Sykes Third Fastest In Testing At Moscow Raceway
Newsflash, 22 August 2012
A one-day official test at the all-new Moscow Raceway in Russia for Tom Sykes and his fellow Kawasaki Racing Team rider Loris Baz gave each of them the chance to make preparations for race weekend Sykes left the tests happy with the work done to match his Ninja ZX-10R machine to a sometimes tricky circuit design and he ended up third fastest, despite concentrating more on full race set-up than going for a quick single lap time. Like the rest of his peers he felt that the circuit was very tight and twisty in some of the early sections, then opens out in some others.
Baz took more time to get accustomed to this new circuit, in what is the young French rider’s rookie SBK season, but the Silverstone race winner is confident that he will improve his outright pace during race weekend, now that his crew have good data to work with. Baz ended up 19th today.
Loris also made use of the extra day of testing to try out some other set-up options, which may help him in the run in to the finale of the championship, in France in October.
The track surface along the 3.931km Moscow circuit improved as the SBK and WSS riders made more and more laps during two sessions for each class, although the second SBK session was interrupted for a time, due to an oil spill.
David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) was 17th in the test rankings, less than 1.5 seconds from the fastest rider, Carlos Checa.
Tom Sykes: “Overall, a positive day for myself and Kawasaki on a new track for everybody. We did a lot of work on the hard tyre and then when we put the softer tyre in we were surprised that we were getting good life out of it. We did make a number of small changes today, pretty much always in a positive direction, and big thanks to all my boys in the team. We have had a productive test. We have some things to do for the weekend but really not many, because today turned out well. We put a lot of laps in and hopefully that should make things more relaxed for race weekend itself.”
Loris Baz: “We just had a few issues this morning. The track is very nice, very technical and everything, but just a bit too slow. I love fast tracks so it is not my favourite. But we are riding at this track so we have to work with that. The lap times are really close and we tried a different set-up this afternoon, just to test some options we have been thinking about. I am more confident than the position we find ourselves in on the track today. Our general pace is good but we still have something to do on pure lap times for one fast lap.”
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Sofuoglu And Morais In The Testing Mix at Moscow Raceway
Newsflash, 22 August 2012
A strong Kawasaki representation in a one-day test at the Moscow Raceway circuit was headed by championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini), who set the fourth fastest time overall. Kenan’s team-mate Sheridan Morais was a strong sixth in the combined session, finding improvements in the afternoon session to push himself upwards in what were perfect weather conditions. The track cleaned up as the day went on and the lap times tumbled as the riders got used to the new – and often tricky – racetrack and a grippier racing line developed.
As always, and particularly at a test session and not a race weekend, Sofuoglu’s entire focus was to work on a real race set-up and he feels confident that he already has a bike ready to make only small adjustments to when race weekend starts in a couple of days.
Other Kawasaki riders were also enjoying their track time at the new circuit, with Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) seventh fastest and Dan Linfoot (MSD R-N Racing Team India Kawasaki) 15th from 35 riders.
Kenan Sofuoglu: “The test was not too bad. In the afternoon I ended up only 0.4 seconds slower than the fastest one, which was OK because I am not normally a one lap rider. I think I have reached my goal already - not in position but meaning that my bike is good enough to fight in a race with right now. The track is a little bit tricky in some parts and on some corners you really do not see where you are going. But I think many riders will like the track because you have fun when you ride on this track. It is a little bit tight in some parts but our bike is very good so now we just have to wait for the weekend to begin.”
Sheridan Morais: “The new circuit is very good and after a tighter, slower, beginning it has some fast parts. In the very slow corners our bike is working better right now. To improve from the morning session to the afternoon session we made a change with the electronics and suspension settings. This place is OK for me because I like the circuit. For Friday morning I hope it will all be working well from the very first practice session.”