2012 Moscow World Superbike Friday Practice
With the arrival of World Superbike in Russia, the series and the country both enter the history books.
The launch of World Superbike at the Moscow Raceway will be the first ever global racing championship (either two wheels or four) held on Russian soil.
And although BMW Motorrad’s Marco Melandri opened the day of round 11 or 14 with the quickest time in the first practice session Friday morning, when the first qualifying session got underway, Ducati riders were the dominating force.
The qualifying 1 session was lead by Althea Ducati’s Davide Giugliano, who put in a best lap of 1:35.074 aboard the 1198 R. Giugliano, who had a best finish of second at Assen, was trailed 0.21 of a second behind by teammate Carlos Checa.
Davide Giugliano (Althea Ducati 1198 World Superbike) says: “For now everything’s going well. I say ‘for now’ because a race weekend is long and hard and in Superbike, with all these great champions, you never know exactly how well you’re doing as everything can change from one session to the next. But I think that if you’re inside the top five or six it’s a good result at this level. I really like the track and, although I’m not 100% fit after Silverstone, the bike and my team are really helping me a lot here and I’m pleased with the work done so far. The important thing is to stay focused for Sunday’s races.”
The reigning World SBK Champion, who won four races so far this season, and his teammate were over four tenths ahead of the 21-rider grid.
Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati 1198 World Superbike) says: “We’ve tried the tires and are also working to adapt the setting of the bike because this track is different to the others, it has a unique character. We need to prepare the bike in a certain way and probably go with a set-up that we’ve not used before.
“In the end Davide and I were able to make some fast laps with the softer tyre; maybe through certain, slow sections of the track the Ducati has less trouble changing direction than the other bikes, I don’t know. But if we look at race pace, we’re all very close in terms of times. I’m happy for now, but there is more work to do, as in certain sections I think we can improve further.”
Taking the third spot was yet another Ducati, the PATA Racing Team 1198 piloted by Sylvain Guintoli, the Frenchman posting a 135.751.
Fourth quickest went to BMW S1000RR rider Melandri, who was 0.698 behind Giugliano. Melandri was followed by ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia’s Chaz Davies, who was second quickest in the morning practice.
The top Kawasaki rider on Friday was Tom Sykes, who was followed by PATA Racing Team Ducati’s Lorenzo Zanetti and Honda World Superbike’s Hiroshi Aoyama, who was the final rider to post within a second of Giugliano.
As for current World Superbike’s points leader, Aprilia Team’s Max Biaggi was 13th quickest, the Aprilia RSV4 rider posting a 1:36.236.
The grid will return to the Russian circuit Saturday for the second free practice and qualifying sessions ahead of Superpole.
Moscow World Superbike: Friday Qualifying 1 Results:
1. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’35.074
2. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’35.284
3. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1198R 1’35.751
4. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’35.772
5. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’35.828
6. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’35.905
7. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1198R 1’35.980
8. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’35.988
9. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.039
10. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.061
11. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1198R 1’36.143
12. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.174
13. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’36.236
14. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.293
15. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.326
16. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.442
17. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’36.470
18. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.533
19. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.911
20. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.163
21. David McFadden (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.372
Moscow World Superbike – Friday Free Practice 1 Results:
1. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’35.799
2. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’36.325
3. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’36.344
4. Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1198R 1’36.391
5. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.505
6. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 1’36.520
7. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1198R 1’36.567
8. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.720
9. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1’36.862
10. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’36.872
11. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’36.875
12. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.910
13. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’36.995
14. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1198R 1’37.105
15. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’37.191
16. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1’37.255
17. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’37.355
18. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’37.475
19. Alexander Lundh (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.294
20. David McFadden (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’38.912
21. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1’39.191
