Honda’s progress in recent rounds has been clear for all to see and that was no different on Friday at MotorLand Aragon. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was the fastest Honda rider in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship during Free Practice 1 for the Tissot Aragon Round, although he had limited running in Free Practice 2. Both Vierge and Team Manager Jose Escamez gave their thoughts on Honda’s potential after a strong Friday.

A GOOD FRIDAY FOR VIERGE: third in FP1, limited running in FP2

In FP1, Vierge finished third after setting a 1’49.493s, finishing around four tenths down on pacesetter Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Vierge completed three stints in the 45-minute session and was rarely out of the 1’50s bracket. Of his 14 representative times, he was only slower than 1’50s on four occasions. It was a different story in FP2 though, with Vierge only able to complete four timed laps.

Inside the first 10 minutes of the session, Vierge and Philipp Oettl (GMT94 Yamaha) came together on the short run between Turns 1 and 2 with Vierge falling off his CBR1000RR-R machine. The bike was damaged after hitting the barrier, but it was returned to the pits with the team working frantically to repair it for the end of the session. He re-joined the action in the final 10 minutes, with a three-lap stint, posting a best time of 1’51.280s – although he did have a 1’49.982s time cancelled, showing there was more pace to come despite missing out on most of the session.

Reviewing FP1 briefly, discussing the crash and praising his team, Vierge said: “I’m really happy with FP1. From the beginning, the feeling with the bike was super good. The speed and pace were there so I’m happy with that. Unfortunately, during FP2, on my second flying lap, I had a problem with Philipp. At Turn 1, I overtook him. He went a little bit off the line. I went to make the change of direction into Turn 2. He came back and hit me so hard that I couldn’t save the crash. I was okay but the bike was a bit damaged. My team did an amazing job, and I was able to go out in the last few minutes of FP2 to at least check everything worked fine. We have to take the positives of the first day.”

WHAT CAN HONDA ACHIEVE? “Let’s see if we can make a surprise in the last laps of the races…”

Team HRC have been on a run of six consecutive double top-ten finishes between Vierge and teammate Iker Lecuona, with a highlight of P4 at Cremona in Race 1. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the Japanese manufacturer who were struggling to secure top ten finishes in the first half of the season.

Discussing what might be possible at Aragon, Vierge said: “Realistically, we need to be trying to fight like in the last races, be as close as we can to the first group, and we’ll see. With this new asphalt, tyre management will be important. I think we can do a good job of that; we can use the data that we have from testing and let’s see if we can make a surprise in the last laps of the races.”

It was a sentiment shared by Team Manager Jose Escamez during Free Practice 1. After coming so close to a rostrum at Cremona, with Lecuona’s P4, he explained the long-term goal of trying to be on the podium regularly as the team and manufacturer continue making steps forward. Escamez said: “We were close to achieving a podium at Cremona, we have to be realistic. We are looking forward and fighting to be competitive to be on the podium regularly. It’s a matter of step by step. It would be nice in our home race, but I am cautious and am being realistic. We are still working, and we need to improve.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com