Friday morning’s first free practice session served to open round five of the Superbike World Championship, in which the Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team is competing with rider Bradley Ray.
For Sandro Carusi’s team, this is the first of two home rounds on the 2023 calendar, an important occasion to meet with sponsors and supporters.
In hot and sunny conditions, Ray headed out for the first practice session, which he concluded in nineteenth place with a time of 1’36”292. Despite having never raced with his Yamaha at this track (a circuit he hasn’t visited since 2014), the 2022 BSB champion was able to improve significantly on his best time in FP2, setting a 1’35”523 with which he moved into eighteenth place.
A clear signal that the work carried out on the Englishman’s R1 by the team is paying off, while the rider himself continues to build confidence with the bike and the challenging WorldSBK championship.
Tomorrow, after FP3, Ray will compete in Superpole and the first race of the Italian round.
"I think today’s result is very good considering that Bradley didn’t know the Misano track and, after just two sessions, was lying only 1.6 seconds from the front in the combined standings. This leaves me feeling very confident ahead of tomorrow.”
“I’m very pleased with how these first two practices have gone, at a track I hadn’t seen since 2014. I made the most of FP1, learning the track with my R1, while in the afternoon we continued to move in the right direction, considerably improving my feeling with the bike. Now we’ll check all the data in order to make some further improvements and be able to take another step tomorrow, in both qualifying and the race. But for now, I’m pleased because we’re definitely on the right track.”
