BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team - WSBK - Motorland Aragón - Qualifying Practice 1

Motorland Aragón – Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1.

Friday, 12th April 2013.

Weather conditions: Sunny.

Temperature: Air: 18 – 23 °C, Track: 25 – 39 °C

Number of riders participating: 20 from 13 teams

Fastest lap Free Practice: Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team) 1:58.510 min

Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) 1:58.548 min

The BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team had a good start to the second round of the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship at Spanish track, “Motorland Aragón”. Factory riders Chaz Davies (GBR) and Marco Melandri (ITA) qualified for the provisional first and second rows aboard their BMW S 1000 RRs. The race weekend started with P1 for Marco and P2 for Chaz in today's free practice session at noon. In the first qualifying practice this afternoon, Chaz topped the time sheets until the closing seconds and finished second putting him on the provisional first row for the race. Marco returned to the garage a couple of minutes before the chequered flag in third place. However, during the last few minutes of the session, he slipped back one position and finished fourth, placing him on the provisional second row.

In the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, reigning champion Sylvain Barrier secured provisional pole position for the 2013 season opener at “Motorland Aragón”. The Frenchman of the BMW Motorrad GoldBet STK Team set the fastest time of the first qualifying session aboard his brand new BMW HP4. His team mate Greg Gildenhuys (RSA) finished sixth.

Chaz Davies:
Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:59.041 min (P2)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:58.652 min (P2)
“It was a good Friday, everyone has done a great job. We were able to confirm the success of the work we have done over the last month and today has proved that I now feel really comfortable on my RR. I was already happy with my race pace at Phillip Island and I knew we could improve on it even more. We did a couple of tests in between the rounds and BMW did a good job on the bike. After some teams tested here last week you could have expected that we would be a bit further behind but sometimes it is nice to come to a track without having done numerous laps there. We came here fresh and hungry and it was good. I did my fastest lap on used tyres, which is a good sign regarding race pace. Tomorrow we will try to increase the grip a little bit; that is the main thing. The bike is working very well but the grip is still limiting us. In addition, we will just do some fine tuning of the electronics and the power delivery.”

Marco Melandri:
Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:58.510 min (P1)/Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:58.944 min (P4)
“I am very happy because my shoulder is doing fine. This morning I had no pain at all. In the afternoon it was a bit sore but it is was not as bad as in Australia. I hope that my recovery will continue like this and that the strain from riding will not cause any inflammation. The bike is working quite well, apart from some little difficulties with grip, but the track conditions were not easy today. I am very confident and looking forward to the race. Anyway, my first target is to get fit and then to go faster and faster.”

Serafino Foti (Sport Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):
“It was a positive day. The work we have done over the last month has transferred into positive results. Marco is not yet hundred percent fit but his shoulder is pretty well and he isn't suffering the pain that he had in Australia which makes us happy. Chaz is doing very well, as he did in Australia. His feeling with the RR is improving even more and the results are coming. This afternoon, the track conditions were a little bit worse than in the morning because of the temperature. Tomorrow we will continue our work on the track; we still have some things to test.

In the Superstock class, Sylvain was fastest in the morning and in the afternoon, while Greg was struggling to be consistently fast over a lap. We start the season with a new bike which we have worked hard on over the winter and I am very pleased with the results so far. Our goal, in fact, was to be competitive from the beginning and we are. Overall, we are very confident for tomorrow and for the race on Sunday.”

Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):
“Overall it was a positive start to the weekend, not only considering the provisional positions. For sure, it is nice to have our riders in second and fourth but we are mainly happy because we confirmed that the jobs we have done in the last month were going in the right direction and have brought the results we were hoping for. Both riders used the two sessions today to work on the chassis and the electronics. Chaz and his crew did a good job. He improved during the day but he is still looking for some more grip on the rear. We are confident that we know the right direction we should go from here. Marco was very fast in the first practice but in the afternoon he was struggling with the front end. The changes made for the first qualifying session did not go in the direction we expected, so tomorrow we will set his RR up differently in order to allow him to be faster.”