Team Bimota Alstare news
2014 World Superbike Championship
Round 5, Donington, UK
Friday practice & qualifying
Conditions: Mostly cloudy, some rain
Team Bimota Alstare riders Christian Iddon and Ayrton Badovini ended the first day of practice and qualifying at Donington with the 13th and 14th fastest times and will once again take part in the Superpole shoot-out. At the end of three sessions, Christian and Ayrton could not be split – both ended with identical lap times of 1:29.99.
Christian Iddon 1:29.999
“ I found the first two sessions a bit frustrating because I found it hard to ride as hard as I wanted. It was a bit of effort putting in good lap times and things were not coming easy. I couldn’t see any progress in the second session and we had a choice to either try to find grip or embrace the slide. We decided to embrace the slide and made some changes to the bike, which improved it in all areas and, almost more importantly, gave us some info about a direction we should not go in. So it was a productive session and we ended fighting with the top EVO guys, which is where we wanted to be.
We collected a lot of useful data today and everybody in the team did a very good job. I now feel that I can play with the bike and that’s a great feeling to have.”
Ayrton Badovini 1:29.999
“I am very happy today because I managed to put in 61 laps – and all without any problems! There was a lot of consistency today. I felt confident with the bike and ended the day with a greater understanding of it. We collected a lot of information and we progressed, which is good because we do not have so much time on the bike tomorrow.
Unfortunately, I did not have a good feeling with the new tyre we put on when I was going for a fast lap at the end and I couldn’t go as fast as I wanted to. If things with the tyre had worked out well, I am sure I would’ve lapped half a second faster – and that is a lot!
If I am faster in the rain tomorrow, I would prefer wet races on Sunday, but I think that the best thing for everybody – especially the fans – would be if it was dry on Sunday.”
Francis Batta (Team Manager)
“I am very pleased with how today has gone and very happy with all the hard work everybody in the team has done. Ayrton did over sixty laps and didn’t have any problems, so that shows how strong the bike is. He was consistent throughout the day and would’ve been quicker at the end if the new tyre had worked better for him.
I know Christian had some frustrations today, but he worked hard and did very well in the final session.
A lot of people forget that our bike is still very new and we have a lot to learn, but I think we have shown that the BB3 has the potential to be the top EVO bike sooner, rather than later.”
