Jonas Folger and his crew in Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance began the race weekend not far from the capital of Catalonia with important comparative testing and ended the first day of practice with room for improvement.
After Jonas Folger was able to extensively test his BMW M 1000 RR at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before he started his rookie season, the German travelled to Spain for round nine of the season with a good feeling.
In free practice one on a sunny Friday morning, Folger started the weekend in 16th place, just losing 1.311 seconds off the pace. In the second session in the afternoon, however, the 28-year-old BMW rider was unable to improve. He set a similar lap time to this morning’s session and finished the opening day of practice in 17th place.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo Action / MGM Racing Performance, BMW M 1000 RR)
FP1: P16 - 1´43.730 / FP2: P17 - 1´43.836
“As we set out to do, the aim was to play through different setup variants today. After our strong Barcelona test and because of the difficulties in finding a suitable set-up for our bike, there is no way around for these comparisons, even if they are very time-consuming. But the conditions are very different from early April and for some time we have been using a different frame. Anyway, in FP1 we started with our previous setting and in the afternoon, we tried that one from the test. In terms of balance and feelings, there is a big difference. But unfortunately, it has no effect on lap times, as they are almost the same. One obstacle may have been the track conditions, as the asphalt is very slippery, but that is the same for everyone. First and foremost, we need to improve on corner exit so that we can gain a little bit more time there.”
#CatalanWorldSBK - Combined Free Practice Times (FP1/FP2):
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´42.369 (FP2)
2 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki Zx-10R / 1´42.419 +0.050 (FP1)
3 Michael Ruben RINALDI / ITA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 1´42.586 +0.217 (FP2)
17 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action MGM Racing Performance / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´43.730 +1.361 (FP2)
#CatalanWorldSBK – Time Schedule for Saturday September 18th (CET):
09:00 - 09:30 FP3
11:10 - 11:25 Superpole
15:15 Race 1 (20 Laps - 93.140 km)
