The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team did not enjoy an easy day at the office as the opening race of the penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship was contested today at ‘Circuito de Jerez’. Davide Giugliano was forced to a late retirement with two laps to go, while Takahashi was 16th at the end of the reduced 19-lap Spanish encounter.
The initial race was red flagged on the opening lap due to the crashes occurred to Italy’s Badovini and De Rosa at turn six. As the new 19-lap encounter got underway, Giugliano maintained his position while trying to get up to speed on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2. The 27-year-old Italian was unable to keep a consistent pace throughout the race and eventually had to make his way back to the pits as the WorldSBK field entered the penultimate lap.
Takahashi’s performance was affected in the initial stages of the race after the Japanese rider crashed unhurt at turn 13 on lap four. He eventually managed to get back on the bike and continue the race to gain some more experience in the series.
Race two will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2) after the traditional 15-minute warm up scheduled at 9:30.
- Takumi Takahashi
Honda Rider Comments
- Takumi Takahashi (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 1 / 16th - “First of all, I would like to apologize for the crash. Fortunately I was able to jump back on the bike and continue, but for some reason I wasn’t able to make our tire choice work under these conditions. Already this morning things felt a little bit different. In the second part of the race I was able to lap in the 1’42secs, but I’m confident that after evaluating today’s data I will be able to be quicker tomorrow.”
- Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 1 / DNF - “It was quite a difficult race for me, because straight away I did not have feeling with the front-end of the bike, which was moving around quite a lot. Obviously, this prevented me from pushing and riding the way I wanted and things got worse as the race progressed. With three laps remaining I was told to make it back to the pits and so I did, and that’s how the race ended. We still have work to do but hopefully we’ll be able to make some changes and be in a stronger position for race two.”
- Ronald ten Kate – Team Manager
- “It has clearly been a difficult race for both riders, although for different reasons. And it has been a quite hectic day overall given the late start to the day and the reduced time in FP3, which took away some precious time to try and improve the package. Davide could not find the right feeling with the front-end, while Takumi could not adapt well to the change in temperatures from yesterday, especially because he’s still getting used to the different tires. We are now analyzing the data in order to come up with a plan for tomorrow.”
- Takumi Takahashi
- Davide Giugliano
Spanish Round Draws to a Close for the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has completed the penultimate event of the 2017 World Superbike season, with Takumi Takahashi and Davide Giugliano 15th and 17th, respectively, at the end of the shortened second encounter of the weekend.
The initial race was red flagged on the second lap after the crash involving Eugene Laverty and Chaz Davies at turn two immediately after the start. Just like yesterday, a new event of 19 laps was called by race direction, which got underway after a short break.
Giugliano got a good launch from row six and was thirteenth at the end of the opening lap. The Italian rider then lost a handful of places after having to avoid Savadori – who crashed in front of him and – dropped down to 18th, right behind his team mate Takumi Takahashi.
At the end of lap four, the Italian rider returned to the pits after experiencing some braking issues, before making his way back to the track on fresh tires to collect some more data for the team.
Meanwhile, Takahashi was involved in a battle with Riccardo Russo, which lasted almost the whole encounter. The 27-year-old Japanese rider made a move on his rival with three laps to go and successfully defended his position to claim one more point in the series.
The final round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit in a fortnight’s time.
Honda Rider Comments
- Takumi Takahashi (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 2 / 15th - “In the first part of the race I could not make the most of the new tires, so it took a while before I could improve my pace. I also experienced some arm pump, which surely didn’t help. I’m happy to have at least scored a point, even though I was aiming for a better result today. I really want to thank the team for their support and effort, it was a great experience to work with them this year and, who knows, maybe one day our paths will cross again.”
- Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
Race result: Race 2 / 17th - “Obviously this hasn’t been the type of end to the weekend we were looking for, especially after showing a little step forward this morning in warm up. I’m glad that I was able to avoid Savadori when he landed in front of me after coming off. But that obviously cost me time when slowing down to avoid him, although I was already having some braking issues that forced me back to the pits early on. We decided to get back on track with new tires and I hope I was able to give some useful data to the team ahead of Qatar.”
- Ronald ten Kate – Team Manager
- “It was an eventful race, no doubt. Many things happened today that prevented us from performing the way we wanted, and we definitely have to take a look back at all happenings in order to get back in the right direction for the season finale. Davide looked a bit more comfortable on the bike this morning but a braking issue put him out of contention for a finish in the points from early on. Hopefully the data we collected after he returned to the track will help us for the future. We want to again thank Takumi for his professionalism; it was great to have him with us and we know he gave his best in what was a quick transition to a very different series.”
- Davide Giugliano
World Superbike and World Supersport 2017
Round 12: Circuito de Jerez – Spain
| Rank | Rider (Team) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) |
| 2 | Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) |
| 3 | Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) |
| 4 | Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) |
| 5 | Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) |
| 6 | Sylvain Guintoli (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) |
| 7 | Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) |
| 8 | Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) |
| 9 | Xavi Forés (BARNI Racing Team) |
| 10 | Román Ramos (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) |
| 11 | Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) |
| 12 | Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) |
| 13 | Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) |
| 14 | Alessandro Andreozzi (Guandalini Racing) |
| 15 | Ondrej Jezek (Grillini Racing Team) |
| Rank | Rider (Team) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) |
| 2 | Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) |
| 3 | Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) |
| 4 | Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) |
| 5 | Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) |
| 6 | Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) |
| 7 | Xavi Forés (BARNI Racing Team) |
| 8 | Sylvain Guintoli (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) |
| 9 | Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) |
| 10 | Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) |
| 11 | Román Ramos (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) |
| 12 | Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) |
| 13 | Raffaele de Rosa (Althea BMW Racing Team) |
| 14 | Alessandro Andreozzi (Guandalini Racing) |
| 15 | Takumi Takahashi (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) |
| Rank | Rider (Team) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) |
| 2 | Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) |
| 3 | Anthony West (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) |
| 4 | PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) |
| 5 | Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) |
| 6 | Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing) |
| 7 | Niki Tuuli (Kallio Racing) |
| 8 | Rob Hartog (Team Hartog – Jenik – Against Cancer) |
| 9 | Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) |
| 10 | Christian Gamarino (BARDAHL EVAN BROS. Honda Racing) |
| 11 | Michael Canducci (3570 Puccetti Racing FMI) |
| 12 | Alessandro Zaccone (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) |
| 13 | Hikari Okubo (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) |
| 14 | Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) |
| 15 | Hannes Soomer (WILSport Racedays) |
