Challenging Day One in Aragon for GRT Yamaha2017-03-31 15:05The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team faced a challenging start to their FIM Supersport World Championship weekend in Aragon today. Riders Lucas Mahias and Federico Caricasulo ended the day in 13th and 18th respectively, putting them into Superpole One for tomorrow. French rider Mahias started his morning showing the same strong pace already on show from the first two rounds and was quickly up into the top three on the timesheets. A lengthy pit stop to make a set up change then unfortunately left him with little time remaining to ride with what was to be a less desirable setting. By the time the afternoon had arrived, any chance of making up the lost time was washed away by the rain covering the Motorland Aragon circuit, leaving a frustrated Mahias in Superpole 1 for Saturday with a best time of 1'56.239. Teammate Caricasulos first European session of the year was a similarly frustrating experience denying him the opportunity to show his true pace in the morning. The eagerly awaited afternoon session brought with it the same wet track that held back his teammate Mahias, leaving him with a best time of 1'56.923 and no choice but to fight through Superpole 1 tomorrow as well. Lucas Mahias Profile 2017 Lucas Mahias - 13th, 1'56.239 "I'm not very happy today. I started this morning with a very good feeling in the beginning of the session, I wasn't pushing and the lap times were good. I had a very good feeling in the front, but then we decided to test a different front fork. It took some time to make the change and we then had very little time left to ride. The feeling was not great and the lap times were not the same. It was frustrating, and then this afternoon it rained so it was impossible to improve. Tomorrow will be difficult as there are a lot of riders in Superpole One, but I will try my hardest of course and see what we can do." Federico Caricasulo Profile 2017 Federico Caricasulo "The first session was not great for us, we had some problems that in the end cost a lot of time. We were ready to work hard in the afternoon to catch up time but then unfortunately the weather was not good so I was unable to qualify for Superpole 1. Tomorrow will be better! Apart from the issue, the bike is good." Filippo Conti GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team Manager "This morning on Federico's side we experienced a problem which gave us a small set back and lost us some valuable time in session. With Lucas we spent the morning working on a different set up to test a different component that didn't prove to be the right direction to go in. we were prepared for the afternoon with a plan to update the settings but unfortunately the weather didn't help us improve on the mornings session. As a result we have to wait until tomorrow now to be ready to be our best in Superpole." Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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