the barest of margins at MotorLand Aragon. The American rider set a lap time of 1’49.017s, pipping Toprak by just 0.004s. The Texan has been in good form lately and that looks set to continue at Aragon.

Garrett Gerloff – P1

“It’s so nice to start the weekend like this! Aragon is a super fun track and the new asphalt has a lot more grip compared to last year. The wind was very strong but I felt really good. It’s just nice when things start to click and you go to a different track but everything feels good. At the beginning of this season we didn’t have that feeling but now it seems to be flowing a lot easier, and I’m loving it. I need a good lap in Superpole tomorrow and if we can do that we’ll be in a much better position to fight.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P2

“The feeling is amazing! I’ve never won at this track and this weekend I’m just trying to win. It won’t be easy because the track is tough. The grip is good on the resurfaced areas and the tyres don’t have a huge drop-off. I did a 14 lap race simulation today and physically, I feel good. Physically it’s been tough because I have not trained since the accident, but I feel good enough. I’m a little bit tired, but I think tomorrow I’ll feel much better. We need to improve the bike because it’s not turning as well as I’d like. The grip is okay, but the stopping and turning need to improve. I really want to win and that’s my target. The qualifying session is just one lap, but for me, the race is what matters. I’m fully focused on it, and I hope we’ll be fighting for the win.”

Bulega led the Ducati contingent, finishing a tenth ahead of team-mate Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).  Bautista was followed by Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in fifth and Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) in seventh overall, with ‘The Maniac’ three-tenths back from his Italian compatriot.

Nicolò Bulega – P3

“In the morning, on the first lap of FP1, I had a small problem, but after they changed a part, everything was fine. I lost some time in FP1, but in FP2, my feeling with the bike improved a lot. My team did a great job and we made significant progress from the morning to the afternoon. The track conditions weren’t the fastest, but they were still good. I think we have the pace to be in the top three so that’s positive. We have to keep improving for tomorrow.”

Alvaro Bautista – P4

“It’s been a challenging day with the strong winds. This morning was positive though as we tried the new asphalt for the first time. The grip is good but Turn 9 has some damage to the surface. In the afternoon, we compared Pirelli tyres, and I preferred the SC1 front and the new SC0 rear. This combination felt better overall. I had a small crash in Turn 9, likely due to the damaged surface, but there were no big consequences from it. I’m feeling better physically than I did in Cremona but I’m not yet at 100%. I’m confident I’ll improve as the weekend progresses.”

Danilo Petrucci – P5

“It was a tough day. We hadn’t made so many changes to the bike for three or four rounds, but we found a rather peculiar situation: there was a lot of wind, and the new asphalt offered significant grip, which I struggled to exploit. I set a time almost identical to my best lap of the day on the last flying lap, with a tyre that had completed several laps. This could be an advantage at the end of the race, but we need to improve on fresh tyres. Despite this, we are among the fastest, and if we start at the front, we can fight for a strong result here as well.”

Andrea Iannone – P7

“The free practice went quite well, but I had something to improve in braking area and corner entry. We are already working to try to find some solutions and get ready for tomorrow’s race. We have to try to improve some aspects, we hope to be able to return to the level achieved during the tests to be even more competitive.”

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was eighth despite a huge high-side in FP2 at Turn 17. He was checked at the medical centre and declared fit.

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was the lead Honda rider on Friday as he secured sixth overall despite an incident in FP2. Vierge made contact with Philipp Oettl (GMT94 Yamaha) on the short run between Turns 1 and 2, with Vierge’s CBR1000RR-R reaching the barrier. He did re-join the session with just over six minutes remaining in the session. Vierge’s team-mate, Iker Lecuona, ensured both Hondas were in the top ten as he claimed ninth.

RelatedPosts

WRP WorldSSP Team switch from Triumph to Ducati machinery for 2025

November 7, 2024

Yamaha detail six rider YZF-R9 assault on WorldSSP Championship

November 7, 2024

Xavi Vierge – P6

“FP1 was really good, and I immediately had fantastic feeling on the bike. We had strong pace and completed a solid fast lap. Unfortunately, in FP2 I could only complete a handful of laps and couldn’t fight for the top positions because on my second lap, Öttl ran slightly off line while I was passing him, which meant he hit me and caused me to have a big crash at turn 2. It was a dangerous one because it’s unusual to crash on the inside of a corner, but luckily I was unhurt, even though I hit the wall. The bike was quite damaged though. The team did an incredible job to repair it before the end of the session, so I was able to go out with a few minutes to go, basically to check that everything was okay and working properly. I even managed to make a decent lap in the high 1’49s, but it was canceled due to the yellow flag. As for the track conditions, the grip is amazing on the line, but the asphalt is a bit dirty just off the line, and the wind is really strong, especially in the afternoon. So, we end this first day in Aragon by taking the positives: the feeling is there, the speed is there, and I walked away unhurt from a big crash, so I’m totally looking forward to tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P9

