TEAM PATA HONDA LOOKING FOR FORM AFTER TOUGH MISANO

 

 

22 June, 2014 - Misano, Italy - World Superbike Championship
 

Team Pata Honda riders Jonathon Rea and Leon Haslam endured another tough event during round seven of the World Superbike Championships at Misano in Italy, the two British riders again suffering in the heat, whilst technical issues also thwarted forward progress.

Track temperatures were again high as the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade riders did everything they could to maximise their track position to limit their rivals making too much ground ahead of the closing rounds of the season.

With reigning champion and points leader Tom Sykes claiming two wins at Misano, former points leader Rea was forced to ride as hard has he could to stick with the lead pack, claiming a seventh and fifth placed finish, whilst Haslam battled an electrical issue which forced him to circulate mid-pack. He was better placed in race two, but a crash on the final corner dropped him back down the order to 12th at the flag.

Jonathan Rea - 7th & 5th

It’s been a disappointing weekend for me because it feels like we’ve made zero progress here. It was frustrating to be unable to pinpoint and fix the problems we’ve had and, while I don’t want to sound like a broken record, I feel a bit like one with my comments in the garage. We were able to salvage a top five in race two after some brave passing in the fast parts of the circuit but the group at the front was too far away. I can only ride the bike as well as it’s working, but I want to be able to race it again. We can’t just hope that the next round will be better; we need to evaluate what’s been going wrong and try to find some different solutions. It’s been frustrating for the whole team because I know we haven’t been able to get the best out of the CBR this weekend. I know that on the right day and in the right environment, the bike is capable of much, much more.

Leon Haslam - 10th & 12th

I got a bad start in race one and got stuck for a couple of laps before working my way up. By then, I was about four seconds off the group in front, which included Johnny [Rea] and I felt like I was holding my own. I had a few little issues but then, with three laps to go, the ECU seemed to just cut-out. I pulled off the track, re-booted it using the kill-switch and managed to get going again to finish tenth. In race two my start was better but I had a bit of a yo-yo race, losing time in some corners and making it up again in others. I was right on the group that went up to fifth but then had another issue that led to the crash. We need to assess what that problem was and go from there. I think we’ve made some progress this weekend and I was able to do some better lap times in the races but there’s more work to do before Portimao.
 

Next Round: July 4-6, 2014 - Portimao, Portugal

Results WSBK Misano
Race#1
1. Tom Sykes (GBR), Kawasaki
2. Loris Baz (FRA), Kawasaki

3. Marco Melandri (ITA), Aprilia
4. Chaz Davies (GBR), Ducati
5. Silvain Guintoli (FRA), Aprilia
6. Toni Elias (SPA), Aprilia

7. Jonathon Rea (GBR), Pata Honda
8. Davide Guigliano (ITA), Ducati
9. Eugene Laverty (IRL), Suzuki
10. Leon Haslam (GBR), Pata Honda

Race#2
1. Tom Sykes (GBR), Kawasaki
2. Loris Baz (FRA), Kawasaki

3. Luca Scassa (ITA), Kawasaki
4. Silvain Guintoli (FRA), Aprilia
5. Jonathon Rea (GBR), Pata Honda
6. Toni Elias (SPA), Aprilia

7. Eugene Laverty (IRL), Suzuki
8. Alex Lowes (GBR), Suzuki
12. Leon Haslam (GBR), Pata Honda

Standings WSBK after 7 of 13 rounds
1. Sykes, 251 points
2. Guintoli, 212

3. Baz, 210
4. Rea, 199
5. Melandri, 179
6. Davies, 143

7. Giugliano, 111
8. Toni Elias, 109
9. Laverty, 106

10. Haslam, 99

Position	Team	Rider	Bike	ETS Racing Fuel used
4	Pata Honda	Jonathon Rea	CBR1000RR	ESC 1933
10	Pata Honda	Lean Haslam	CBR1000RR	ESC 1933

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