Top ten for Smith after Imola qualifying
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 6:21 pm
Top ten for Smith after #Imola qualifying
@Pata @Honda rider Kyle Smith will start tomorrow’s fifth-round World Supersport championship race from the fourth row of the grid after setting the tenth-fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session at Imola in Italy.
Smith has been working hard with his team to improve the front-end grip on his Pata Honda CBR600RR race machine and they were able to help him improve his lap time by almost one second compared to yesterday’s free practice sessions at the 4.936km Imola circuit.
Although Smith has not yet been able to match the time of pole position man Jules Cluzel, he and his crew know that race day usually brings another level of performance from the 23-year-old British rider.
Kyle Smith - P10, 1m52.295s
It’s been a difficult weekend so far because we were way off the pace yesterday. We have worked hard on the bike set-up and not quite found the right way to go. Also, I’ve been struggling a bit with the track and probably pushing too hard because nothing has clicked properly yet. We went the opposite way for qualifying and it looked like a positive move because the lap time improved; but when I put the new tyre in I made a few mistakes and couldn’t make the most of it. I could put a few splits together but the lap didn’t quite come. I’m quite close to the times ahead of me though, and I’m usually a bit more relaxed on race day, so hopefully the pace will come a bit more easily tomorrow.
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
It was not an easy day yesterday and we kept changing the bike. In this afternoon’s qualifying session we found a better way and Kyle broke into the 52s so we were quite happy. But when we put in a set of new tyres, he couldn’t quite get a lap together and that left us with 10th position. We have another go in warm-up tomorrow to try to get a rhythm, with race pace looking better and close to last year’s times. Getting to the top three again will be difficult but nothing is impossible!
Weather
Sunny Intervals
Air
25°C
Track
40°C
Humidity
47%
Qualifying Results
1 Jules Cluzel 1m50.856s FRA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
2 Kenan Sofuoglu 1m50.893s TUR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
3 Marco Faccani 1m51.713s ITA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
4 Patrick Jacobson 1m51.757s USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
5 Lorenzo Zanetti 1m51.809s ITA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
6 Alex Baldolini 1m51.923s ITA MV Race Department ATK#25
7 Gino Rea 1m51.998s GBR HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
8 Ratthapark Wilairot 1m52.067s THA HONDA CORE Motorsport Thailand
9 Riccardo Russo 1m52.158s ITA HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
10 Kyle Smith 1m52.295s GBR HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team
@Pata @Honda rider Kyle Smith will start tomorrow’s fifth-round World Supersport championship race from the fourth row of the grid after setting the tenth-fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session at Imola in Italy.
Smith has been working hard with his team to improve the front-end grip on his Pata Honda CBR600RR race machine and they were able to help him improve his lap time by almost one second compared to yesterday’s free practice sessions at the 4.936km Imola circuit.
Although Smith has not yet been able to match the time of pole position man Jules Cluzel, he and his crew know that race day usually brings another level of performance from the 23-year-old British rider.
Kyle Smith - P10, 1m52.295s
It’s been a difficult weekend so far because we were way off the pace yesterday. We have worked hard on the bike set-up and not quite found the right way to go. Also, I’ve been struggling a bit with the track and probably pushing too hard because nothing has clicked properly yet. We went the opposite way for qualifying and it looked like a positive move because the lap time improved; but when I put the new tyre in I made a few mistakes and couldn’t make the most of it. I could put a few splits together but the lap didn’t quite come. I’m quite close to the times ahead of me though, and I’m usually a bit more relaxed on race day, so hopefully the pace will come a bit more easily tomorrow.
Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator
It was not an easy day yesterday and we kept changing the bike. In this afternoon’s qualifying session we found a better way and Kyle broke into the 52s so we were quite happy. But when we put in a set of new tyres, he couldn’t quite get a lap together and that left us with 10th position. We have another go in warm-up tomorrow to try to get a rhythm, with race pace looking better and close to last year’s times. Getting to the top three again will be difficult but nothing is impossible!
Weather
Sunny Intervals
Air
25°C
Track
40°C
Humidity
47%
Qualifying Results
1 Jules Cluzel 1m50.856s FRA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
2 Kenan Sofuoglu 1m50.893s TUR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
3 Marco Faccani 1m51.713s ITA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
4 Patrick Jacobson 1m51.757s USA KAWASAKI Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
5 Lorenzo Zanetti 1m51.809s ITA MV MV Agusta Reparto Corse
6 Alex Baldolini 1m51.923s ITA MV Race Department ATK#25
7 Gino Rea 1m51.998s GBR HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
8 Ratthapark Wilairot 1m52.067s THA HONDA CORE Motorsport Thailand
9 Riccardo Russo 1m52.158s ITA HONDA CIA Landlords Insurance Honda
10 Kyle Smith 1m52.295s GBR HONDA Pata Honda World Supersport Team