A tough WorldSBK race 1 at Assen for Team HRC
TT Circuit AssenWith the WorldSBK racing now underway at the Assen TT Circuit, Team HRC and factory rider Xavi Vierge finished eleventh today after a contact by another rider forced the Spaniard off track during this afternoon’s first 21-lap Superbike race
With the WorldSBK racing now underway at the Assen TT Circuit, Team HRC and factory rider Xavi Vierge finished eleventh today after a contact by another rider forced the Spaniard off track during this afternoon’s first 21-lap Superbike race, while Iker Lecuona unfortunately suffered a crash while lying eighth and pushing hard to close the gap with the group fighting for the top five.
The riders faced a wet third free practice but nevertheless put it to good use, testing wet setups so as to be prepared for any rain during races. This final practice was followed by Superpole, which played out on a dry track. During the frantic 15-minute session, in which the top sixteen closed within just one second of each other, Lecuona was immediately able to set a 1’34.607, before pitting to put in the qualifying tyre. Improving on his initial time by half a second, a best of 1’34.199 saw Iker qualify in tenth, which became ninth after a penalty moved Axel Bassani three positions down the grid. Team-mate Vierge set an initial time of 1’34.513 before he too came into the pits to change his tyre. Straight back out, the Spaniard shaved a further three tenths off his time to qualify twelfth with a 1’34.260, just under one tenth from his teammate.
The first of the weekend’s races ran in the early afternoon in dry conditions, with the Team HRC duo lining up on the third and fourth row of the grid. While Xavi made immediately up three positions during lap one to place ninth, team-mate Iker lost ground off the line but fought back through the first corners and was lying fourteenth by the end of the first lap. On lap four a contact between Vierge and another rider forced him to run wide and consequently fall back to thirteenth, while Lecuona simultaneously moved up into eighth. Unfortunately, on the very next lap a crash for Iker ruled him out of the action. Eleventh on lap eight, Vierge ran a consistent second half, lapping with similar pace to those ahead and holding his position all the way to the line to score five championship points. Not the outcome that the Team HRC riders were looking for today, but both are highly motivated to fight back in tomorrow’s races.
If we think about the work done and the speed we were able to achieve, we can say we’ve done a good job today. In qualifying I think we set some good times, around seven tenths behind the leaders which wasn’t bad, but of course with such a tight classification my starting position was again not a good one. I made a decent start and was able to move back up through the pack, but a contact with Rinaldi pushed me off track and caused me to lose a lot of positions. From that point, I essentially began another race because my pace was very similar to those immediately ahead, so it was impossible to close the gap, especially at the end when the front tyre suffered a drop in performance. Anyway, as I said, our pace was not so bad so we will try to improve our setup a little for tomorrow, when the target will be to try and gain some grid positions in the Superpole race ahead of race 2.
I can’t say I’m happy with today’s race result obviously, but on the other hand I’m pleased with the improvement we’ve made in terms of the bike’s base setup. In qualifying I was able to improve my lap time with the second tyre, lapping alone with no references, and I felt good and comfortable, the bike allowing me to ride in my usual style. In the race I made a poor start from the third row and found myself in fourteen place so again that was a critical point for us. But I didn’t get too stressed to be honest because I knew I had the pace, so I tried to just overtake the riders in front of me. The good thing, and I must say a big surprise for me, was that right from those very first laps, I was able to pass many riders while maintaining lines that are normally impossible for us to use when overtaking. I felt strong and fast, clearly excessively so, because on lap six I went a little wide at turn one and lost the front. It was 100% my mistake and for this I want to apologise to the team because they did a really good job modifying the setup and giving me a bike that gave me this feeling today. The positive thing is that we have two more chances tomorrow to try and score a much better result.
