Pata Yamaha’s Sylvain Guintoli was surprised by his pace in the second World Superbike free practice session at Phillip Island where he finished almost four-tenths up on Michael Van Der Mark and half a second ahead of the two works Kawasakis.
Guintoli’s 1’30.865 was the only lap under the 1’31s barrier and set halfway through his programme this afternoon. He didn’t complete a race simulation but turned in 22 laps in total with almost half in the 1’31s bracket.
“It’s a better start than expected. We have known we have a good base but being so fast is a big surprise for us. Today I felt very good, the R1 was fantastic to ride and we will see for the race. They might be different but it’s the first official day of the year and it’s pleasing,” said the Frenchman, speaking at the track.
“It will be a long and tactical race, so we will see if we can keep up the pace. We are only starting the project and there is so much more to come. We have spent a lot of the winter evaluating and assessing, and expected to be continuing this for the opening round at Phillip Island. This is my favourite track on the calendar so hopefully we can continue to improve as the weekend progresses and enjoy a good couple of races with the new split two-day schedule starting tomorrow."
