Positive WorldSBK practices for Tito Rabat at Donington Park

The WorldSBK field faced low temperatures and cloudy skies but a dry track as the action making up round five got underway at the Donington Park circuit today.

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Tito Rabat worked tirelessly to adapt their Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica to the British track, one that is both technical and undulating.

In the first free practice, the Spaniard set a time of 1’28”114 to place seventeenth. In the afternoon’s FP2, Tito improved by eight tenths (1’27”317) to round out the day in eighteenth position but lying just 1.3 seconds from provisional pole position.

Rabat will be back out tomorrow for Superpole and Race 1

Donington Park – Castle Donington – UK
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Petrucci (Ducati) – 3) Bulega (Ducati) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) ……. 18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “Beyond our actual position in the standings, today’s been very positive. We immediately found a good setup for our Ninja and I was able to make continuous improvement throughout the day. The level in Superbike is really high, which means that although I’m only just over a second from the front, I find myself lying nineteenth. The important thing though is that our bike is working well. If we continue like this, we can run two good races. Thanks to the team for all their hard work today.”

Not an easy start for Can Oncu at Donington Park

With one free practice in the morning and Superpole in the afternoon, the fifth WorldSSP round is now in play at Donington Park in the UK.

It was an uphill start for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Can Oncu, who was hindered by a technical problem at the start of free practice. Losing precious time, Oncu closed the session in fourteenth place with a time of 1’30”879.

In the subsequent Superpole session, rider and team worked hard to adapt their ZX-6R to the English track. Can improved slightly and maintained the same position as in practice. Tomorrow he will get away from the fifth row of the grid in the first of the weekend’s races.

Donington Park – Castle Donington – UK
Supersport World Championship
Free practice: 1) Montella (Ducati) – 2) Navarro (Ducati) – 3) Booth-Amos (Triumph) – 4) Mahias (Yamaha) – 5) Debise (Yamaha) – 6) Manzi (Yamaha) …………14) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Superpole: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Montella (Ducati) – 3) Manzi (Yamaha) – 4) Debise (Yamaha) – 5) Mahias (Yamaha) – 6) Navarro (Ducati) …………14) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “A complicated day due to a technical problem that we had right at the start of free practice which prevented us from setting up the bike as we’d have liked. I worked hard with my team in Superpole to find the right setup for our Ninja and in the end, I finished fourteenth. For tomorrow we need to sort a few things in warm-up and then we’ll give it our all in the race and see what we can do.”

Tito Rabat fights back in Race 1 at Donington Park

It was cool and cloudy at Donington Park on Saturday as the fifth WorldSBK round continued. During Friday’s free practices Tito Rabat and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing had done a good job setting up their Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica, the Spaniard setting a best time of 1’27”317. This morning saw Rabat back on track for the third and final practice (1’27”076), in which he prepared for Superpole. Despite improving further on his time (1’26”607) during that qualifying session, Tito placed twentieth. As a result, he started Race 1, which ran in the afternoon, from the seventh row of the grid.

When the lights went out he did not make the fastest start but a strong pace allowed Tito to make up positions and cross the line seventeenth.

The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will be back at Donington tomorrow for the Superpole Race and Superbike Race 2.

Donington Park – Castle Donington – UK
Superbike World Championship

Superpole: 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Redding (BMW) – 4) Lowes (Ducati) – 5) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 6) Van der Mark (BMW) ……… 20) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 1 – 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 3) Bautista (Ducati) – 4) Bulega (Ducati) – 5) Rea (Yamaha) – 6) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……… 17) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “I’m not happy with today’s race result, even if we’ve collected important data and understood where we can improve. We’ve shown good pace and closed the gap to the front, but we need more in order to take the kind of step that will allow us to score good result. We’ll try again tomorrow. Thanks to everyone on the team for their precious support.”

