FRIDAY AT “SCHOOL”, BUT JUST TILL THE RAIN CAME!

Finally Most! Finally the first laps of WorldSBK on the “new entry” circuit, after the long wait created in the previous days! Unfortunately, the day was not exploited to the maximum, but at least it was possible to understand the layout of the track and what is needed for the set-up of the bike.

The first practice starts at 10.30 under the sun, which heats the asphalt around 27°C. Chaz takes to the track with the aim of understanding the lines to interpret the Czech track in the best possible way, without taking too many risks. His approach to new circuits is like this: he takes his time to evaluate the track, then improves lap after lap, session after session.

Free Practice 1:
P 1   T. Razgatliouglu   1.33.022
P 2   A. Lowes   + 0.600
P 3   S. Redding   + 0.641
…
P 17   C. Davies   + 2.363

In FP 2 the Welsh rider was ready to hit the track with new tyres, to complete what he had learned in the morning. Unfortunately, a few moments before the session it starts to rain, completely changing the teams’ plans. It is not the first time, this year, that the weather gets in the way, and always in an uncertain way; even today until the last minutes the track was neither in Rain nor Slick conditions. No time set, therefore, by Chaz and the light-blue Ducati V4-RS. Solution? Riders standing in the pits chatting to each other, demonstrating the relaxed atmosphere in perfect WorldSBK style!

All postponed until tomorrow, where the weather seems to be quite nice. The WorldSBK protagonist will have a few minutes in the morning to get ready for Superpole and Race 1, with little data available. It will be an enjoyable weekend!

Chaz Davies (Rider):
“It was interesting to discover this new circuit, and I enjoy the layout. It’s completely different, uncomparable to anything we have got on the calendar at the moment, but I have to say that it’s quite an enjoyable track. I need to get my head around a little bit, normally I like to sleep on a new circuit, and then come out with better ideas on what I need to do on the following day and that would be the case for tomorrow. Unfortunately this afternoon with the rain we loose quite a lot of track time, and that was something I was not hoping for. I just hope we will find dry tomorrow and Sunday and try to make some steps forward!”

FRIDAY PICS BY LUCA GORINI: CLICK HERE & CLICK HERE