Cremona WorldSBK/SSP/WCR Friday Times – Quotes – Notes – Images

WorldSBK 2024 – Round Nine
Cremona – Friday

WorldSBK Friday Report

After overnight rain the opening day of action was one of contrasts. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) led the way in damp conditions before twin brother Alex (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) holding the advantage in FP2

Championship contender Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was third fastest having completed 22 laps across both sessions. The Ducati rider is 55 points behind the championship standings so has the chance to leave Italy as the championship leader before the Aragon Round next weekend

With championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) sidelined through injury it was Garrett Gerloff who ended the day as the fastest BMW rider. The Bonovo Action BMW rider crashed at Turn 7 during the early laps of FP2 but was fast throughout the 45 minute session. He ended the day one hundredth of a second faster than his teammate, Scott Redding, with Michael van der Mark tenth fastest following a crash in FP2

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) completed 32 laps during the 90 minutes of track action. The Spaniard ended the day fourth fastest but his best lap of the day was deleted for yellow flag infringements. His fastest time would have left him second fastest

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was second fastest but an on track clash with Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) left both riders penalised three grid positions by the FIM Stewards.

Remy Gardner

“It wasn’t the easiest day overall and unfortunately we missed some valuable track time in the Free Practice 1. We also got to use the new aerodynamic package and it’s good to have new things to try. It was unfortunate to miss FP1 because of the conditions, we missed some time to understand the package and our setting so hopefully we can achieve this tomorrow and make a step forward. I am disappointed to see I have a penalty for the Petrucci thing; I was taking a tear-off off and because of this deliberately kept off-line, I looked behind me and saw he was coming and kept further off the line, so I was quite surprised when I came round the next lap and found him swearing at me, I had to take evasive action and ended up in the gravel.”

Danilo Petrucci

“On my second flying lap, he was slow and had the blue flag, but when he saw me between turns 11 and 12, he deliberately crossed the racing line. I don’t know what he was trying to do, but I’m not interested in his mind games. I only care about safety, and what he did wasn’t safe.”

Yamaha unveiled their newly homologated YZF-R1 at Cremona. The new bike, complete with aerodynamic wings, was given its on track debut with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) ending the day 13th fastest

P1 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK

“Honestly, I want to say congratulations to the circuit because they’ve done a fantastic job with all the work they’ve put in. It feels like a completely different circuit. They’ve improved the run-off in a few areas and the new grandstands around the track are great. I hope we can see a lot of fans filling those grandstands this weekend. Today was a positive day. We missed most of the first session due to the damp conditions. In the afternoon, in the dry, I was able to find my rhythm quickly and try a couple of the tyres we had from Pirelli. Overall, it was quite positive. I feel like my race pace should be okay. It’s the very first session of the weekend, and everybody will improve a lot. We don’t know this track that well, but I’m usually able to get down to competitive lap times quite quickly. I have a very good team; they really understand what I need from the bike, and I’m sure we can improve further for tomorrow. So, I expect to be strong.”

P2 | Danilo Petrucci | Barni Spark Racing Team

“It was a positive day. Even though the track is narrow and there’s only one good line, I have to say I like it. The problem is that the rain over the past few days has washed away the rubber, so there wasn’t much grip. In the only good session we had, I did a comparison between the two SCX tyres Pirelli brought here, and I have to say – even though I set my time on the new one – I prefer the old option.”

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

P3 | Nicolo Bulega | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati

“I didn’t have a very good feeling on the bike today. I think my riding style isn’t suited to this circuit. I need to adapt because I have to do something different at this track. We have to work hard because we need to overcome some problems. I hope that tomorrow we can make some changes and have a better feeling from the start. I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike so it’s difficult to push. I feel like I’m at 80% but we have the potential to be much faster. I’m not thinking about the Championship right now. I just want to take it race by race, fight for the podium in every race, and then we’ll see where we are by the last race of the season.”

