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FPR Boys Back On Track At Losail
New Foggy PETRONAS Racing pair Steve Martin and Garry McCoy made use of the first day of the official Superbike World Championship winter test at Qatar to become re-acquainted with the PETRONAS FP1.
Completing 55 and 41 laps respectively, Steve set a fastest time of 2:05.984 while Garry was within three hundredth of a second of his team-mate with a time of 2:06.015. Jose Luis Cardosa was the surprise front runner with a lap time of 2:02.628.
The FPR men, riding the FP1 for the first time since their initial outing at Valencia in November, took advantage of warm and sunny conditions to learn the fast and flowing Losail circuit, 25km from the Qatar capital, Doha.
Steve said: “I am happy with today because, after three months, it is like riding a completely different bike again. But I think we are starting to make steps forward. We know what the problems are and we are fixing them, so every time I get on we make an improvement. I think this is the sort of track where, when the bike is right, you can find a lot of time. I think I know the circuit pretty well now as I did quite a few laps today. And I think the circuit is going to make for an interesting race – it’s just a pity it’s so slippery off line as people aren’t going to want to go off line to pass. We have been making changes to the general run of the mill stuff, not only to suit the circuit but also to find the setting I like. I was going consistently two seconds a lap quicker in the afternoon, so the times indicate that we are going in the right direction.”
Garry said: “The bike needed a little bit of work for this track and I didn’t really get a chance to get a feeling or set-up when I was last on it at Valencia in November. So we have pretty much come here as though this is day one for me. We have made a lot of changes and found out what’s good and what’s bad, mainly working with the suspension at the front and rear, clutch settings and mapping. I did have a good feeling for the circuit but because we have been trying so many things it’s hard to go into the corners with confidence. So I haven’t been able to just ride round. But the race is next week! We have still a bit of a way to go but I definitely feel we are going in the right direction.”
Day one times, WSBK test, Qatar: 1 Cardosa (DFX) 2:02.618; 2 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 2:03.044; 3 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) 2:03.309; 4 Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 2:03.759; 5 Nieto (Duucati Carrachi) 2:03.870; 6 Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:03.870; 7 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 2:03.927; 8 Gimbert (Yamaha France) 2:03.999; 9 Laconi (Ducati Xerox) 2:04.011; 10 Silva Alberosa (La Glisse) 2:04.077; 21 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:06.015; 22 McCoy (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:06.015
LOVE IS GIVING SOMEONE THE ABILITY TO DESTROY YOU, THEN TRUSTING THEM NOT TO.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, But rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, Vodka in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming…….WOO HOO, what a ride!
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