“Today I’m quite happy because this morning we found a way to improve my feeling on the bike with every exit, working in different areas. In the afternoon, the wind was very, very strong, which was not easy to manage. We adjusted the setup to try and address this, but we made the change with a less-than-ideal combination of front and rear tyres. Once I pitted and changed the tyres, putting in a used front, I was immediately able to almost match my FP1 time. I was able to maintain good pace on my own, even on my last lap, when I set a 1’49.6. We are strong in sectors one and three, but we’re struggling in the last sector in terms of acceleration along the back straight. So, let’s say that we haven’t put everything together yet, but even so, we’ve improved the setup, I enjoyed riding the bike, and I feel there’s room to manage it. For now, we’ve done a really good job, so let’s see how things go tomorrow.”

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) led Yamaha’s charge on Friday as he finished in P11 after posting a 1’49.685s while Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) – making his injury comeback – was three places lower than the Australian.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) finished in 16th place while Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) was 17th and Oettl 20th after his incident with Vierge. FIM EWC star Marvin Fritz (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) rounded out the WorldSBK field in FP2 after he crashed towards the end of the 45-minute session.

Remy Gardner – P11

“It was a challenging Friday but we keep pushing. This track is not the best for our package, but we’re not too far from the guys in front. From the morning to the afternoon, we made a good step. We evaluated the different tyre options for the races and we’ll now check the data. We’ll keep working hard to make further improvements.”

Jonathan Rea – P14

“First, it was really nice to ride again and get familiar with my R1 in Aragon – I’m riding in a little bit of discomfort, but no physical limitations on the bike apart from some pain after many laps. In the hard braking it’s just opening up the top joint and pushing past the limit of flexion, but aside from the limit of my thumb, we need to really try to work hard on making the bike possible to ride more on the limit. The conditions were windy so it was difficult to find a really good rhythm and stopping the bike to the apex is the biggest problem I have – the confidence in the front to brake all the way to the apex and turn is a combination of chassis set-up but also the engine brake control so it’s about finding a good compromise between the two and trying to make a good step for tomorrow. Unfortunately, on the straight we’re suffering a lot and that’s really frustrating because it’s a knock-on effect to how we make the lap time. We need to stress so much on the side of the tyre to be with the other manufacturers, to then get to the straight where we lose out – so it’s just trying to balance everything better. Tyre consumption is ok and that’s a positive but we need to be faster – our “out and out” pace isn’t fast enough.”

Andrea Locatelli – P16

“From the outside, the full potential for us this weekend is not clear yet because we didn’t make a best lap time, as we were working to prepare for the long race and to find a rhythm. I am more or less happy with the bike set-up, we just have some small points that we need to improve but the feeling is good. I am positive and we’re looking to prepare for tomorrow, looks like we need to close the gap – but the reality is we never found one good lap to be more in front this afternoon, and the feeling is not bad! Probably tomorrow we can do well because I feel positive with my R1, we are just missing some points but I think we can make another step. A bit strange “Day 1” looking at the time sheets but we understand a lot, so let’s see!”

Marvin Fritz – P22

“It was a demanding day. I kept clocking productive laps with consistent speed throughout the sessions, but unfortunately in the Free Practice 2 I ended up crashing at the last corner in the latter stages of the session. We’ll now analyze the data to check what happened, hoping it won’t happen again!”

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was 12th and top Kawasaki rider, leading team-mate Axel Bassani by around three-tenths.

Alex Lowes – P12

“We did a race run this afternoon and we tried a different variation from Pirelli. I was able to work hard and consistently. It is clear that at this track, some other guys have some advantages. We cannot lie about this fact, so I have to be really focused on maximising everything from my package and see what result that gives us. That is the our target for Race One on Saturday. We couldn’t do any more today than the work we completed and we have put ourselves in a good position for 18 laps tomorrow.”

