The Superpole and first race making up round eight of the Superbike World Championship took place today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
As it did in France, Mahias’ ZX-10R is again featuring the GiVi livery in Spain, a tribute to Manuel Puccetti’s historic sponsor.
Yesterday, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Lucas Mahias finished the first two practice sessions in thirteenth place. This morning, the Catalan track was still wet after overnight rain, and the Frenchman preferred not to take part in FP3. In the subsequent Superpole, Mahias set a time of 1’41”937, improving by almost a second on his best of yesterday and concluding eleventh. A result that saw him start the afternoon’s 20-lap race from the fourth row of the grid. Lucas made a good start but a few laps in, the Frenchman began to experience some electronic issues with his bike, which limited him and prevented him from riding as he would have liked. The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing nevertheless gritted his teeth and brought home a fourteenth-place finish and two championship points.
Tomorrow Lucas Mahias will compete in the Superpole Race followed by the second and final race making up this Catalan WorldSBK round.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Lecuona (Honda) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) ……. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Superpole: 1) Lecuona (Honda) – 2) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 3) Rea (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Bautista (Ducati) – 6) Gerloff (Yamaha) …… 11) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Race 1: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rea (Kawasaki) – 3) Gerloff (Yamaha) – 4) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 5) Razgatliuoglu (Yamaha) – 6) Lecuona (Honda) ……. 14) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“Superpole didn’t go badly and I finished eleventh. But unfortunately in the race, I couldn’t do more than I did. We had some problems with the electronics, and this made it really hard to ride my Ninja. Considering the situation, I tried not to make any mistakes and to finish the race inside the points zone. The team is working to solve the problem and so I’m optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s races.”
