08 May ROUND 4 CHRONICLE KAWASAKI PUCCETTI RACING
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain has staged the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship, in which Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, ISB Sport ambassador, is racing with English rider Tom Sykes. In Friday free practice sessions, Sykes placed twenty-fourth with a time of 1’44”486, while Saturday morning he finished the third and final practice twenty-third, with a best of 1’43”813.
Lucas Mahias, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider of Supersport, who is standing in for injured Can Oncu, classified fourteenth in Friday free practice sessions having set a best lap of 1’46”224.
In the late morning Tom competed in Superpole, improving further on his time to set a 1’42”608 and qualify twenty-second. Sykes therefore got away from the eighth row of the grid for the afternoon’s race, which ran in hot and sunny conditions. On the other hand, Mahias improved on his lap time by a second (1’45”227) to qualify thirteenth, which meant a fifth row start for the afternoon’s 18-lap race.
During the Race 1, the British rider didn’t make the fastest start, but the race was brought to a halt with a red flag already on lap four due to a crash. The race was restarted but reduced to 17 laps. After making a good start, Tom was able to maintain a good pace, ultimately crossing the line seventeenth, not far from the point’s zone.
In the Supersport Race, the Frenchman made a strong start but then got caught up in a group and slipped back a few positions. Having run inside the point’s zone for almost the entire race, Mahias lost two places in the final stages after coming into contact with another rider. This meant that he finished his race in sixteenth place, just outside the point’s zone.
Sunday, under rather cloudy skies, the Englishman competed in the Superpole race and Race 2. In the sprint, Tom again lined up on row eight and was unable to do better than nineteenth given the limited laps available.
The second and final race of this WorldSBK weekend ran in the early afternoon. During the course of lap one, Tom crashed through turn 4, damaging the bike which meant he was unable to return to the track.
On the Supersport Race 2, Mahias made a good start and this allowed him to immediately move up into the chasing group. As the race went on, the Frenchman picked up the pace and climbed up the field as far as thirteenth place, which awarded him three championship points.
