StoneBaker duo separated by three-hundredths of a second at Portimao
31-10-2008
2008 European Superstock 600 Championship
Rd 10 - Portimao
Qualifying 1, Friday 31st October
Just three-hundredths of a second separate the StoneBaker Yamaha pairing of Gino Rea and Dan Linfoot at the end of today's opening Qualifying session for this weekend's final round of the 2008 European Superstock 600 Championship at the new Portimao motorsports complex in Portugal.
With Rea topping the timesheets in this morning's opening Free Practice session, both riders took turns at leading the field this afternoon. A lap of one minute 53.248 seconds in the last ten minutes of the half-hour period placed the already-crowned series champion Loris Baz (Yamaha) into the eventual top slot. Gino Rea was second fastest on a time of one minute 54.312 seconds with teammate Dan Linfoot third, right in his wheel tracks at one minute 54.345 seconds.
The runner-up position in the championship is achievable for both riders. After today's mixture of showers, winds and sunshine better weather is forecast for tomorrow's second Qualifying session and Sunday's ten-lap race. As a result, today's lap times should keep falling with each outing around the 2.9-mile circuit.
Gino Rea (2nd - 1:54.312):
"Everything's going pretty much to plan. I'm on the front two rows of the grid, which is where you need to be to win a race. I think I could have gone a little bit faster on my last lap, but someone got in my way. The tyres started to go off a little bit towards the end as we used the same tyre from this morning although I don't think that will be much of an issue in the race, which is only ten laps. The new track here is really amazing. It really suits my style, a bit like the Nurburgring with all the uphills, downhills and off-corner cambers - it's really technical. There's a few little changes we can make for tomorrow's session so I think I should be able to make up the time on Baz."
Dan Linfoot (3rd - 1:54.345)
"I treated this morning as a testing session to settle in and learn the new track. This afternoon's session went well. We're a second down on Baz who I reckon should be catchable tomorrow. With all the building that's gone on laying down the track, there's really only a two foot wide line to ride on with any grip. Come off that and you're into the mud and pebbles, which makes passing a bit of a nightmare. I'm doing my best and going as fast as I can. It's a fresh sheet of paper racing at a brand new track, but here we are at the end of the first day still in the top three so there's not much to complain about really."
Andrew Stone (Joint Team Owner)
"We knew this was going to be tough. We've set our hearts on trying to dominate this meeting as our personal goodbye present to each other when the team disbands. We want to be pole, Loris Baz is a second ahead of us, it's not going to be easy catching him. Loris has already won the championship, so there's no pressure on him. We're not here for the championship, we're here to win a race and the final positions will take care of themselves. We're going the right way but ideally we want to be on pole."
2008 European Superstock 600 Championship
Rd 10 - Portimao
Qualifying 1 Result
1. Loris Baz (FRA) - Yamaha: 1:53.248
2. Gino Rea (GBR) - Yamaha: 1:54.312
3. Dan Linfoot (GBR) - Yamaha 1:54.345
Sponsors
Team StoneBaker.
The great race at the new Portimao circuit brings an end to our season in World Superbike Superstock 600, with riders Gino Rea and Dan Linfoot.
The season has been a success with Gino third and Dan fifth in the championship standings following three victories and five additional podiums in total. The results have also acted as a stepping stone to the riders for next season, with both securing high profile, career progressing rides for 2009.
Thank you for all of the emails, calls, texts and visits throughout the year. It has been much appreciated.
