POSITIVE VIBES AFTER THE FIRST DAY AT ASSEN!

A two-sided Friday for Go Eleven, FP 1 in great shape with Chaz constantly in the first three positions, FP 2 close to the Top Ten, after some important changes made between the two sessions.

The first free practice session on the Assen circuit starts with “fresh” conditions; 17 ° C in the air, 25 ° C on the asphalt. Davies immediately starts very strong with the harder compound, entering the top positions of the temporary standing. After a short stop in the pits, he returns to the track and improves his time considerably further, going under the wall of the 35. He carries out the whole session keeping the same tyres, focusing his work on the reaction of the bike with used tyres, saving the softer and faster Pirellis for the rest of the weekend.

Free Practice 1:
P 1   S. Redding   1.34.591
P 2   J. Rea   +0.078
P 3   C. Davies   +0.380

For FP 2, the technicians and the Welsh rider decide to make some important changes to the bike, to try to improve in some areas of the circuit, especially in the second half of the track. Unfortunately, the changementsa feel immediately not very effective and Chaz can’t repeat the times of the morning. Time during the session is short and to return to the morning set-up would have meant losing the entire practice. It’s a shame not to be able to improve, but on Friday no points are awarded, and now the Team has the data to be able to decide the new path. With a view to Saturday, we return to the balance of FP 1, and we start from there, aware of our potential.

Free Practice 2:
P 1   J. Rea   1.34.391
P 2   G. Gerloff   +0.121
P 3   A. Bautista   +0.350
…
P 14   C. Davies   +1.112

Tomorrow is already time for important sessions, from Superpole to Race 1 most of the Dutch weekend will be decided. It is forbidden to make mistakes in qualifying, here at the TT circuit, where over 10 riders are in a second, starting from behind could compromise even more the results of the races!

Chaz Davies (Rider):
“We had a good start of the day in the morning. I felt good with the bike, in general my Ducati V4-RS was working ok, but we were trying to obviously improve. So, we made some reasonable changes for the afternoon, quite big, and I didn’t feel like anything really worked very good, I felt like we went backwards, we didn’t have a particularly smooth session. So, I think we will look at our setting of FP 1 and try to go on a different direction, cause this afternoon it was definitively not the right way. ”

CHAZ STRUGGLE WITH THE FRONT, BUT GAINS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS!

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“After the free practice we did not expect to face these difficulties in the race. Both in FP 1 and FP 3 we proved to be fast both on the Superpole lap and on the race pace, so much so that we could aim for the podium. The unlucky event of Superpole has damaged us for sure, but in the race we were never fast anyway, there was no grip on the front and at the end of the race the front tyre was strangely very damaged. But I think that the choice of compounds was not wrong; even if many have focused on softer choices, on the podium, 2 out of 3, they had made the same choice as us. Now it is important to understand what happened in order not to find ourselves in the same condition again, and aim for two good races tomorrow.”

P4, BEST INDEPENDENT, IN CHAZ DAVIES 200TH RACE!

Team Go Eleven and Chaz Davies cheered up the Dutch weekend with an excellent performance in Race 2, at the 200th start of the Welsh rider in WorldSBK.

After yesterday’s difficult day, in the night, the TT-Circuit is hit by a violent storm, which floods large sections of the Cathedral of Speed. The Warm Up is even postponed, due to a large amount of water in Turn 5. During the session the track is half wet and Chaz takes to the track to make some laps without pushing to the limit.

Warm Up:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.36.535
P 2   J. Rea   +0.431
P 3   A. Bautista   +0.504
…
P 9   C. Davies   + 2.117

The Superpole Race is a fundamental race for those who struggled in qualifying, getting into the top nine is the main goal to aim for an excellent Race 2. Chaz starts quite well, defending his position and begins the chase to the Top Ten. Lap after lap he recovers positions, with a good pace. He goes into battle with Rabat and Gerloff for eighth position, then finishing ninth with a good defense in the last lap. In 10 laps recovering so many positions is not easy, but the third row conquered for Race 2 is definitively important.

Superpole Race:
P 1   J. Rea   15’54.593
P 2   M. Rinaldi   +3.542
P 3   T. Razgatliouglu  + 3.600
…
P 9   C. Davies   + 11.891

Just before Race 2, as in Donington a few weeks ago, some threatening clouds appear over Assen. Fortunately, after a few drops, the sun returns and the last race of the weekend starts on dry asphalt. Chaz has a good start, follows an inside line in the first corners and manages to have an excellent speed on the straight that allows him to recover a couple of positions. His race pace is fast from the start, so much so that he manages to overtake Sykes and Lowes in a few laps. He then sets his pace and sets off in pursuit of the Ducati Redding and Rinaldi duo, in battle with each other for third place. Scott is a bit faster, while Michael and Chaz are fighting each other. The Go Eleven rider throws himself into the second sector and conquers the fourth position. He stretches just enough to defend himself from Bautista’s comeback, but from the middle of the race on, the front tyre is completely destroyed, as happened yesterday. Solid performance by the Welsh rider who stops right behind the podium in his 200th World Superbike race!

Best Independent Team & Rider, Go Eleven is back in business!

Race 2:
P 1   J. Rea   33’27.685
P 2   S. Redding   +1.605
P 3   A. Locatelli  +3.431
P 4   C. Davies   +8.695

Chaz Davies (Rider):
“We made a quite big change on the bike and it was good! I am happy to feel a step forward in turnings; it was turning a much more naturally and that helped not only the performance of the bike, but also from the physical point of view, I had to work on my self a little bit less and I could let the bike do the work naturally. So credit to my crew for making a step forward, for being brave in a decision, it was definitively the right one. Unfortunately we suffered the same problem of yesterday, at seven laps to go I killed the front tyre. That was a bit disappointing, because I was really feeling like I could get in the mix for the podium, catching Scott a little bit; rear tyre was quite good, but the front was absolutely dead. From that I was just managing to stay on the bike, I was really loosing it a lot, I had to save a lot of front slides. I did what I needed to do, I conserve the fourth place and the Top Independent, so happy with that and thanks to the Go Eleven Team!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“In the Superpole Race we weren’t very fast but it was too important to be able to get into the nine, and Chaz did it. For the race, the team then had the courage to risk a completely different set-up, we took a risk but it went well and rewarded us. Chaz’s pace was very fast, and third place was within reach. Unfortunately he finished the front tyre a few laps from the end. A problem we have been carrying around all weekend, we need to understand why we killed the tyre so early. Congratulations to Chaz for his 200th Superbike race; he is more and more in the legend of this Championship!”