Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) and Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse Ninja ZX-10R) will start from the third and fourth rows of the grid respectively for Sunday’s Brands Hatch SBK races, after a torrid final day of qualifying and a tough Superpole contest. Laconi was eighth going into Superpole but difficulty in getting the power to the ground prevented him from being as aggressive as he wanted to be in the single lap contest which determines ultimate grid positions. He dropped to 12th in the pre-race standings, holding onto the last place on row three.
Fonsi fell from his number one bike in the final hour of regulation qualifying and had to use his less favoured ‘second’ bike, swapping back before Superpole to his quickly repaired favoured machine. He was confident to improve on his 14th place after Superpole, but finding little rear traction from his qualifying rubber, he had to settle for 15th, and the fourth row of the grid.
Regis Laconi:“Looking at the situation we find ourselves in, the third row is not too bad. Unfortunately I have a problem getting the power down and when I open the gas while leaned over I lose the rear of the bike. We tried several solutions but we haven’t solved the problem yet. In the Superpole lap I tried not to be too aggressive entering the bends to make the bike go round smoother and faster. I thought I could make a good time but I lost about four tenths more than I expected. I’m not entirely positive about tomorrow but I’ll try to do my best as always.”
Fonsi Nieto:
“Yesterday things went well but this morning’s crash compromised everything we did the day before. Because of that crash I had to use the second bike, which had a different set up and I couldn’t find the right feeling with it. The guys worked really hard to repair the first bike and to find the same set up, I was able to improve with the qualifiying tyre, which gave us good expectations for Superpole. At the beginning of my lap the bike started to spin the rear, which made me ride six tenth slower than during free practice. The problem appeared when entering the turns and that meant that it was very easy to crash. I hope tomorrow it will go better for us, but I think it will be quite hard, especially as I really don’t like this circuit.”
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