On day one of practice at WorldSBK’s season finale in Portugal, Jonas Folger made another impressive start to the weekend.
Jonas Folger got on well right away at his second wildcard entry in the World Championship with production based 1000cc race bikes. The Yamaha Superbike, with which he also raced in Barcelona last month, is becoming more familiar to him with every lap. In fresh 17 degrees this morning, the 27-year-old German rider began the race weekend close to the Atlantic coastline not far from Lisbon seventh fastest. In the afternoon, in warmer conditions, he was able to find something more than half a second form his best effort during FP1 and finished eighth in Friday’s combined timesheet. Consequently, he was only seven tenths of a second above the day’s best time.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (Bonovo action powerd by MGM Racing, Yamaha YZF R1), FP1: P7 - 1´38.211 / FP2: P8 - 1´37.628:
“It was again a good start into the weekend. At first, we were mainly busy with the gearing because Estoril is a new track for everyone. So, there was hardly any indication of this, and that was why we had to start from zero. As soon as we were on the right track with this matter, we continued with settings and electronics tuning. At the end of the day, we were able to set a strong lap time and our pace is already very promising. On Saturday we still need to fine-tune the electronics and a few clicks to the chassis. There are also a few parts of the track where I can improve my riding skills. But so far, we are happy how things went and look forward to the remaining weekend. Hopefully, everything continues to go on smoothly and flawlessly, like today.”
#EstorilWorldSBK - Superbike Combined Free Practice Times (FP1/FP2):
1 Scott REDDING / GBR / ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati / 1´36.886 (FP2)
2 Toprak RAZGATGLIOGLU / TUR / PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´36.975 +0.089 (FP2)
3 Loris BAZ / FRA / Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´37.084 +0.198 (FP2)
8 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / Bonovo Action by MGM Racing / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´37.628 +0.742 (FP2)
#EstorilWorldSBK - Time Schedule for Saturday October 17th (CET):
10:00 - 10:20 FP3
12:00 - 12:25 Superpole
15:00 Race 1