The eighth Superbike World Championship began at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic today with the first practice sessions.
The Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team is replacing Bradley Ray with Roberto Tamburini. The British rider underway surgery on his right shoulder on 26 July to solve a problem that had been limiting his performance. The operation was a success and Bradley, who is already back home, will gradually be able to resume his physical preparation.
Tamburini competed in last year’s WorldSBK championship with Sandro Carusi’s team and therefore knows the technical staff very well. During today’s practices at Most, Roberto worked to rebuild confidence with his R1. FP1 got underway on a wet track with rain falling just a few minutes before the session, but the surface gradually dried. With a time of 1’38”991, the Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team rider finished in thirteenth place.
The second free practice ran in the afternoon on a dry track. Roberto initially improved on his lap time (1’36”055) but was then slowed by a technical problem, which meant he rounded out the day in twenty-second position.
Tamburini will be back on track tomorrow for the Superpole and the first of the weekend’s races.
"Today’s sessions were conditioned by unstable weather this morning and by a technical issue we had this afternoon. I hope we can find the right setting in tomorrow’s morning practice, so that we’re well prepared for Superpole and race 1.”
Roberto Tamburini #20
“A bit of a strange day. This morning we were hindered by rain and this afternoon we had a technical problem, which can happen, but it prevented me from clocking up the miles I need in order to build confidence with my bike, which is different to the one I used last season. I hope to be able to make up for this in FP3 tomorrow, so that we can be as competitive as possible in Superpole and then race 1.”
