Conditions were warm and sunny at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain today as the eighth round of the Superbike World Championship got underway. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and its rider Lucas Mahias head into this event with the aim of continuing the growth trend seen in recent rounds and reaching the top ten in all three races.
This morning the French rider was out on track for the first free practice, during which he worked on the set-up of his ZX-10RR together with his technical staff. With a time of 1’43”631, Mahias finished in seventeenth position.
The second practice took place in the afternoon. Lucas improved on his best time by almost a second to finish thirteenth in the combined standings with a 1’42”737.
Tomorrow will see Mahias compete in Superpole and the first race of this Catalan race weekend.
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)
Lucas Mahias
“Not an easy morning because I struggled during FP1 to find good feeling with the bike, which seemed different to the one I’ve ridden at previous rounds. The situation luckily improved in FP2 though and I worked well with the team, the performance of my Ninja picking up. I lowered my lap time by almost a second, without even using the soft tyres, and found good pace. This leaves me confident ahead of tomorrow’s Superpole and race. I want to thank the team as everyone’s worked really well again today.”
