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

WorldSBK 2024 – Round Two
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Factory Ducati team-mates Nicole Bulega and Alvaro Bautista ran split strategies to test SCX tyres in FP2. Bulega started on the development SCX C0900 tyre before switching to the standard, where he dipped into the 1’40s with a 1’40.907s. Across the box, Bautista started with the standard SCX but went on the C0900 to end his session as they focussed on race performance.

Nicolò Bulega – P1

“I’m happy because we worked very well today collecting a lot of data that will be useful tomorrow. We also did a good job with the tyres which allowed us to have clearer ideas. It will be essential to make the right choice also because tyre wear will probably be one of the determining factors for the race.”

Alvaro Bautista – P2

“It was a peculiar Friday. In the morning practice, we couldn’t find the conditions to be able to improve the feeling with my Panigale while in the afternoon things went much better. I got back to riding the way I like, so I am particularly satisfied. Now it is time to take another step forward. However, there is high confidence ahead of tomorrow’s race.”

Barcelona is a circuit Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) hasn’t won at yet, but he’s put himself in contention after Friday’s running along with team-mate Michael van der Mark as the pair took third and fourth in the combined classification, with both riders’ best times coming in FP1.

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P3

“I focussed on the long run in the afternoon. It looks like the Ducati is very strong but we know that at this track the Ducati is always very strong. I tried my best today but we are still working with the bike to help with grip. We did a long run,13 laps, and the times were mainly 1m41 and then 42’s. The rear grip improved for us and is better than before now. I hope we are fighting with Ducati but it looks like Ducati’s pace is very strong. But maybe the race is different. In general I’m happy but we need to improve the bike grip.”

Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) finished the day as the lead Yamaha rider in fifth, directly ahead of team-mate Andrea Locatelli. Both focussed on long run pace in FP2, with Locatelli completing a 21-lap run during the 45-minute session which left him down the order in FP2 but sixth overall.

Jonathan Rea – P5

“It’s been nice, a breath of fresh air competing for the positions we should be battling for. I was fast in the morning and then in the afternoon, we focused on doing a race simulation. It was really important to do the full 20 laps because we’re understanding the exact bike behaviour in the last few laps where the drop in grip is quite critical – so coupled with the input that we have from the test where I did another simulation on two different tyre choices, we have good info to put together to understand the way forward tomorrow. You can never be prepared enough at Barcelona: the target is to not get too excited and look after the tyres as much as possible. The lap time here can be incredible and I’m sure if I put soft tyres in, we can make a fast lap time, but the drop of grip can cost so much time at the end of the race – so we need to focus on that. I’m not completely satisfied, there is always potential to improve but we’re working in a really good way. We’ll put our heads together tonight and hopefully tomorrow we can have a package to fight for the top positions.”

Andrea Locatelli – P6

‘Strong day, difficult day and we worked a lot but, in the end, we are happy! In the long run we were fighting a lot with the bike but we have a lot of data to compare and to work tonight. We need to try to improve a little bit, it is important for tomorrow to increase the rhythm because we want to fight for the podium. But for Day 1, no mistakes, a good lap time this morning and the feeling with the bike is good, we need to be happy about the first day here. We tried to do the long run both this morning and this afternoon, to make 20 laps as a race distance. At this track it’s important to find the grip in the rear and to understand how the wear is at the end of this race to not be in trouble – so we need to “play” with the bike a lot to find the best setup for this. In the end I think we did a good job, we have a good base setup and good electronics, so we will try to improve a little bit more for tomorrow and then I think we can fight in the race.”

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) led the Independent Ducati charge with P7, 0.590s down on Bulega, with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) one place and 0.011s down on ‘The Maniac’. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was ninth while Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) was 15th.

Andrea Iannone – P7

“This morning we were very fast, I had a good feeling with the bike and I was very excited, but this afternoon, despite having the same bike set-up and the same tyres, the performance was completely different. We lost grip, the bike wasn’t turning well and it was difficult to keep up. There were not big changes between the morning and the afternoon and yet the results were very different, this gives me less stability but it’s also interesting. The data collected will be analyzed in the next few hours by engineers who will try to understand and find an explanation for what happened. It’s difficult to make a prediction about what will happen in the race, we certainly won’t give up, we’ll move forward and continue to do our best, then we’ll see!”

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Danilo Petrucci – P8

“We were fast in the second session, and we even did a 15-lap race simulation because tyre wear is the issue. The risk is ending up with no grip towards the end, so we tried to gather as much data as possible by running more laps on the same tyre. I’m very pleased with the work; we’ve confirmed our testing speed, and tomorrow, we need a strong Superpole if we aim for a good race result.”

The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team were represented in the top ten with Remy Gardner in P10 while Dominique Aegerter was two places behind his team-mate.

Remy Gardner – P10

“It wasn’t a bad day to be honest, even though the final position is not the one we desire. We only focused on race distance to be ready for a long race, it will be very important to save the tyres and be consistent throughout the 20 laps. We’ll now check the data to see the areas where we can have an improvement, but I think we’re prepared for the races.”

Dominique Aegerter – P12

“It was a positive Friday overall, despite the final position. Our main concern was the long distance, so we tried different solutions and focused on getting the most out of our tyres as we will have to do 20 laps in the long races. I’m satisfied with the work overall as we were able to improve the feeling from the test. We’re aware that we need a good qualifying, but I feel the job we’ve done will pay off.”

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was the first rider to improve his time in the afternoon session compared to FP1 as he moved up the order, followed shortly by KRT team-mate Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with both riders finding time as the temperatures warmed up in Barcelona. In the end Alex Lowes finished in 14th place with Bassani one place ahead and the pair separated by 0.024s.

