Best Independent Team 2020

RAIN IN THE MORNING, CHANGEABLE CONDITIONS IN THE AFTERNOON, EVERYTHING MOVED TO SATURDAY!

RAIN IN THE MORNING, CHANGEABLE CONDITIONS IN THE AFTERNOON, EVERYTHING MOVED TO SATURDAY!

 

A quite flat day at Estoril, the adverse weather affected the two free practice sessions: wet and very slippery track in the morning and afternoon, the only dry laps were at the start of FP2. Not very significant laptimes and little work done in view of the race, Saturday will be a day to be discovered.

Lots of water on the track, fog and truly limit conditions inaugurated the penultimate WorldSBK weekend of the 2024 season. Andrea Iannone entered the track cautiously, without taking any particular risks, given that over half of the riders crashed; the asphalt here is not very draining and the grip is limited. Furthermore, the set-up was not optimal for those conditions, but at least useful data was collected in case a full wet condition appears again.

Free Practice 1:
P 1  T. Razgatlioglu   1.52.344
P 2   D. Petrucci   + 0.306
P 3   A. Lowes   + 0.434
…
P 20   A. Iannone   + 3.999
In FP2 the goal was to test the new Pirelli evolution at the rear, the 640. This compound offers similar behavior to the classic SC0 and, as the laps went by, Iannone managed to progress, setting his best time on the fourteenth lap. The reference was more than three tenths faster compared to the morning, with an ideal time even four tenths faster, despite the rider from Vasto never managing to complete a perfect lap in all sectors. Solidity and consistency were also shown in the afternoon despite conditions that were a little different from the first part of the day, with the wind reaching 50 km/h, bothering the protagonists on the track. Fifth place in the afternoon, achieved without using the SCX, the soft tyre, shows that the work done so far is good and that the focus can be on the final details.
Free Practice 2:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.37.355
P 2   D. Petrucci   + 0.710
P 3   A. Lowes  + 0.719
…
P 14   A. Iannone   + 1.766

Towards mid-day the asphalt slowly dried, allowing the protagonists to get on track with slicks. The #29 took a couple of laps to get into the rhythm and find the right references on the track: very fast in the last sector, a little more difficulty in the first. Only eight laps completed and then the rain comes again, bringing the session to the end. The feeling on the bike in dry conditions is not bad, but some adjustments are needed for tomorrow.

Andrea Iannone (Rider): 

“The changeable weather affected today’s practices, where we were almost always in complicated conditions. Estoril is a nice track and the races here can be interesting, we hope to find better conditions this weekend than today. As always, we will work hard to do our best.”

FRIDAY PICTURES: CLICK HERE

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