Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Lucas Mahias have completed day two of practice and qualifying making up the sixth WorldSBK round at Most in the Czech Republic.
Yesterday, the Frenchman made the most of free practice, getting to grips with a track he’s never raced at before and finishing the two sessions in fourteenth place, with a time of 1’33”173.
This morning, having seen the part wet track conditions due to overnight rain, Lucas chose not to take part in the third and final practice and therefore rounding out the combined practices in fourteenth position.
Later in the morning it was time for Superpole, which establishes the grid positions for the weekend’s races. Mahias put in an excellent performance, improving on his previous best by almost a second. With a time of 1’32”272, Lucas finished tenth, earning himself a sport on the fourth row of the grid for race 1, which ran over a distance of 22 laps.
Lucas didn’t make the fastest start but after a few laps, once he’d got into his rhythm, the Frenchman was able to make up places and cross the line twelfth, adding more points to his overall championship tally.
Tomorrow will see Mahias lining up for the Superpole Race and Race 2, which will conclude this sixth WorldSBK round.
Autodrom Most – Czech Republic – Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Redding (BMW) – 3) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Kawasaki) ……. 14) Mahias (Kawasaki).
Superpole: 1) Rea (Kawasaki) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Rinaldi (Ducati) – 4) Bautista (Ducati) – 5) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 6) Gerloff (Yamaha)…………10) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Race 1: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Redding (BMW) – 4) Rea (Kawasaki) – 5) Bassani (Ducati) – 6) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……. 12) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“The bike is better compared to yesterday, but we still have problems through the first sector. I was quick in Superpole and scored a good tenth-place finish, but I didn’t make a great start to Race 1 unfortunately, losing several positions. Once I found my rhythm, I was able to make up ground and then picked up the pace in the final stages to successfully fend off attacks from some of my rivals. So a strong finish, which leaves me feeling confident ahead of tomorrow. We’ll try to do better in both the sprint race and Race 2. Thanks to my team for all their hard work.”
