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Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea kicked off the final World Superbike Championship (WSBK) weekend of the 2014 season in style, topping the 1st free practice time sheets at the Losail International Circuit yesterday. |
Rea was fastest around the 5.38km Qatari track with a time of 1 minute 59.644 seconds. Kawasaki Racing Team’s Loris Baz was second fastest in the first session with a time of 1:59.831. Alex Lowes of Voltcom Crescent Suzuki rounded off the top three.
Focus this weekend will be on Baz’s Kawasaki teammate and championship leader Tom Sykes, and Aprilia Racing Team’s Sylvain Guintoli.
Defending champion Sykes has a 12-point advantage over Guintoli in the championship standings, and this weekend’s two races will decide the champion.
Guintoli had been trailing Sykes by 44 points at Laguna Seca but with a string of second place finishes and a win in the last race at Magny-Cours, he has narrowed down the margin for a shot at the title.
Yesterday, Guintoli (2:00.098) was fourth on the timesheets, while Sykes (2:00.796) was ninth.
CUDLIN ON QSBK POLE
Four-time Qatar Superbike (QSBK) champion Alex Cudlin, who will make his WSBK debut this weekend, was the third fastest EVO rider and 14th overall. The Australian, riding for Team Pedercini, is in for a busy weekend considering he will be competing in WSBK and QSBK races.
In the QSBK qualifying yesterday, Cudlin raced to yet another pole in his quest for a fifth QSBK title. With a time of 2:03.220, he will start ahead of Qatari rider Mishal al-Naimi (2:03.788) and German rider Nina Prinz (2:04.729).
“I didn’t want to do too many laps in QSBK as I wanted to stay fresh considering I am riding in both championships,” said Cudlin after the QSBK qualifying. “I am in the first position in the qualifying but I know that Mishal will be fast in the race.”
Talking about his first WSBK session, he said, “The first session was really nice. I finished 14th but for me the most important thing is the position among EVO bikes, and I finished third there. So we can fight for a win in the EVO.”
He added: “The bike is really good but it is completely different to the bike in QSBK. It is like riding completely different bikes, but so far so good; all is ok.”
