The MV Agusta Reparto Corse Team and riders Leon Camier, Jules Cluzel and Lorenzo Zanetti arrived in England to take part at the WorldSBK and WorldSSP UK Round, as the English venue Donington Park circuit hosts the seventh round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship this weekend.
WorldSBK – FP1, FP2
The opening day of the British round of the WorldSBK was held in dry condition and Leon Camier managed to show an excellent performance on his home track, finishing in 6th place the FP1 session with a 1’29.221 lap time, less than 0.7s by the rider on top. In the second and final session the British rider has lowered other 0,3s to his best lap, confirming the 6th place in the time sheet and accessing the Superpole2 tomorrow.
WorldSSP – FP1, FP2
In today’s timed practice Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse wanted to test new electronic settings, which obviously lengthened the time required to reach a set-up similar to the other competitors. Moreover, Cluzel had to stand by for about 40 minutes to the box at the beginning of the second session, because of the breaking and consequent replacement of the oil radiator. The Frenchman could not do better than 13th position (1’32.119), while his teammate, the Italian Lorenzo Zanetti finished in 9th position (1’31.682), entering to the Superpole2 tomorrow.
Cluzel, currently 3rd in championship standings, will start from the Superpole1 and will try to comeback the ranks ahead of the WorldSSP race on Sunday.
The MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider will be back on track tomorrow morning, when they will face the respective Superpole session, chasing the best grid position. While the WorldSBK Race 1 is scheduled at 15:00 local time (UK).
Leon Camier #2 – I am very happy with this first day at Donington, my home track. The feeling with the bike was definitely good and I was able to lap pretty fast today. We still lack a small step to get into the top 5 but the 6th position definitely is a result that let us hoping for a good Superpole2 and race.
Jules Cluzel #16 – This afternoon we have basically not rode. Unfortunately we faced a technical problem in the first session that created another problem in the afternoon session, forcing me to go out only in the last minutes of the second session. Now we have to work hard to figure out exactly how to fix this situation and being competitive for tomorrow’s sessions.
Lorenzo Zanetti #87 – We’re doing a little ‘hard for some race because of some minor problems. Today we knew we couldn’t fight with the top positions because this morning we had to try a few things that the boys have prepared during the week, just to try to take another step forward. Unfortunately, these changes did not work and we had to start from zero in the second session. In the end we found a base allowing us to stay in the top 10. Tomorrow we will use a new engine and I am confident that this will help us in tomorrow’s qualifying day.
