Good first day for the Garnier Racing Junior Team

Sylvain Barrier discovers the Donington track in 1000 cc and does a good job with the 6th time. Gregg Black enters the “top 15” with the 14th position.

It was the first time for both Gregg and Sylvain to go around this difficult track on a 1000 cc bike and things went pretty smoothly. Sylvain Barrier has been already twice on the podium this year and he can reasonably hope to repeat this kind of performance. Now that he has finished his learning experience of the Superstock 1000 category, Gregg Black is able to be in the top 15 and we hope that he will score his first championship points next Sunday. He was not very far of achieving that goal at Misano last Sunday, so let’s hope for the best possible result.

Xavier Simeon (Ducati) the leader of the championship was again the fastest on the track toady. But his main opponents for the title, Maxime Berger (Honda) and Claudio Corti (Suzuki) are not very far behind him in second and third positions.

Gregg Black: “I am more at ease than usual. I go with my own rhythm. I did some correct lap times. I had a few slides from the rear and we have to work on the settings. It was a good session. I was 5th in the 2nd split for a while because Xavier Simeon invited me to follow him, but I had a big slide in the chicane. I want to continue the weekend with this kind of rhythm.”

Sylvain Barrier: “This is my first time here at Donington on a 1000 cc bike. I like this track. There is still some work to do to find the right bracket. Then it should be OK. I lost the rear a few times and we shall work on the settings. Tomorrow shouldn’t be too bad.”

Michel Garnier (team manager): “Sylvain was not bad in 9th position then he progressed to 6th place. This is the first free practice session, we shall fix what’s not perfect yet and do a good qualifying session. I am happy with Gregg. I let him free from Donington so he can express his talent. I hope Sylvain will be on the first row, or the 2nd one eventually, and Gregg in the top 10.”