Axel Bassani – P15

“We worked a lot in FP1and FP2. In FP1 the feeling was not so bad and we had the same set of tyres on for the whole session. In the second half of the session the feel from the rear was not so good but we worked with that in any case. In FP2 we tried the new Pirelli rear tyre and then we went with one more pit exit, after making a set-up change on the bike. I think we will go back to what we had for tomorrow. It was a productive first day for us and we will continue to work hard.”

Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda)suffered a crash at Turn 17 which ended his session early. Mackenzie was taken to the medical centre for a check-up and declared fit.

WorldSBK Friday Combined Practice Times

WorldSBK Standings

WorldSSP

Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) claimed his fourth consecutive pole position with a lap time of 1’52.932s, which secured him the Tissot Superpole Award for 2024, ahead of Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) and Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura).

Huertas was seemingly struggling in Free Practice this morning, losing time to his rivals, but he found it in time for the crucial Superpole session. His 1’52.932s was enough to give him pole by less than a tenth ahead of French rider Mahias, while Navarro had been looking good for a maiden pole but found himself demoted to third, around a tenth behind the #99. Huertas’ pole means he wrapped up the Tissot Superpole Award for this season.

Ducati’s Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) secured fourth on the grid, followed by Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) who came in +0.407s behind the leader. He leads German rider Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who completes the second row, repeating his Race 1 grid position in Cremona.

Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) will head the third row of the grid alongside Italian Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and #9 Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who took ninth ahead of Triumph’s Thomas Booth-Amos who achieved an incredible maiden podium in Italy last week and completes the top 10 on the grid for Race 1 at the Spanish Circuit.

The fastest Australian on Friday was Tom Edwards in 13th while team-mate Oli Bayliss was 18th and countryman Luke Power 26th.

WorldSSP Superpole Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

WorldSSP300

An exciting FIM Supersport 300 World Championship Superpole session unfolded at Aragon on Friday afternoon, with the morning’s Free Practice leader, Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) crashing on the exit of Turn 13. It meant Veneman was able to take a third pole of the season during the Tissot Aragon Round while title rival Aldi Mahendra (Team BrCorse) lining up alongside him.

Veneman crashed on his out lap at Turn 13, damaging his Kawasaki Ninja 400 after it got caught in the gravel. Against the odds, he managed to ride his damaged bike back to pitlane, where his crew scrambled to fix the damage, and get back out onto the track, storming to pole position with a lap time of 2’06.300s.

Championship leader Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) secured his fourth front row of the season with Yamaha rider Galang Hendra Pratama (ProGP NitiRacing) completing the front row. Saturday’s Supersport 300 Race 1 is promising to be a hotly contested race, with only 12 points separating rivals Mahendra and Veneman.

Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kawasaki) will lead the second row ahead of teammates Julio Garcia Gonzalez (KOVE Racing Team) and Marc Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) who finished a second behind the fastest rider in the Superpole session.

Gustavo Manso (Yamaha AD78 FIM LA by MS Racing) will start from seventh on the grid, with #50 Carter Thompson (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) in eighth ahead of Spaniards Inigo Iglesias Bravo (Fusport-RT Motorsport By SKM-Kawasaki) and Antonio Torres (MS Racing) who complete the top 10 riders to lead the first Race of the Tissot Aragon Round.

WorldSSP300 Superpole

WorldSSP 300 Championship Points

R3 World Cup Superpole

Marc Vich has taken his debut R3 bLU cRU World Cup pole position at the final round of the season at MotorLand Aragon as the Mallorcan fights for title glory against Spanish rival Gonzalo Sanchez who took second on the grid.

The WorldSBK paddock’s youngest challengers opened the track action on Friday morning at the Spanish circuit of Aragon with the Free Practice session. It was Vich who laid down the fastest time (2’14.036s), finishing just +0.188s ahead of Sanchez, while Magny-Cours Race 1 winner Cameron Swain finished the morning in third.

In the Superpole session Vich carved his time down to 2’12.648, just a couple of tenths off the lap record. The 17-year-old’s speed and experience proved unbeatable, even against Sanchez who is very much at home at MotorLand having been born and raised in nearby Teruel.

Sanchez closed the session +0.296s behind Vich for an important front row start, and a returning Mario Salles showed great pace for third ahead of Australian Cam Swain.

Title contender Alessandro Di Persio will start sixth on the grid in his quest to chase down the Spanish pair who lead him in the standings.

R3 World Cup Superpole Times

R3 World Cup Points