BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SUPERBIKE TEAM - SILVERSTONE - PRACTICE DAY 1

The  BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team was at Silverstone in full-strength with  James Toseland  taking his place on-board the S 1000 RR. A fall slowed  Ayrton Badovini’s progress. The Superstock riders are on the provisional front row.

After setting an encouraging fourth fastest time during the first free practice session, James Toseland - returning after his accident – put in a twelfth fastest qualifying time, eight tenths of a second from provisional pole man Carlos Checa. The UK rider is still not on top form but is showing that he is on the road to complete recovery.

James said: "I'm finally back and I'm home! I’m still not 100 percent but I can push hard enough. Today was positive but we need to improve. The objective is to finish the weekend with two results in the top ten. This morning I was fresh and was fourth in the first hour which isn’t hugely significant for the racing but very important for my own morale. I want to congratulate the team which, with only Ayrton, has done a great job developing the bike and electronics. It’s a marked improvement. Unfortunately I still have pain in my wrist and I had to resort to painkillers, but I'm confident that soon I will be fighting fit. "

The fall during morning free practice had an impact on  Ayrton Badovini but he still managed to finish in thirteenth. The fall seriously damaged the bike meaning additional work for the team. Ayrton was uninjured.

"This Friday was harder than usual.”  Ayrton Badovini said after the sessions this morning. “The fall has affected the work and I had to recover slowly and get to grips with the bike. We are still working to develop the bike, and are still unsure of choice of ratios. We will work with the engineers to define the set-up and all the details. I’m pragmatic because I know that once we get the bike right I can go faster."

The  BMW Motorrad Italia STK riders used their aggression to find speed, with  Lorenzo Zanetti  and  Sylvain Barrier  taking third and fourth place on the timing sheet respectively. The riders who occupy the top two positions, for the time being, are not far ahead and in second qualifying tomorrow Lorenzo and Sylvain can try to get even closer.

Serafino Foti, sporting director of BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Italy team, said: "The weekend started well enough: James has finally returned, although not yet 100 percent. After five months of inactivity, if we are honest we didn’t expect to top the tables but we are not happy with twelfth. Tomorrow we will see how his wrist reacts but he certainly has a good margin for improvement. Ayrton began badly, with the fall this morning in a fast corner, fortunately without consequences for him. This afternoon he had good grip and has worked harder than usual. We are working to solve the problem. I'm pretty happy with the results of our two Superstock riders. They have shown that they have a good pace for tomorrow’s qualifying and will try to improve further. "

Superbike - Qualifyng: 1st . C. Checa (Ducati) 2'05 "477 2nd  M. Berger (Ducati) +0.393 – 3rd  T. Sykes (Kawasaki) +0,422 ... 12th  Toseland J. (BMW) +0.839 to 13th  A. Badovini (BMW) +1 "170

Superstock - Qualifyng: 1. D. Petrucci (Ducati) 2'08 "730 2nd D. Giugliano (Ducati) +0.330 3rd  L. Zanetti (BMW)  +0.767 4th   S. Barrier (BMW)  +0.846.