- Offizieller Beitrag
HONDA RACING INFORMATION
ZitatAlles anzeigenFIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 02 SUNDAY APRIL 1 IMOLA, ITALY PREVIEW
REA AND AOYOMA POISED TO GO FOR EARLY SEASON ADVANCES IN ITALY
Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) will start the second round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship season looking for his first podium place on the new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, on Sunday 1 April.
Rea, who scored the most recent of his eight career wins so far last year at Imola, has already got good points on the board this season after a seventh and then a fourth place at round one. He sits fifth overall in the standings on 22 points, with a long season of 13 rounds and 26 individual races still to go.
Jonathan has a fast team-mate to join him in the push towards greatness in production-derived racing, Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team). He will have his second outing in the Superbike World Championship class this weekend coming, after securing two top ten finishes at Phillip Island in round one.
Hiroshi was familiar with the Phillip Island circuit before he approached round one in February, but has never raced at the Parkland circuit in the centre of Imola before. He will be looking to secure two more strong points scores, before he and Rea take part in a Pirelli tyre test on the Monday following race weekend. They will both also test at their designated test track of Assen after the Imola outing, in readiness for the third round of the championship in the Netherlands on 22 April.
Lorenzo Alfonsi (Pro Ride Motorsports Honda) has been signed by the Pro Ride team to complete the remaining rounds of the season, after the departure of Raffaele De Rosa. Alfonsi, a former Superstock champion, is ready for his first race on home soil, as he steps back up again from national racing.
Imola is a circuit very much of the old school, located inside a public park on the fringes of the city of Imola. Many chicanes have been added to the once super-fast circuit since its inception, but the impression is still one of high-speed corners flowing quickly into the next section. The riders get little rest at Imola. There are also frequent and occasionally mighty changes of elevation as the track wends its way past private houses and public spaces.
Some of the most memorable moments in SBK history have played out around the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, including race wins for Honda riders Colin Edwards, Chris Vermeulen, Alex Barros and only last year in race one, Jonathan Rea.
PARKES OUT FOR ANOTHER PODIUM AS SERIES HEADS BACK TO EUROPE
FIM Supersport World Championship rider Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) will arrive at Imola for the second round in third place overall in the points standings, having taken a podium in his opening comeback ride with Honda.
Parkes' first race this year was merely to get on the grid at all, but along with his team and Honda he was part of a pedigree effort that earned him silverware despite not having much in the way of pre-season testing.
Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) had a great introduction to the Supersport class, qualifying third in Australia and then going fourth in the race, one place up on Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda).
Lowes, a rookie last year, is now heading back to a circuit he knows well, but for Cluzel Imola will be an all-new adventure. He is already speaking of podium finishes despite his current lack of track knowledge, an ambition which hardly seems beyond him if the cards fall right for him in qualifying.
The long break after the opening round means there have been four free weekends for the riders to endure before the action begins again for real in Italy, with first practice starting on Friday 30 March.
Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) had a strong if not spectacular first race with PTR in Australia, in seventh, improving greatly on a lowly 13th place in qualifying.
Czech rider Lukas Pesek (PRORACE Honda) enjoyed a top ten experience in round one, in what was an impressive opening shot from one of Honda's rising stars.
South African Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda) will be out for more points to add to the two he scored in Australia. Polish rider Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Racing Honda) has shown improvement on his
2011 practice form already this year, but is still to get his name on the points board.Balazs Nemeth (Racing Team Toth Honda) also has no points at present, nor does his team-mate Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda), a situation which the Hungarian duo are keen to rewrite in Italian ink.
Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda), Andrea Antonelli (Team Lorini
Honda) and Thomas Caiani (KUJA Racing Honda) are looking to score points for the first time in 2012.British rider Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda) has raced at Imola before, despite this being his full rookie season in WSS, but as it was nine years ago he expects to have to relearn the track as well as make the transition from BSB Superbike rider to WSS Supersport rider.
Janos Chrobak (East European Racing Honda) completes the Honda entry for the Imola weekend. Czech rider Ondrej Jezek (SMS Racing Honda) will not make this round and a replacement is still to be announced.
Honda rider comments:
Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) "Things have been good since Australia although we have not tested again. A few of our rivals have been out, but we know Imola is a completely different circuit than Phillip Island, which a pretty unique one for us and for our set-up. Our past results have been good at Imola so I am just excited to be going. We will start from our base set-up that we took away last year. So we'll see where the weekend takes us. We have been working on a few different things on the electronics even since our Qatar test in the winter. We do not have a bad benchmark to work from at for Imola. I hope the weather is as good as it has been on the Isle of Man recently!"
Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) "We were in the top ten each time in the first round at Phillip Island. Two races in one day was a new experience for me and I was a bit nervous about it at first, but finally we ended up in a good way.
For Imola I hope we can make a big step. For sure I have never ridden there so it may be a tough weekend, especially the first day. I am sure we can improve the bike and race-by-race I will improve my feeling with the bike."Lorenzo Alfonsi (Pro Ride Motorsports Honda) "I am very happy to come back to World Superbike. Both the Pro Ride staff and I are motivated to make everything works well this season.
I really want to make it right and I believe in this project. We will work together to get points for the championship. We are already working well and are full of energy to secure a good result in Imola."Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) "I have been back in Europe for a couple of weeks and I am back to European time now. I am looking forward to Imola after the first race at Phillip Island. I was really excited to finish on the podium because we had not ridden for four months. I am looking to get back into it again now. I have always liked Imola because it is old school. If you make a mistake you go onto the gravel. If you make a mistake on a modern circuit normally you run wide, come back on and get back into the race. You need a lot of concentration at this track. We have a one-day test after the Imola weekend, on the Monday, and then one at Assen before we go there for round three."
Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda)
"My feeling is I am really happy to go to Imola as the break was too long from the first to second round. I want to make the same as Phillip Island and challenge at the front. I was very happy on my PTR Honda just that we have had some tyre problems at what was maybe our worst circuit of the season. We hope the problem is finished for the next race. I think we can fight for the podium, I just have to learn very fast and concentrate as it is my first time at the track."Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda)
"Phillip Island feels like it was ages ago. I was not sure when I saw on the season calendar that Imola came along so early this year, but I do like it there so I am looking forward to it. It is like a fast, flowing track and it was good for me because I got second place there last year. We had good speed at Phillip Island and we should have done better than we did it's just that we had a few other issues. So I am looking to Imola to really kick start my season. For me, Imola is one of our better tracks for the Honda. Our bike should perform well over race distance and I would say we might have a slight advantage over the other manufacturers at this track. I feel good in my fitness and it is a bit different to last year as I am going to the circuits having ridden on them last year. Now it is down to me to get the season going properly now."Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda)
"I really enjoy the Imola circuit and cannot wait to get racing again. I have a bike and team that can help me to challenge for the top six this weekend and that is my realistic target. My lap times were close to the front-runners in Australia and I am sure if I can get away with them then I can run and challenge them. I am very fired up and can't wait to get racing."Martin Jessop (PTR Team Honda)
"I'm looking forward to Imola so much. We had a 'teaser round' in Australia and then a big gap. I rode at Imola nine years ago so I have a very little track knowledge. What I do remember is I loved the flowing wide corners and enjoyed it. The first session is to learn the track and then I need to get on it in first qualifying. Lee my technician has had a good look at the data from the other PTR bikes and we are right in the ballpark. I just need to ride it properly as a 600 should be, so I am looking for a good result."