Axel Bassani – P13

“We have finished the first two free practice sessions and in the first one the feeling was good from the beginning. We did not have a lot of rear grip so in the second session we tried to find something more and we still have to work a lot. After some laps I had some problems under braking and on the rear, so we have to find something more for the race tomorrow. In the afternoon session we were inside the top ten, which is good for us. To get data for the top five positions, we need something.”

Alex Lowes – P14

“We did not have quite the same feeling today as we had at the recent test. The grip is low here and you spend a lot of time trying to set the bike up to look after the tyres. Even though we have been trying hard we still have work to do. My pace in the afternoon session was quite good but we are just missing a little bit of feeling. We can have a good look at everything tonight and see how we will approach tomorrow. It will be a long Race One for everyone and we will try our best again.”

At a circuit where Honda have gone well at in the past, the Japanese manufacturer have found 2024 difficult in Barcelona. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was the fastest rider for HRC as he finished in 16th place, setting a 1’42.266s with teammate Iker Lecuona three places lower than Vierge.

WorldSBK Friday Combined Practice Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP

Home hero Adrian Huertas made it two from two in Superpole sessions this season, while double Australia winner Yari Montella was P6

Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) stormed to a second pole position of the 2024 FIM Supersport World Championship season on home soil with an almost three-tenths margin over his rivals at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The #99 comes into his home round on the back of a podium last time out in Australia and will be targeting a first victory in WorldSSP during the Pirelli Catalunya Round.

Adrian Huertas – P1

“I am very satisfied with this Pole Position. I thank the team who did an excellent job after FP1 where the feeling was not the best. It will be important to start well tomorrow to defend the position and try to get the first win of the season.”

The session was red flagged around halfway through it when Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) had a tech issue on the run into Turn 1, which led him into the gravel and officials working to clean up the track. When the session resumed, it was a dramatic fight for pole. Huertas went head-to-head with Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), with the #99 posting an incredible 1’44.197s to take his second pole of 2024 by 0.274s ahead of Oncu. The #61 was able to hold on to second ahead of Manzi, with the Yamaha rider finding time in the closing stages but just falling short, with the #62 still claiming a front row start.

Experience paid dividends for Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) with the 2017 Champion often running in the top three before securing P4 for the Race 1 grid. He’ll be joined by Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in fifth after the German, who secured two podiums in here last year, posted a 1’44.828s. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) will hope he can move forward in Race 1 as the double Australia winner line up from sixth place.

Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was another who used their experience with the #53 claiming seventh place, with rookie Nicolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) impressing with eighth as he continues to adapt the Panigale V2. Jorge Navarro (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) rounded out the third row with ninth, although the home hero had been inside the top three in the early stages of Superpole.

Tom Edwards was the highest placed Australian in 13th ahead of team-mate and countryman Oli Bayliss who ended day one 17th on the time-sheets. Luke Power placed 31st on day one.

Tom Edwards – P13

“We had a technical that prevented us from getting a lap time in for our only free practice session but the team worked down to the last second to try and get me out there. I was really happy with how we went in qualifying and how confident I felt on the bike after only a few laps. I still like there’s plenty of room to improve, I’m looking forward to race one tomorrow. Huge thanks to the D34G Racing for their hard work today!

WorldSSP Superpole

WorldSSP Championship Points

WorldSSP300

Julio Garcia Gonzalez (KOVE Racing Team) made FIM Supersport 300 World Championship history during the Tissot Superpole session as he secured his first pole in the class and, with it, the first pole for Kove and a Chinese manufacturer in the WorldSBK paddock. The #48’s success means he’ll lead the grid away for Saturday’s Race 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as he secured P1 in Superpole by only 0.044s for the Pirelli Catalunya Round.

The 25-minute session provided a moment of history as Chinese manufacturer Kove secured their first pole position thanks to Garcia Gonzalez, who also took his first pole. He set his lap time in the opening stages of the session and remained unbeatable when he set a 1’55.313s – with the last flying lap for a lot of riders cancelled after yellow flags at Turn 1 following a crash for Filip Novotny (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR). Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kawasaki) will line up for Race 1 from second place, only 0.044s away from pole, with Matteo Vannucci (Pata Yamaha AG Motorsport Italia) in third as three different manufacturers complete the front row.

Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo – PL Performances) will lead off the second row after a strong performance at a circuit he considers one of his worst, lapping 0.182s slower than the #48, while Bruno Ieraci (Team ProDina Kawasaki) is fifth. The Catalunya Round is the Italian’s first since his full-time return was announced and he started with P5 in Superpole. Samuel Di Sora (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team) will complete the second row after finding huge time in the second half of the session, securing a second row start in his first round following his switch to Yamaha machinery over the winter.

Czech rider Petr Svoboda (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) was seventh to lead off the front row, 0.420s down on the pole-setting time, with Unai Calatayud (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team) in eighth. The #55 crashed at the Turn 7-8 chicane in the early moments of Superpole, and he returned his bike to the pits. It cost him track time, setting only five laps, before he improved in the final stages to secure a third-row start. Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki) completes row three with Inigo Iglesias Bravo (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) in tenth, just ahead of reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM – PALIGO Racing) in 11th; the #1 had a huge moment at Turn 10 in the final few minutes when he lost the front of his KTM RC 390 R, but the Dutchman was able to save it.

WorldSSP300 Superpole

FIM Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup Superpole

Catalunya WorldSBK Schedule (AEDT)

2024 WorldSBK Calendar