Donington Free Practice Delivers Fourth for Home Hero Lowes and Top Ten for Rookie Beaubier

2016-05-28 10:41
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK's Alex Lowes and Cameron Beaubier safely secured their direct qualification into Saturday's Superpole 2 at Donington Park in the UK today. Completing the afternoon with two top-ten performances, Lowes rode his YZF-R1 to fourth place, with Beaubier securing ninth on his debut day on the world-stage.

Lowes endured the pain to accomplish a positive morning at his home circuit as sunshine and blue skies greeted the local rider for free practice one. Testing his fitness and comfort aboard his Yamaha machine despite recent surgery to plate his collarbone, the Derby-based racer produced a top-five performance to conclude the first hour on track with a best time of 1'29.177. Cleared to continue by the championship's medical team for the remainder of the weekend, Lowes returned to form for the afternoon. Circuiting with consistent pace, he concluded the day in fourth having broken the 1'29 barrier to set a 1'28.602 on his 15th lap.

Learning both the UK circuit layout and the WorldSBK-spec YZF-R1 quickly, Beaubier impressed from the outset of Friday's two practice sessions. Improving on his early times lap-by-lap, the American finished his first 60 minutes in 17th but his 1'30.160 best left him just 0.4 seconds from the top-ten. The afternoon continued with more improvements as the 23-year-old sat in 11th at the halfway stage, just 0.03 the gap to automatic qualification. Finally claiming ninth with a 1'29.022, he concludes his debut day by securing his place in tomorrow's pole position shoot-out - on track at 11:40 local time - ahead of his first WorldSBK race at 15:00.

Untitled Alex Lowes
4th / 1'28.602 / 41 laps

"A painful but positive first day! I think what is making me more upset is how good the bike actually feels around here. Obviously I have quite a lot of bikes to compare it to over the years and this is the best bike I have ever ridden around Donington Park. There are quite a few strengths with the YZF-R1 here, but just the way it's moving around the first section - Craner Curves, the old hairpin and up through Schwantz - I can get in such a nice position and it's turning well through the slower section. So to not be in the position to take full advantage of that with my shoulder issues is frustrating really but I'll do what I can. The strength feels quite good for the first couple of laps and then I start to struggle a little. Two things can happen for the next day, you can either feel a lot worse or a bit better and I'm hoping to feel better because it's moving a bit more. We'll have to wait and see, the race will be difficult but I'll do what I can for the team, for Yamaha and for the home fans."
Cameron Beaubier Cameron Beaubier
9th / 1'29.022 / 49 laps

"Overall I think today has gone pretty good! This morning I was a little disappointed, just because I was so far back but when you look at the times, we were only 1.5 off and you're back in 17th! We ended the day a lot better, with a much better feel with the YZF-R1. I'm really happy to be invited into the Pata Yamaha team, everyone has been really nice and welcoming and I've been able to adapt to the bike pretty quick. I've still got some work to do, especially with learning the new tyres, I just need to gain a little more confidence with the front and get used to the bike. I think being able to sleep on the track and come back in the morning, having had one day's experience to process, will be good. I really like how flowing the first section is, it's like two tracks in one, you have a fast, flowing section then you have to park it and go in the last two corners. I definitely still have to work on the last section tomorrow just with the brakes and the front end feel, but overall it's a fun track and it's pretty crazy, there are so many fans here already and its only Friday!

"Most importantly I just want to thank Yamaha for giving me the opportunity to come over here and do this - especially in the middle of a title-fight back home - it's pretty cool that my boss Keith let me come and do this!"
Paul Denning Paul Denning - Team Principal
Paul Denning - Team Principal

"I have nothing but admiration and respect for all professional motorcycle racers, but they often astonish you with what they are physically capable of. Alex has done that today, and while we know the races will be tough indeed - just to finish will be a major accomplishment - the whole team is grateful for the commitment and determination - it's inspiring for everyone!

"We are missing Sylvain at his 'local' track of course, but Cameron has exceeded expectations and done exceptionally well today. No mistakes, consistent improvements and clearly a huge amount of talent to learn everything so quickly. Let's keep building step-by-step tomorrow as he builds up to his first ever WorldSBK race at 3pm."

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story