P4 | Tito Rabat | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing

“This was my best performance in practice during a race weekend. It’s a new track for us but we were able to test here three months ago. We’re in the same situation as the rest of the riders. The track is narrow and the camber works well for me. As a private team, we’re trying to adapt quickly. My crew chief and electronic engineer are working hard to understand all the information from Kawasaki. I’m trying to operate like an official team and get some help to make the step forward that the factory guys will make tomorrow.”

P5 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati

“I’m happy with both the work we’ve done and the feeling I had riding the bike. I needed to understand how my body could react after the Magny-Cours injury, and the feeling, lap after lap, has grown steadily. I am confident that I can do even better tomorrow“.

WorldSBK Friday Combined Practice Times

WorldSBK Standings

WorldSSP

Nothing could stop Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) from continuing his stranglehold on Superpole in the Supersport class. The championship leader claimed his sixth pole of the season and continued his perfect run of front-row starts by leading the way from Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) by three-tenths of a second.

A red flag delayed the session after crashes for multiple riders left gravel on the track surface. When the action resumed Manzi and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) were able to qualify on the front row of the grid. It was the seventh time that Montella has been out-qualified by Huertas this season, but critically, the Italian rider is just seven points behind in the championship standings. Montella has won three of the last four races in the class

Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) overcame a crash to qualify on the second row of the grid. The Italian will be joined by John McPhee following the WRP by SKM-Triumph rider’s career best performance in Superpole

It was an action packed session for Jorge Navarro. The Orelac Racing Verdnatura rider qualified in tenth position having suffered a crash and a yellow flag infringement that cost him his two fastest laps.

Oli Bayliss was the fastest of the Aussies on Friday in 13th place, seven positions head of Tom Edwards.  Luke Power was 29th.

WorldSSP Superpole Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

World WCR

With a time of 1’41.152, current championship leader Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) snatched pole from local hero Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team), the Italian very keen to do well at what is her home round.

Ponziani (1’41.253) pushed hard to secure her first front-row start of the season, just getting the better of Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team), who had to settle for third today (1’41.389).

Ready to line up on row two of Saturday’s race grid are Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team), Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Pakita Ruiz (PS Racing Team 46+1), with the latter having achieved her best qualifying result to date.

Australian Tayla Relph (Tayco Motorsport) did well to finish P7 following a crash in the morning practice session, just ahead of New Zealander Avalon Lewis, eighth, who is competing with Carl Cox Motor Sports as a rookie wildcard entry this weekend.

While the qualifying ran in dry conditions, with just a couple of damp patches remaining, the morning’s practice ran on a wet track. In those conditions, it was Herrera, American rider Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) and South African Jessica Howden (Team Trasimeno) who topped the timesheets.

P1 | María Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team | 1’41.152

“It wasn’t an easy session for me because it’s my first time riding here with this bike. I struggled in some sections in terms of my speed, maybe losing even half a second along the straight I think, but I was able to make up for it a little with the braking. We still have work to do tomorrow, both on the bike and in terms of my riding style, but I’m quite pleased with how we’ve done, considering this is day one.”

P2 | Roberta Ponziani | Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team | 1’41.253

“I’m very happy with today’s result. I expected to be quick but not necessarily fast enough to be on the front row. I didn’t know Maria was behind me and just focused on pushing as hard as I could. I know we have good pace for tomorrow, so I’m pleased with where we are right now. I expect close racing tomorrow, but we’ll be doing our best to score a win.”

P3 | Ana Carrasco | Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team | 1’41.389

“Today went quite well but it was a pity that this morning’s session ran on a damp track, as we don’t have so much track time in which to work. This afternoon the surface was still a little dirty, but I think track conditions will already be better tomorrow. So the feeling was a little strange, but I was able to set some good times anyway, and even felt quite comfortable in the wet this morning. I’m happy; we’re on the front row again so that’s important and I feel my pace is quite good. I was able to ride alone during the session rather than using the slipstreams, so that’s a positive too. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

World WCR Superpole

World WCR Points