With two days of testing at the Australian track under their belts, the team began their 2017 WorldSBK campaign proper in Free Practice 1 and 2 on Friday. The team have made clear performance gains ahead of Round 1 this weekend, and are relishing the prospect of their first race as a new team on Saturday.
Eugene Laverty made big strides in his search for more pace, managing to find more than 0.6s over his best time in testing on Monday and Friday. Finishing 11th overall with a 1’31.287 lap, he will take part in Superpole 1 and aim to progress to Superpole 2.
The action at Phillip Island continues with FP3 at 10:20am (AEDT) (11:20pm GMT) ahead of Superpole 1 & 2 at 12:30-13:10pm (AEDT) (01:30-02:10am GMT).
Eugene Laverty #50
FP1 – 1’31.706 – P14 / FP2 – 1’31.287 – P9 “This morning wasn’t a great session, but we made some good progress in the afternoon. The pace of the grid was slower, but the top guys didn’t go any quicker and we managed to go a lot faster than we have this weekend. I had some chatter again in the front which was difficult to handle, but we are making headway; I’ve already gone 0.6s quicker than I did at the test, so there is a definite positive direction.
We still need to find some pace and to miss out on Superpole 2 by one-tenth was frustrating, but I’m sure tomorrow will be better for us.”
Source: Milwaukee Aprilia