Storm of emotions over Moscow Raceway
SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
8th ROUND, 19-21st July 2013
Saturday, July 20
Qualification of 8th round eni FIM World Superbike Championship in Supersport ended suddenly and quiet emotional for the championship leader Sam Lawes (Yakhnich Motorsport): together with Vladimir Leonov team mates will start tomorrow from 2nd and 3d, but pole was almost in the hands of brit.
Rain seriously effected Saturday qualification results. Early in the morning a shower poured on Moscow Raceway and stopped before the start of morning WSBK qualification. Circuit remained wet and cold, so all the racers spent just some time on the track.
The similar situation was at the second half of the day: white flags appeared in various sectors few times in the session, most of the racers just been waiting till the track gets dry or the very last minutes of the session to complete one or two quick laps. However, no one, except Roberto Tamburini (Lorini Honda) who finished session 19th, was able to improve Friday times during the day.
Seeing that reining world champion Kenan Sofouglu (Mahi Racing Team India) still holds best combined time (1’38.088), Sam Lawes tried to change the situation and he almost did it by the end of the session. In all three sectors of Moscow Raceway he showed times, which eventually had to make fastest lap around 1’38.080 or even 1’38.050, which would be an incredible breakthrough. Alas, entering the last corner he almost fell because of the sudden engine stall. Just by miracle he “caught” the bike, than crossed the finish line, stopped in a safe place near the pit-wall, climbed over the fence and went to the garage, showing how much he disappointed of this fail.
Sam Lawes: “Of course, I was so angry because of that: that was a fast lap!.. I’m not going to blame the rain, though it made some effect. But I was not satisfied with my times on dry. I know we can be much faster. The engine stalled in a crucial moment. As a result, we are only second, but very, very close to the pole”.
Vladimir Leonov: “I am happy with results of… yesterday qualification. We did all the work on Friday, we showed good times on Friday, and today there was no improvement because of the rain – in the morning (practice session) and in the qualifying. We set everything up but didn’t make a step forward, so we just repeated yesterday’s practice. Generally I’m in a good mood – we are starting from front row!”
Race of the 8th round of WSS starts tomorrow at 13:30 Moscow time. Don’t miss it!