Chaz Davies tops Assen WorldSBK Day 1 timesheets
The first day of action of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship at the TT Circuit Assen drew to a close with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team) responding to the challenge from the KRT duo of former Champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and current Championship leader Jonathan Rea to top of the overall classification by a margin of 0.320s with a final, scintillating lap of 1’35.748.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #7) – 1st (1’35.748) – “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a positive Friday at Assen, also because I’ve always had a bit of trouble at this track results-wise. At this point I think we have a good base set-up; here we’ve started with what we were using at Aragon and we’ve only had to make a few small changes so far. We’ve tried a few different things and in the final stages of the session I was able to put in a fast lap. Despite the result, I’m still losing in the final sector so we’ll try to improve in that area tomorrow as well as continuing our preparations for Sunday’s races.”
With Sykes and Rea in second and third, respectively, Haslam rode his factory Aprilia RSV4 RF up to fourth place, edging out local star Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike) by only 45 thousandths of a second while bettering his morning session’s lap-time by a significant 1.3s.
Tom Sykes – “At Aragon we came one step, maybe two, closer than we were in Thailand. The guys I am working with me are the best in business so I’m in safe hands. Here in Assen we ran the bike in FP1 straight from box, and used it a bit like a test, which was a good plan. We have good info and now we can continue to work towards a good setting for Superpole and the races on Sunday. We will try some other things tomorrow but the bike is feeling more like the bike I know, which is positive for us. The championship is still long and therefore open.”
Leon Haslam: “We made some good progress today. I also used the softer tyre for the first time. We are working well in terms of race strategy rather than on our flying lap. There are still various things we need to work out to get past a few situations that we still need to iron out. We aren’t far from the front runners and slowly but surely we’re improving, so that means we are on the right path. Tomorrow I think we’ll achieve our goal in terms of performance.”
Michael van der Mark – “I’m really, really happy with today, which was my first day at Assen on a superbike. I felt really good from the first laps this morning and the CBR was working very well. I am happy with P5 at the end because we have a lot of things still to improve, particularly stability on the exit of corners. In the last session with the new tyre in the rear, the front was already on the limit so I couldn’t really improve my lap time but, with lots to improve, I’m happy with that first day here on the Fireblade.”
Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) elevated himself to sixth, with the biggest improvement of the day coming from Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) who jumped from 16th after FP1 to seventh.
Jordi Torres: “Our biggest step today was definitely the rider. I used the first session to get my bearings. Here at Assen I had only lapped in Moto2 and I realised quickly that the braking points and the lines are completely different. In terms of the settings I think the RSV4 is already at a good level. I’m sure we can still improve but it will be up to me to make the difference. Today was a good day.”
Alex Lowes: “Another difficult day. We’ve made some steps in the right direction but it will be interesting to see if we can improve further tomorrow. I’m still not 100% confident with the bike but I’m hoping once we gain that confidence we can find the consistency and pace that we need. The lads are doing a good job and we are all doing our best to find a solution, I really appreciate the hard work so once we’ve slept on it tonight we can come back fresh and ready to tackle it head-on tomorrow.”
Reigning champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) lapped consistently to end the day eighth overall just ahead of Xavi Fores (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team).
Sylvain Guintoli – P8, 1m36.950s – Today has been a lot better as an opening day for us and we found some interesting things which I’m hoping we can turn into a bit more pace tomorrow. We’re still working to improve my general feeling on the bike because I don’t yet feel like it’s really mine. The lap-by-lap pace is actually quite good and we’re closer to the front than we have been for the last two races. With no really hard braking here at Assen, the CBR is working quite well, particularly through the fast-flowing corners at the back of the circuit.”
Javier Forés – (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team #112) – 9th (1’36.964) – “Although we’ve been able to improve a little today we’re not yet there in terms of set-up. As it’s the first time I’m riding at Assen with this bike I guess we need some time to get everything sorted. The bike has been moving around a lot and this means I can’t ride as I would like; it is preventing me from putting a clean lap together. But we will continue to work this evening to understand the direction to take in the next sessions – tomorrow’s a new day and I’m sure we’ll be able to improve.”
Good news coming from Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who quietly went about his business, understanding the new electronics and posting the tenth best time, making it five manufacturers inside the top ten, and giving MV Agusta their best Friday placing since they returned to WorldSBK last year.
Cluzel heads WSS field on opening day
As the opening day of World Supersport action drew to a close it was Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who was sitting pretty atop the timesheets after two closely fought 45-minute free practice sessions. The Frenchman, who is keen to put the disappointment of the Thai and Aragon rounds, where he suffered technical problems while fighting for the lead of the race, finished comfortably ahead of his nearest rival, second place Kenan Sofuoglu.
Kyle Smith in fouth was having an encouraging first day with his Pata Honda World Supersport team entry until he crashed with twelve minutes to go. The Briton who has already been on the podium twice in his debut season in Supersport would eventually finish fifth just behind PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) and the second MV Agusta Reparto Corse entry of Lorenzo Zanetti, who were third and fourth respectively.
Ratthapark Wilairot (CORE Motorsport Thailand) was sixth and another of the leading riders crash. For German rider Kevin Wahr in seventh, it was his best result of the year so far since switching from Yamaha to the SMS Honda team for a full 2015 season assault.
Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) and Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25) completed the top ten after an eventful FP2 saw many riders fall. The session was red flagged with twenty minutes remaining following Dominic Schmitter’s crash. The Swiss rider dropping fluid from his Go Eleven Kawasaki. All riders escaped uninjured.
Qualifying for Sunday’s fourth race of the year is set to take place tomorrow at 3:55pm local time, where from the list of current WSS riders only Kenan Sofuoglu has taken a Pole Position here, back in 2007 and 2010.
