18.09.20
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team returned to action at the Catalunya-Barcelona circuit after completing todays two free practice sessions. This mornings FP1 saw #66 of Tom Sykes lap good consistent low 1’43.000’s, as he set to work on his race pace. Tom’s fastest lap was a 1’42.799 from this morning, putting him in P8 after FP1. Eugene Laverty equally had a solid FP1 and following on from his good form in the test here back in July, had good pace. Eugene went through FP1 lapping low 1’43.000 times which will bode well for him in the race tomorrow. Norge ended his FP1 in P12 (1'43.027).
FP2 was a different story for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team as the heavens opened, calling for a wet second practice. With times expectedly slower than this morning it gave the team a chance to dial in their wet settings and perfect it for the unexpected forecast this #CatalanWorldSBK weekend. Despite the rain Tom Sykes finished his FP2 in P7 with a (1'56.522), however eighth on combined results. Team-mate Eugene Laverty finished in P9, P12 also on todays combined FP1 and FP2 results.
Marc Bongers - BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director
“Our overall positions in FP1 and FP2 did not really reflect our performance today, I think we are better than we look on paper. We did not go out on fresh tyres in FP1 and could still lap some strong times towards the end, so this is a positive. For FP2 in the wet we were strong, but when the track began to dry, we made the decision to not take any risks hence the final positions. So overall pleased with today, lets see what the weather brings tomorrow for qualifying and race 1"
Tom Sykes (GBR)
“I am feeling quite good at the end of the day, I also think P8 is not a true reflection of how we performed. We made a few changes to the BMW S 1000 RR this morning, found some good improvements here and there so this is great that we keep moving forward. I was happy with our consistency throughout the session and the gap to the top, before the soft tyres came out at the end. This afternoon we had a wet session and I wanted to see what grip we had available, so I certainly took it easy in the opening stages. Once I had the feeling on the bike the lap times began to come to us, for sure the changes we made in the morning session helped in the wet conditions so to be P3 / P4 and respectable gap to the top boys was pleasing. Obviously towards the end the track began to dry, we did plan to schedule a change but, in those conditions, there was not much need to risk it and as a result dropped down the timing sheets. I feel that today has been very successful and I am looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings."
Eugene Laverty (IRL)
“Today was a good day, and right from start of the session we were up in the second and third positions for a while. We decided to stay on the used tyre as we were testing a different rear setting on the bike for the race, this meant we got bumped down the order towards the end but reality is we were likely in the top 6, which is the first time this year. The second session we ended up in P9, this was good for us as the last time I rode the bike in the wet was in Phillip Island, which we didn’t have a good feeling on. My aim as normal for tomorrow is to get up into that top 6 in qualifying, this will give us a real good chance for the opening race."
