Round One – Phillip Island, Australia 20-22 February 2015
Conditions: Dry, sunny
After a winter of preparation and testing Team Hero EBR riders Larry Pegram and Niccolo Canepa had their first competitive outings of the new WSBK season during two official practice sessions at the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit in Australia.
Niccolo placed 20th overall after having a technical issue with his machine very early in the morning session and then falling, without injury, just as he was getting up to speed in the afternoon practice period.
The Italian rider set a best of 1’33.974 lap today after only completing three flying laps in total. Having made a 1’32.002 best in testing at Phillip Island only a few days ago on his Hero EBR 1190RX, Canepa is confident that the second day of practice and qualifying should bring real improvements in his current position.
Rider/team manager Pegram was able to complete 33 laps today, despite some issues in the first session that reduced his track time. He set a best lap of 1’34.594 in the afternoon session, despite track temperatures that rose to just over 50°C, reducing outright grip. Overnight he now sits in 22nd position with expectations to move forward on day two of practice.
Both Hero EBR riders will be out to qualify for the first Superpole contests of the new season on Saturday 21st February, to start the two 22-lap races on Sunday from the best possible grid positions.
Larry Pegram
“Obviously this is not the day we wanted to start with. I had some problems this morning and Niccolo also obviously had too, on the first lap. It was a freak deal because we have been so consistent and Nick has been so fast in testing. It is disappointing for sure but we will get our bearings straight. I think we both tried to hustle in the afternoon session and Nick did three laps and then just tipped over. It is a day we both need to put behind us because we know we have put some solid testing in. We will come back tomorrow and be ready to go.”
Niccolo Canepa
“We had a problem this morning and I crashed in the afternoon, which was my mistake. These things happen, this is racing, and we will be back again tomorrow. It is a bit of a problem for the weekend but we are lucky because in Australia we have been able to test on Monday and Tuesday leading up to race weekend. So I already know how the track is. The bike is ready for tomorrow and I am not worried at all. I was interested to test the new tyres in very hot conditions like today but tomorrow should be the same so we will test them then. We will see what happens tomorrow and I feel comfortable with the bike already.”
