Lausitz September 2006
Sunday 10th September 2006
EMS
Racing Just out the Points in Spectacular German
Race
The EMS
Racing team had one of their most testing days in the
eighth round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup in Germany this
weekend. South African rider Sheridan Morais got tangled up
in the aftermath of a spectacular second lap crash and then
in the restarted race was punted of the track, leaving him
down in 16th place at the finish.
After a
difficult qualifying session where Sheridan ended up in
16th
spot,
the EMS Racing team made further changes to the bike for
morning warm-up. The changes helped the 21 year old get the
bike turned through the faster sections of the track, an
area where he had struggled during
qualifying.
In the
scheduled 14 lap, Sheridan held his own off the start and
managed to get through the first turn melee without
incident. However on lap two there was a spectacular crash
after championship leader Andrea Polita lost control and
his Suzuki tumbled down the middle of the track. Seconds
later an unsighted Illario Dionisi hit the bike flat out
and somersaulted down the track with a dramatic fire ball
behind him. Sheridan saw the incident unfold in front of
him and was able to take avoiding action, but despite
leaving the track and taking to the grass he still came in
contact with one of the fallen bikes as it slid off the
track.
“That
was hectic to say the least; it was like a war zone with
bits of bikes, flames and smoke everywhere. I was right
behind Dionisi just before the crash, he went one way and I
went the other to avoid the bike. I was able to miss most
of it but still smashed into half a bike which destroyed
the radiator and the exhaust system on my Suzuki.”
explained Sheridan.
The EMS
Racing team worked hard to make the necessary repairs to
the bike and did well to get the bike rebuilt in time for
the shortened nine lap restart. Sheridan made a strong
start and immediately moved up into 12th
spot
before becoming embroiled in a tough battle for position.
He spent the rest of the race fighting for a point scoring
finish, but with four laps to go a wild riding Matej Smrz
punted Sheridan off the track, leaving him to rejoin down
in 19th
spot.
“I
got the bike off the line well, but there were so many
people still in front of me going into turn one I
couldn’t make the progress I wanted to. Once I got
into a rhythm I was making good progress and looked set to
have a good battle with Polita but the next thing I know I
was off the track when Smrz T-boned me into one of the
corners. I don’t know what he was doing, it’s
not like he was even trying to pass me because he was a
long way back and I was already in the corner with my knee
on the ground. You could see from the mark he left on my
leathers where his front wheel hit my shoulder.” said
Sheridan.
“It’s
been another tough weekend, but on the plus side I’ve
been involved in two crashes, without actually coming off.
I’m disappointed with the results though so now
I’m focussing on the final two rounds of the
championship at Imola in Italy and Magny Cours in France.
I’ve watched videos of the Imola race last year and
the track looks great and we’ve got a test at Magny
Cours planned so I’m looking forward to it.” He
continued.
The
penultimate round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup takes
place at Imola on 29th
September
to 1st
October
2006.
Saturday 9th September 2006
Tough
Going For EMS Racing in Lausitz
Qualifying
Qualifying
for the eighth round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at
Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany proved to be a tough affair
for the EMS Racing team who were unable to show their usual
pace. Sheridan Morais and the team worked flat out from the
first free practice session on Friday through to
today’s final qualifying and ended up in
16th
place,
whilst team-mate Mark Pollock missed out on qualifying for
the race by less than a tenth of a
second.
The
4.265KM Lausitz circuit located in the former East Germany,
is a notoriously difficult circuit to learn given
it’s tight and technical layout. This, combined with
the low track temperatures, made setting up the EMS Racing
Suzuki difficult for both riders.
Although
Sheridan and the team were able to consistently improve
their lap time during the four practice and qualifying
sessions, they were unable to make the progress they
wanted. Sheridan lost most of his time through the fast
section of the track as he struggled to get the EMS Racing
Suzuki to turn in, but still gave it 100% to resolve the
problem and was able to qualify on the fourth row of the
grid for tomorrows 14 lap race.
“It’s
really frustrating, the whole team have worked really hard
and we’ve tried a lot of different set-ups today, but
I couldn’t get the bike to turn into the fast
corners. It’s working well through the tight turns,
but we’re struggling with the faster stuff. We made a
big change to the set-up this morning which didn’t
really work so we went the opposite direction for final
qualifying, we know what the problem is but it’s
proving hard to find the solution.” Explained
Sheridan
“I’m
obviously disappointed with 16th
position
and I’ve got to come from a long way back in the
race. We’ve sat down tonight to analyse the problems
we’ve been having and we’ve got something to
try in the morning warm-up which should help us. I’m
confident we can improve our times and still have a good
day and really go for it tomorrow.” he
continued.
Mark
Pollock missed out on qualifying for the Superstock 1000
FIM Cup race by less than a tenth of a second and will
unfortunately have to sit out of tomorrows race. Mark
struggled to get dialled into the technical circuit and
despite slashing his lap time in the final laps of
qualifying; he just missed out on setting the time he
needed to take his place on the grid.
“I
struggled to get going from the opening session on Friday.
It’s a tough track to go fast on because a lot of the
turns flow into the next which means that if you get the
first one wrong you never recover. The bike has worked
well, but I’m just lacking a bit of confidence for
some reason and it’s hard to take that we
haven’t qualified. Now all I’m thinking about
is the next round of the championship at Imola at the end
of the month.” said Mark.
The 14
lap Superstock 1000 FIM Cup race gets underway at 10.40am
Sunday morning with the current weather forecast dry and
bright. The ten minute warm-up session starts at
9am.