Despite being unable to move up the timesheets between the two sessions, both riders managed to significantly improve their lap-times in the latter hour of action as they worked hard with their crews to improve the feeling with their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machine at this long, wide and beautifully flowing racetrack. Giugliano successfully tried new electronic settings, while for 24-year-old Gagne the priority was to get to grips with the new circuit – as well as to riding under artificial lighting.
In light of today’s results, Giugliano and Gagne will take to the track at 18:30 local time (GMT +3) tomorrow for Superpole 1, before lining up on the grid for the 17-lap, first race of the Qatari round which will get underway two and a half hours later (21:00).
Davide Giugliano 34
Today was a quite productive day! We tried some new electronic settings which I never tried before and that represent – at least for me – a little but positive step forwards. I was expecting to be a little quicker, but there’s still time to do some more work tomorrow. The good things is that the bike works very well chassis-wise, although we still need to do some more work with the electronics in order to improve our pace. I think things will be better tomorrow.
Jake Gagne 45
I feel I got to grips with the track pretty quickly, but it was also a matter of getting use to riding under floodlights: it was kind of strange in the first two-three laps, but soon after that it was not a problem anymore – it’s just you and the track. We made a lot of progress today, with me simply having to get used to this bike again and learning my way around the track. Towards the end of FP2 we made a couple of changes to chassis and electronics, and I feel we’re heading in the right direction. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.
Ronald ten Kate
The first session was not an easy one for Davide as things didn’t go as smooth as we’d hoped and that cost us some valuable track-time. Both crew and rider did a great job in FP2 and tried successfully some different electronic settings, so we’re confident for some more improvement tomorrow. Jake did quite well despite the lack of knowledge of the track and being his first time riding under floodlights, so all in all it was more of a productive day than what the timesheets would suggest.
Qatar RoundLosail International Circuit, Qatar
WorldSBK 2017, Round 13
- Air Temp: 28°C
- Humidity: 70%
- Ground Temp: 27°C
| # | Rider | Num | Nationality Nat. | Team | Constructor Constr. | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | 65 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | 1’57.666 |
| 2 | Alex Lowes | 22 | GBR | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha | +0.259 |
| 3 | Tom Sykes | 66 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | +0.299 |
| 4 | Chaz Davies | 7 | GBR | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | +0.470 |
| 5 | Michael van der Mark | 60 | NDL | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha | +0.649 |
| 6 | Xavi Fores | 12 | SPA | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati | +0.877 |
| 7 | Marco Melandri | 33 | ITA | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | +1.005 |
| 8 | Jordi Torres | 81 | SPA | Althea BMW Racing Team | BMW | +1.070 |
| 9 | Eugene Laverty | 50 | GBR | Milwaukee Aprilia | Aprilia | +1.091 |
| 10 | Lorenzo Savadori | 32 | ITA | Milwaukee Aprilia | Aprilia | +1.340 |
| 11 | Sylvain Guintoli | 05 | FRA | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki | +1.387 |
| 12 | Leon Camier | 2 | GBR | MV Agusta Reparto Corse | MV Agusta | +1.403 |
| 13 | Raffaele De Rosa | 35 | ITA | Althea BMW Racing Team | BMW | +1.450 |
| 14 | Román Ramos | 40 | SPA | Team Go Eleven | Kawasaki | +1.856 |
| 15 | Alessandro Andreozzi | 121 | ITA | Guandalini Racing | Yamaha | +1.950 |
| 16 | Davide Giugliano | 34 | ITA | Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +1.973 |
| 17 | Jake Gagne | 45 | USA | Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +2.411 |
| 18 | Jeremy Guarnoni | 11 | FRA | Pedercini Racing SC-Project | Kawasaki | +3.004 |
| 19 | Ondrej Jezek | 37 | CZE | Grillini Racing Team | Kawasaki | +3.609 |
| 20 | Roberto Rolfo | 44 | ITA | Grillini SBK Team | Kawasaki | +4.061 |
