BMW Motorrad Motorsport - WSBK - Assen - Qualifying Practice 1
Weather conditions: Sunny.
Temperature: Air: 16 – 19 °C, Track: 24 – 31 °C
Number of riders participating: 22 from 12 teams
Fastest lap Free Practice: Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1:36.789 min
Fastest lap Qualifying Practice 1: Jakub Smrz (Team PATA B&G Racing) 1:36.041 min
Programme:
After the best race result to date in its short history in Valencia (ESP), and a successful test in Mugello (ITA), Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport started the fourth race weekend of the 2010 FIM Superbike World Championship in Assen (NED) well. During Free Practice both riders, Troy Corser (AUS) and Ruben Xaus (ESP), got used to the new entry to “Ruskenhoek” and concentrated on set-up work. Troy finished Qualifying third, while Ruben ended up 18th.
Troy Corser:
Bike: BMW S 1000 RR
Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:36.914 min (2nd) / Fastest lap Qualifying 1: 1:36.489 min (3rd)
“The team really did a good job. The traction control is working very effectively and the bike feels very connected. Both throttle and engine braking feel good to me. The engine is pushing strongly – from first to fifth gear the acceleration is really good. Overall, the bike is now a good package. The modifications at “Ruskenhoek” make the section really fast. It might be somewhere else where you can actually pass. Unfortunately, another rider crashed in the last chicane when I was on my flying lap at the end of Qualifying. I saw yellow flags and oil flags and just took it easy through the corners. There was a lot better time possible. However, we are quite consistent on race tyres. I am quite confident for the weekend.”
Ruben Xaus:
Bike: BMW S 1000 RR
Fastest lap Free Practice: 1:38.765 min (18th) / Fastest lap Qualifying 1: 1:37.685 min (18th)
“The bike is incredible in the fast corner, and the stability is just amazing. However, I am struggling in the slow corners. I am really losing time in these stop-and-go sections. We made some good steps forward towards the end of Qualifying. Still, something is missing, and we have to find the last tenths of a second. When the session was re-started after Jonathan Rea’s technical problem I had traffic and was not able to improve my lap time.”
Davide Tardozzi (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Team Manager):
“We are very happy with Troy’s results – he finished second in Free Practice and third in Qualifying. This is the best Friday result so far in the team’s history. On Ruben’s side we struggled a bit with the set-up. However, we made some good progress towards the end of Qualifying, and we are confident for tomorrow.”
