Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Lucas Mahias are tackling round nine of the Superbike World Championship at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal. The Frenchman has never raced with a superbike at this track (he missed last year’s event due to injury) and so used the first practice session to build confident with the track and find a good setup for his Ninja. Unfortunately, a crash in the final stages prevented Mahias from improving on the time he’d set earlier on in the session (1’43”146) and saw him place nineteenth.
Lucas was back out in the afternoon for second practice and was able to improve by a good seven tenths, which meant he rounded out the day in seventeenth place overall.
Tomorrow will see Mahias compete in both Superpole and the weekend’s first race.
Autodromo do Algarve – Portimao – Portugal – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 2) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 3) Gerloff (Yamaha) – 4) Rea (Kawasaki) – 5) Bautista (Ducati)……. 17) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“The day started badly with a crash in FP1. Unfortunately, the bike was badly damaged and I couldn’t return to the track. My technicians did a great job, repairing it in time for FP2, in which I worked hard to find a good setup. I improved significantly on my earlier time but tomorrow I’ll need to do even better in Superpole to be sure of a good grid position. Thanks to my guys for all their efforts today.”
