A complicated SBK race for Althea BMW at Magny-Cours; De Rosa qualifies second for the STK1000 race

Nevers (France), Saturday 1 October 2016

A complicated first SBK race today at the Magny-Cours racetrack in France, in which the Althea BMW Racing Team riders Jordi Torres and Markus Reiterberger crossed the line in 14^th and 17^th place respectively. De Rosa has qualified in second position for tomorrow’s STK1000 race.

STK1000 - qualifying: De Rosa again put in a convincing performance in today’s qualifying. Using the 30 minutes to make final changes to his BMW S 1000 RR, Raffaele improved on times throughout the course of the session. He was lying second when, five minutes from the session’s end, a red flag temporarily halted proceeding. Back on track, the final five minutes proved frenetic but De Rosa used them to good effect, closing in second place (1’40.120) and earning a front row start for tomorrow’s race.

Superpole 1: today’s SP took place on a fully wet and slippery track. Reiterberger tried to do his best in the difficult conditions, but was unable to move beyond tenth place, setting a fastest time of 1’59.800. The German will therefore line up on row seven of the grid.
Superpole 2: a difficult session also for Torres, who struggled to build confidence with the wet track. His best time, a 1’58.353 recorded in the final minutes, saw him close in twelfth position, which translates into the fourth row of the race grid.

SBK - Race 1: the race took place on a track that gradually dried out over the course of 21 laps. From twelfth on the grid, Torres was in tenth after lap one, while Reiti, from the seventh row, made up many positions at the start to position thirteenth. After five laps, the German picked up his pace, passing his team-mate on lap 8 to move into twelfth place. At that point both Althea BMW riders came into the pits to change over from rain to slick tyres. Returning to the track in 20^th and 21^st place, Jordi and Markus quickly made up places through the central part of the race, eventually crossing the line in 14^th and 17^th place respectively.

“Definitely a difficult day, in wet conditions. The race fell well below our expectation and despite having gained some good indications during the Superpole, these didn’t translate into results in the race. I’m disappointed, because we had everything in line to do well, but allowed too much of a gap to be created. I also believe there is room for improvement in these conditions as far as the riders are concerned, because it’s important to always give it your all. With regard to Raffaele, he was able to really express his potential today and achieve second place and a front row start. Our aim is to finish ahead of the championship lead, and hope that other riders finish between the two of them.”

“We had a tough race today. During the wet Superpole we were able to understand certain aspects that proved useful for the race, seeing as that also started on a wet track. During the sighting lap we could see the track was probably going to dry out, but we decided to go out on rain tyres anyway, thinking it would be too risky to use intermediates. We did our best, and then came in to change tyres when the track had dried a little. It was just a shame that a technical problem made it difficult for me to ride. Anyway, tomorrow we hope for dry conditions so that we can make a better race.”

“Today was again difficult. We took a small step in FP3 but we weren’t able to go as fast as the others in the wet and only qualified 20^th. I made a good start to the race and made up quite a few positions, but when the track started to dry out I had to come in and change the tyres, after which I totally lost the good feeling I’d had at the start. I’m not pleased with this and will try to work harder to find a solution that allows me to be faster.”

“Today went a lot better than yesterday, particularly in terms of my confidence. We haven’t changed so much on the bike, but I feel a lot more comfortable riding it. It was only a pity that I made a mistake at the end of the session, on my penultimate lap as, if it wasn’t for that, I could have finished first. Anyway I’m pleased, we’ll line up on the front row tomorrow, and I hope to be able to make a great race.”