HASLAM CRASHES IN THE IMOLA SUPERPOLE, RESTARTS AND TAKES A HEROIC FIFTH PLACE ON THE STARTING GRID
GREAT PROGRESS FOR JORDI TORRES FOR HIS DÉBUT ON THE ITALIAN CIRCUIT AND SIXTH PLACE IN QUALIFYING
Imola, 9 May 2015 – The Superpole held today at Imola had the Team Aprilia Racing – Red Devils garage on the edge of their seats. Easily qualifying for the final session, Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres took all their determination to the track, in the end bringing home two spots on the second row of the grid.
But the biggest result for both of them goes beyond the times they put on the sheets. Haslam, improving consistently, started with a race tyre when the lights turned green. As always the goal was to gain confidence with the bike and track before putting on the special soft tyre in search of the best possible time. Unfortunately the plans that Leon and the team had made were changed by a crash on the Variante Alta, fortunately without any harm to the rider. It was the Brit’s RSV4 RF that paid the price, with the mechanics managing to get it back on the track in record time, but with an abnormal slant on the right semi-handlebar.
Despite the problem, Leon was still able to put in a flying lap that will place him on the fifth spot on the starting grid for the races tomorrow.
Leon Haslam: “My general feeling is really good, although I’m still struggling in the chicanes. That’s why I crashed, fortunately without doing any damage. We have been working well, in spite of the fact that it has been quite a demanding weekend for us. Thanks to the team I was able to put in a good time anyway on the qualifier tyre, even if the semi-handlebar was a bit bent and kept me from being at 100%. On a particularly difficult track for us we were still able to achieve the best possible result and we’ll be trying hard tomorrow as well.”
The nice surprise of the day was Jordi Torres’ improvement, on his absolute maiden ride on this circuit which puts even the most expert riders in difficulty. The Spaniard took full advantage of the Pirelli soft tyre on his flying lap, placing behind his team mate on the second row straight away. This is a respectable result for a rider who has already demonstrated his skill setting a good race pace.
Jordi Torres: “Looking at the times from yesterday and today I’d say we took a big step forward. The track is complicated with a lot of asphalt changes and the chicanes that break up the pace. For me it isn’t so much the single lap that’s difficult, but just avoiding making any mistakes. Here if you miss your braking spot by a metre it costs you a lot of time. I owe Leon a lot of thanks. Riding ahead of me on the track he showed me how to take on every turn and chicane. I’m pleased with my Superpole placing. I think tomorrow there will be a pack of very fast riders, whereas I’ll be able to do battle with the followers who more or less have my pace. Staying behind Leon would be a great result for me, but I think he still has just a bit more than I do.”
