Team HRC sets to work in WorldSBK practice at Assen2023-05-11 11:34The third round of the 2023 Superbike World Championship is now in play at the Assen TT Circuit in The Netherlands, with Team HRC riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge putting in a solid performance during Friday’s practice sessions, the aggregate results of which saw fifteen riders close within a second of each other. The weekend’s first practice ran according to schedule this morning in cool but dry conditions. The two Team HRC riders eagerly got to work with their technicians, adapting the set-up of their CBR1000RR-R machines to the tricky Dutch track. This first phase threw up a few small challenges that the duo worked hard to resolve together with their respective teams. By the end of FP1, Iker was lying twelfth having set a best of 1’35.721 and Xavi sixteenth with a 1’35.984. Later in the day, the riders were back out for FP2 where they focused predominantly on race pace. Lecuona was quick to improve on his earlier lap time, shaving off six tenths in all over the course of the 45-minute session. With a best of 1’35.153, set in the final minutes of this second practice, Iker placed thirteenth overall as day one came to a close. Vierge closed immediately behind his team-mate, in fourteenth position in the aggregate standings, having recorded a fastest time of 1’35.273 in the closing stages of free practice 2. Despite the overall positions on Friday, both Lecuona and Vierge have laid a solid base in preparation for tomorrow’s action. Iker Lecuona 7 P13 “It was not the easiest first day of a race weekend, considering our expectations here at Assen. This morning we had an issue with the handbrake, nothing major but still costly in terms of the time it took to sort out, 20 minutes at least, which affected our FP1 work plan. We made some big changes to our bike setup for FP2 and my feeling on the bike started to improve little by little, though not enough yet. We are around eight tenths from the front, and though it’s true that the times are all super close today, our target is to fight for the podium. So eight tenths are still too much even if, to be honest, we are just three tenths from the top five. That's why we need to stay focused and work to check all the data and make a plan that can allow us to make a step during tomorrow’s FP3.” Iker Lecuona Xavi Vierge 97 P14 “We are finally back in action and it’s been a positive first day. We have a new rear tyre for the race that we didn’t have last year, and it was important to make some comparisons so that we make the best choice for the races. I think we worked well in this regard. We also came here with a plan B and C, ready for every situation we might encounter, and our race pace was not bad today. I think we are in a better situation than it might appear from the timesheets, also considering that this is one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar for me. Everybody is very close in terms of lap times so it will be important to be consistent in terms of race pace, which is one of our strong points. Having said that, we will analyse today’s data to try and make another step tomorrow and close the gap a little more.” Xavi Vierge Free Practices Combined Results after FP2 Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap 1 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA ARUBA Racing - Ducati 1'34.316 2 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 1'34.547 0.231 3 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 1'34.573 0.257 4 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team 1'34.600 0.284 5 Gardner Remy 87 AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team 1'34.713 0.397 6 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team 1'34.911 0.595 Source: HRC Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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