Nurburgring: Lowes got the 8th pole-position
SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Nürburg, Germany
10 stage, 30 August – 1 September 2013
Saturday, 31 August
Both riders of the Russian team Yakhnich Motorsport will start tomorrow from the leader position: Sam Lowes got the 8th pole-position on the 11 stage and Vladimir Leonov will start from the 4th place.
Today the weather was not very good as it started to rain before Tissot-Superpole qualification in Superbike and the asphalt got cool so leaders of the WSS couldn’t improve lap time. However, all riders struggled for the results until last minutes.
During the FP2 Sam Lowes had to return in garage because of the engine problems. But all team worked to be in time for the second qualification. Sam took part in the QP2 but his farstest lap was 2'00.799 (2 sec slower than yesterday) and Sofuoglu aslo couldn’t improve his time. Leonov finished on the 7th place trying to save tyres and bike. It was clear that positions on the grid will be determined by the Friday results. Also this race was stopped by the red flag because of Yves Polzer’s high side. The race Direction decided not to continue the race. Both riders of the Mahi Racing Team India will start from the second and third positions, Sam – from the first, Leonov – 4th.
Sam Lowes: “Today was the strange day. In the morning I was in the box waiting when my team change the engine and during the qualification - for the dry asphalt. We decided to get on the track but didn’t wait for the miracle – to show good pace. Tomorrow I prefer the dry race”.
Vladimir Leonov: “The race started as wet but after few laps we returned into boxes as there was no reason to waste wet tyres because 80% of the asphalt was dry and our tyres didn’t work. We pit out 10 min before the end. 4th position in Nurburgring is very good as the start is always densely and first turn is very artful. We made a new engine, similar to what we used in Moscow. Hope for the sunny weather on Sunday”.
On Saturday there also was the race of the STK-600 where the team Yakhnich Motorsport represented by the rising star of the motorsport Dakota Mamola. Despite of the insufficient experience in Nurburgring and dense traffic he got only the 18 position in the qualification. Mamola improved his results finishing 14th and got 2 points. The pace during the race was the same as riders in TOP-10. There were only 10 laps in Superstock-600 so Dako didn’t have time to rise higher. Dakota hopes to realize all his experience in the next race which will be in the Magny-Cours.
Dakota Mamola: “It’s not bad race but I prefer to finish in the TOP-10. To this group I lacked for few seconds. The problem was with the start as I had to burst through the traffic and lost 4-5 sec. On the last lap I saw backs of guys from TOP-10. It was veru short race and my first time in Nurburgring”.