Italiano
FOCUS ON THE RACE PACE ON ESTORIL’S FRIDAY!
It was a solid Friday for Team Go Eleven and Lorenzo Baldassarri at Estoril, featuring plenty of laps on used tyres, work focused on race distance, and no time-attack attempts. The pace is good, though some fine-tuning is still needed in the second sector—and, above all, more explosiveness is needed during the first laps.
In FP1, Balda regained his feeling for the unique Estoril circuit, where he hadn’t raced in about four years. Right from the start, the number 34 showed speed and consistency, riding numerous fast laps. During the session, the technicians opted to use just one set of tyres, completing a run that exceeded race distance. Tyre drop was minimal and lap times remained stable, but adjustments are still needed regarding the set-up and electronics.
Free Practice 1:
P 1 N. Bulega 1.35.546
P 2 A. Surra + 0.052
P 3 I. Lecuona + 0.379
…
P 8 L. Baldassarri + 0.740
In FP2, Balda started on fresh tyres but struggled to find the fast lap during the opening minutes; he immediately improved on his morning reference, dropping into the 36.1 range, yet failed to put together a perfect lap—evidenced by an “ideal time” that is nearly three-tenths faster. He focused the session on race preparation, completing 16 consistently fast laps with minimal variance. Towards the end, the team made a minor adjustment to improve braking, which the rider found beneficial. They choose to avoid a time attack—saving that for tomorrow morning—and instead gathered final data using a used SCX on the rear. Upon returning to the pits, Balda primarily complained of a lack of rear grip, making it difficult to find greater speed over the flying lap.
Free Practice 2:
P 1 N. Bulega 1.35.432
P 2 A. Surra + 0.066
P 3 I. Lecuona + 0.084
…
P 11 L. Baldassarri + 0.728
A position outside the top ten—a bit changed by various “all-or-nothing” lap attempts at the end—didn’t matter much today; as is often the case, the team was focused on race preparation, seeking final solutions and those last few tenths of a second. From tomorrow, the focus shifts to qualifying, where thousandths of a second will be crucial—after all, at the end of Friday’s session, 15 riders are separated by just seven-tenths!
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Rider):
“I hadn’t raced here at Estoril for a while—since 2022—but I got a good feeling right away when I hit the track this morning. The first session went well; I did a lot of work on used tyres, and then in the afternoon, we tried to take another step forward, especially on new rear. Unfortunately, I’m lacking a bit of speed over the opening laps, but my race pace is solid. The positive side, we didn’t do a proper time attack run, so we might still have a few tenths in our pocket. Now we’ll analyze everything carefully and see if we can find something for tomorrow!”
FRIDAY PICS: CLICK HERE
