16.10.20
Circuito Estoril
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team today completed their FP1 and FP2 sessions at the final race weekend of the year at Estoril. Unfortunately, both BMW’s of Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty were unable to mount a challenge on the top 10 positions. Tom Sykes was the fastest of the two BMW S 1000 RR’s during today free practice sessions as he placed himself in P12 on combined times (1'37.936) +1.050 slower than P1. Team-mate Eugene Laverty struggled to get a good feeling with his S 1000 RR from FP1 and his times reflected this as he concluded FP2 in P18. (1'38.925) +2.039 seconds behind pace setter Scott Redding.
Shaun Muir - Team Principal
“A pretty average day today. It was tough trying to get a comfortable setting with the track being so abrasive. Both riders have the same problems to overcome, so we will go into tomorrow with some good ideas we have worked on overnight. This should give them more confidence with the chassis balance and be able to use what grip is available. We are expecting to take big steps forward in FP3 before Superpole and I’m confident we can get a good grid position for the race tomorrow."
Tom Sykes (GBR)
“It’s early days. It is my first time at this track and I don’t want to be pushing the boundaries but gather relevant information. I certainly enjoy the track. It is a fantastic layout. I am just getting to know my way around the Estoril circuit and I have to say it’s just such a good and enjoyable place to ride. We’ve had a couple of little experiments today; we’ve tried the combination of the set-up with the tyres, we’ve gathered a lot of information and of the back of this, I have to be quite happy. Looking at the times, it seems at the moment that the V-configuration, the cross-plane cranks have a little bit of an advantage with the circuit layout and what grip it has to offer. So, we will have a good sit-down now and see if we can try and eat into this deficit that we’ve got. For now, it’s just day one and tomorrow, we will try to put the pieces in the jigsaw together.
Eugene Laverty (IRL)
“It was tough today and time gap to the top was too much. I know that our bike does not suit the slow corners, so if you start to throw in these first gear corners we will struggle. Here in Estoril we are using first gear in five corners, so we must put our heads together tonight and see what we can do. We can definitely make a step forward tomorrow because we went the wrong way between the sessions, so we know where we can improve. It’s going to be a challenge but I don’t give up, we’ll sit to together with the engineers and try to push forward for tomorrow."
