The fact that the heat would set riders and teams an additional challenge in Thailand was to be expected, and so it was as the Superbikes took to the Buriram track for the second round of the world championship.
An air temperature of 36°C and a track temperature of 56°C characterised day one of action, which saw Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari place 9th and 16th place respectively in the combined standings after the day’s two practice sessions.
Effective set-up work allowed Leon to lower his time by around one second in the afternoon’s session and duck under the 1’34” barrier by the end of day one.
Ryuichi was also able to improve on his times throughout the day, despite not being able to retain the morning’s 14th place finish. The final free practice will kick off at 11am local time tomorrow, before the Superpole and the 20-lap first race, which will get underway at 4pm local time.
Leon Camier 2
9th 1’33.947
“I feel we had a good second session after having spent some time sorting out a few little things with the bike setup this morning. In the afternoon I feel we made some progress, I was feeling much better on my bike and was able to put some good laps together at the end of the session. There a few key areas where we are still losing but we know what these areas are and will keep working to try and improve them. All in all, I think we are not doing a bad job at the moment, but it will be a big fight for sure. Weather conditions are incredible, it’s so hot! The end of the race will be tough for everyone!”
Ryuichi Kiyonari 23
16th 1’34.783
“Today was up and down, with some positives and some frustrating points. This morning I felt good on my bike and was able to find a decent rhythm right from the start of the session. I was looking forward to making a step forward in the afternoon and we did make some improvement, but not as much as we had aimed to. Tomorrow we’ll make some changes to the setup and will try and get closer both in terms of speed and race pace. Temperatures are really challenging but we are coping well enough and this is also positive”.
