BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team - WSBK - Magny-Cours - Qualifying Practice 1

Magny-Cours – Free Practice & Qualifying Practice 1.

Friday, 4th October 2013.

Weather conditions: Cloudy with drops of rain.

Temperature: Air: 18-19 °C, Track: 19-21°C

Number of riders participating: 19/19 from 13/13 teams

Fastest lap Free Practice: Michel Fabrizio (Pata Honda World SBK) 1:42.938 min

Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) 1:38.709 min

The BMW Motorrad Goldbet SBK Team got off to a strong start on Friday at “Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours” (FRA). Factory rider Chaz Davies (GBR) qualified third on the provisional front row in today’s first qualifying practice for the thirteenth round of the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship. Marco Melandr (ITA)i finished eighth after three outings in the qualifying practice, improving his lap time on each outing. In the morning’s free practice the track was wet following overnight rainfall. Chaz posted the third fastest time as the track was drying towards the end of the session while Marco opted to remain in the garage after his outing and was therefore eighteenth.

In the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Greg Gildenhuys (RSA) who rode at Magny-Cours for the first time last year, qualified eleventh on his BMW HP4. Championship leader, Sylvain Barrier (FRA) qualified sixteenth after pulling into the pits with a small issue in the first ten minutes of the qualifying session. Before he could get back out it started to rain, meaning he could not improve his time.

Chaz Davies:

Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:43.842 min (P3) /Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:39.378 min (P3)

“The position wasn’t too bad today but I’m not overly happy. I think we can improve the setting a decent amount. Considering how far away I feel we’re actually not too far away on the timesheets. We were lucky to have a dry day after the weather has been so mixed. It’s good to get some set up info for Sunday because it is meant to be dry but you never know. Generally it’s not been a bad day but there’s room for improvement. We’ve been working on the suspension mostly today; tomorrow we need to work more on the rear of the bike. We found a little bit more grip on my last outing but generally we need some more stability.”

Marco Melandri:

Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:53.012min (P18) /Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: 1:39.678 min (P8)

“Today the weather conditions were not easy. This morning in the free practice, the weather meant we could not make the best use of the session. In the afternoon in the first qualifying session the track was almost dry but there were still wet patches. Despite this we were able to improve, especially with the rear end. I’m still struggling with the front when entering the corner and the race pace is not close to the riders at the front. We will have to do our best to utilise the data we collected from the qualifying to set up the bike.  For tomorrow I hope to have consistent weather, completely dry or wet.”


Serafino Foti (Sport Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):
“Today we worked for the races and we improved, even if we still have room for more. Overall we’re quite satisfied, Chaz is third and Marco is eight and should it rain tomorrow both riders would still qualify for Superpole.  Today weather conditions were difficult. This morning free practice was not used completely, while in the afternoon the track was still a little wet. Anyhow the weather conditions were the same for everyone.

In Superstock 1000, Greg is eleventh while Sylvain is a bit further back. In the qualifying session he had an issue and, unluckily, when it was fixed it had started to rain again and he could not improve. For sure tomorrow he’ll be able to return to his normal level.”

Andrea Dosoli (Technical Director BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team):

“It has been a tough day. In the morning we lost track time due to the conditions. We used the afternoon session to work on the machine. We are still far from the top guys and we are losing time mainly in the first sector. Both riders have improved the feeling during the session but both are struggling going into the corner. Marco is not confident with the front end of the bike and this is the area where our engineers will focus for tomorrow morning. Chaz and his crew will work on the setting but also on engine brake management. It is clear where we are losing and now we will improve the machine. We are confident that tomorrow we can offer a better package to both riders.”