EXTRAORDINARY SUPERPOLE FOR LEON HASLAM, RIDING HIS APRILIA TO THE TOP OF THE LIST
FOURTH ROW FOR JORDI TORRES
EIGHTH FOR LORENZO SAVADORI, LEADER OF THE SUPERSTOCK 1000 STANDINGS
Magny Cours (France), 3 October 2015 – The forecast was correct and the rain arrived just in time to condition the Magny-Cours Superpole. For Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils things fell into place straight away, with Leon Haslam consistently one of the fastest riders in the wet and ahead of everyone three minutes from the end. Just at that moment the red flag came out due to a crash, so all the riders returned to pit lane, going back out almost immediately for one last go.
While trying to improve, and succeeding, Leon attempted to overtake in order not to miss his chance but he found himself on the kerb, losing control of his RSV4 RF. After the marshals gave him a lift to pit lane he realised at that moment that he had held onto the top time, which means he will start the two races tomorrow from the coveted spot on the grid in front of the rest.
Jordi Torres, on the other hand, struggled with his lack of experience in the wet on a track he is tackling for the first time. After putting the fifth best time on the sheets in FP3, reporting good sensations in the dry, in Superpole the Spanish rider had to settle for twelfth place. So tomorrow he will have to come back from behind in both races, starting from the fourth row of the grid.
Leon Haslam: “The last lap in Superpole I was determined to push. I thought a lot of others would be improving. I left a lot of space between me, Scassa and Jordi, but I caught them up faster than I had expected and when I tried to overtake them I ended up on the kerb and took a slide. I didn’t think I had held onto first place. I realized it only because the track marshals took me to the winner’s circle instead of the garage! I had a good feeling in the wet. Throughout the weekend we’ve been close to the top times despite focusing on our race pace. The guys at Aprilia did a brilliant job. I’m sure that tomorrow we’ll be able to make a play for it no matter what the weather brings.”
Jordi Torres: “This morning in FP3 we took a good step forward, both with the setup and my feeling. There are still a few problems with the braking sections where the rear end tends to move around too much. I tried to change my riding style a bit, as well as making some changes in the setup for FP4 and I did that with a different tyre than the one we had used up to that point to save a bit in view of the race. In the wet, on the other hand, I stepped a bit lightly. On a track this difficult I need to fully understand the way the bike moves on grooved tyres and change my lines a bit as well. Tomorrow we’ll have to fight. Unfortunately the warm up session won’t be much of an indication, but in the race I’ll be ready to give it my all.”
