Markus Reiterberger in the top 10
For their first time in Silverstone, Markus Reiterberger, Beau Beaton and Randy Pagaud had to learn quickly this long (5.9 km) and difficult track. It took a long time to find the right settings for Markus, but he could manage the 9th time in his last lap. It was more difficult for Beau and Randy, with some technical issues.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing Ducati Team) qualified in pole position, in front of Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati), Niccolò Canepa (Lazio MotorSport Ducati) and Lorenzo Zanetti (BMW Motorrad Italia). So there will tomorrow four Italian riders on the front row. The Brno race winner Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia) was in fifth, with Leandro Denis Marcado (Pedercini Kawasaki team) in sixth, followed by Lorenzo Baroni (Althea Racing Ducati) and Eddi La Marra (Lorini Honda).
Immediately after these riders came Markus Reiterberger in ninth position, while Beau Beaton and Randy Pagaud were 21st and 28th.
Michel Garnier (team owner): “Randy had some trouble with his quick shifter that was a little bit twisted. So he couldn’t go any faster and it’s too bad. Beau crashed. He missed yesterday afternoon practice session, but he did well in this morning session. He crashed this afternoon, breaking the engine when he hit an apex. We changed one engine yesterday, and now another one today. He is 21st. Markus was around the 12th position when at the end he could go faster and do the 9th time. He did this good performance in his very last lap. Doing that at the end of the session, with used tyres, this is beautiful. So I am happy.”
Markus Reiterberger: “The first session in the morning was not so good. I was only in 15th position. So I went to see Peter Goddard and after that we had good suspension settings. I started the afternoon session with old tyres, and then I pulled into the pits to fit new tyres. The lap times were fast, I was 12th, then I went to the pits again and we made some small modifications to the front suspension. It was much better and I could go fast. In the last lap, I could go to the ninth position, so as this track is difficult to learn, I am happy.”
Beau Beaton: “My qualifying practice session was not so bad. Yesterday we had a small problem so we lost some track time. This morning, in the free practice session we made a big progression, and this afternoon we made another big progression of 2 seconds. Then in a fast lap we had a small incident in a chicane and we crashed. That was it for the session. But having said that, I think we can go faster.”
Randy Pagaud: “I could do immediately the same lap times as the day before, with used tyres. I went back to the pits to fit some new tyres. I had a problem with the quick shifter that did not help. I had to stop the engine and then restart it to make it work. With the new tyres, I was 2 seconds quicker on this track that is complicated to learn. I keep trying and we’ll see during the race.”
Qualifying results:
1. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 2′08.582
2. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 2′08.779
3. Niccolò Canepa (Lazio Motorsport) Ducati 1098 R 2′09.168
4. Lorenzo Zanetti (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock) BMW S1000RR 2′09.215
5. Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock) BMW S1000RR 2′09.576
6. Leandro Denis Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 2′10.005
7. Lorenzo Baroni (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 2′10.254
8. Eddi La Marra (Team Lorini) Honda CBR1000RR 2’10.268
9. Markus Reiterberger (Garnier alpha Racing Team) BMW S1000RR 2′10.293
…
21. Beau Beaton (Garnier alpha Racing Team) BMW S1000RR 2′11.974….
28. Randy Pagaud (Garnier alpha Racing Team) BMW S1000RR 2′13.826…
