Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli finally feels that he can use his RSV4 to its ‘full potential’ at the new World Superbike track of Sepang. The Frenchman found that extra pace he was looking for and was able to edge his team-mate, Marco Melandri to the top of the combined free practice time-sheets.

Aprilia dominated the first day with three RSV4s in the top three spots of the combined standings. Behind the two official RSV4s ridden by Guintoli and Melandri, Red Devils Roma’s Toni Elias was third on his satellite Aprilia. All three riders have prior track knowledge from their time competing in MotoGP and 250 championships.

In afternoon practice Guintoli confirmed the great pace he had demonstrated in the first session, extended by 75 minutes in order to give the riders a chance to familiarise themselves with the track. Finishing the morning session in third place, the Frenchman put the top time on the boards in the afternoon, shaving off almost two tenths of a second. Guintoli was also able to gather comforting data in terms of race pace, despite the fact that a lot of work still needs to be done to find the best setup.

"The results are clear today, the RSV4 works really well here. In the last few rounds we haven't able to use the bike's full potential, but here we have the conditions to be able to do it and I obviously like that a lot,” said Guintoli.

“Not only is our flying lap fast, but our pace is too and it has been since the first session. I am also feeling good on runs over several laps. In short this has been a decidedly positive day from all points of view".

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