One point for Can Oncu in WorldSSP Race 1 at Donington Park

The first race making up round five of the WorldSSP championship played out today at Donington Park in the UK. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Can Oncu had some difficulties during Friday’s practice session and qualified fourteenth in Superpole. This meant that he lined up on the fifth row of the grid for the afternoon’s race, which ran in cool, cloudy conditions but on a dry track.

After making a good start, the Turkish rider was unable to pick up the pace and make up positions. He crossed the line fifteenth, scoring one championship point in the process. Despite everybody’s hard work, the team has not yet been able to find a competitive setup for Can’s ZX-6R. The technicians will continue to work in preparation for tomorrow’s race, also in light of today’s data.

Donington Park – Castle Donington – UK
Supersport World Championship

Race 1: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha – 3) Montella (Ducati) – 4) Navarro (Ducati) – 5) Debise (Yamaha) – 6) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) …… 15) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “Today’s race was a tough one. Unfortunately, we had little time to work on our bike yesterday, which meant that we haven’t yet found a setup that allows us to be quick. I gave it my all in the race, but I couldn’t do more than fifteenth. Now we’ll work with the data collected today to see if we can improve and be more competitive in tomorrow’s race.”

The race results don’t reflect the work by Tito Rabat and his team

The fifth WorldSBK round has drawn to a conclusion today at Donington Park in the UK with the Superpole Race and Race 2.

On Saturday, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Tito Rabat qualified twentieth in Superpole and finished Race 1 in seventeenth position. In both races the Spaniard confirmed the progress seen at the previous round of Misano.

This morning, in cool and cloudy conditions, Rabat lined up on row seven of the grid for the Superpole Race, crossing the line eighteenth.

In Race 2, which ran in the late afternoon, Tito did not make a very fast start. The Spaniard went on to make up a few positions to finish nineteenth.

The sixth WorldSBK round will take place on 19-21 July at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic.

Donington Park – Castle Donington – UK
Superbike World Championship

Superpole Race: 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Rea (Yamaha) – 4) Redding (BMW) – 5) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 6) Bautista (Ducati) …… 18) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Race 2 – 1) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 2) Bulega (Ducati) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Redding (BMW) – 5) Bautista (Ducati) – 6) Petrucci (Ducati) ……… 19) Rabat (Kawasaki)

Tito Rabat: “I’m not totally satisfied with the weekend because we weren’t able to fully exploit the hard work we all did in preparation for the races. We all gave 100% but we’re still missing something in order to take that step forward that will see us scoring the kind of results we know we’re capable of. We need to continue to give it our all and focus on the next round at Most.”

Can Oncu scores points in WorldSSP Race 2 at Donington Park

The second WorldSSP race that ran this afternoon at the British track of Donington Park has rounded out this fifth round of the Supersport World Championship.

The first two days of the weekend were not easy for Can Oncu and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing in that they had difficulty defining the best setup for their ZX-6R bikes. After placing fourteenth in Superpole, the Turkish rider crossed the line fifteenth in Race 1, scoring one championship point in the process. On Sunday the weather was again cool and cloudy, with the 19-lap Race 2 getting underway in the late afternoon.

Oncu made a good start, but during the course of lap three the race was halted with a red flag following an incident involving several riders. The race was restarted but reduced to just 12 laps, with the Turkish rider ultimately finishing twelfth, which bagged him four more precious points.

The next WorldSSP round will take place on 19-21 July at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic.

Donington Park – Castle Donington – UK
Supersport World Championship

Race 2: 1) Huertas (Ducati) – 2) Montella (Ducati) – 3) Navarro (Ducati) – 4) Manzi (Yamaha) – 5) Booth-Amos (Triumph) – 6) Tuuli (Ducati) ……….. 12) Oncu (Kawasaki)

Can Oncu: “It was a difficult race with the red flag and the double start, but in the end we’ve scored some points for the standings. Today we found a setup which meant our bike was performing better but starting further back on the grid and with only twelve laps available made it difficult to do more than twelfth position. We need to stay focused and continue to give it our all in order to achieve better results, maybe already at the next Most round in a week’s time.”