Dominique Aegerter and Alessandro Delbianco completed Friday at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto, 16th and 21st on combined times for the final round of the 2024 FIM World Superbike Championship.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha pair spent the first Free Practice session getting the feeling on the Yamaha R1 machine. Aegerter was 17th on a 1’40.813 using the same set of tyres throughout the 45-minute session, while Delbianco – who’s making his second appearance with the team – gained confidence each lap to find himself 25th at the end (1’42.433).
In the afternoon’s session, Aegerter and his crew prioritised race distance over flying laps. The Swiss rider focused on long runs assessing the different option race tyres, producing productive laps to be 14th at the chequered flag (1’40.402). Delbianco’s feeling got better and better, and he was able to improve his FP1 lap time by a remarkable 1.024s (1’41.409) to cross the line 21st, despite a small crash in the earlier stages which didn’t prevent him from clocking laps in the final minutes of the Free Practice 2.
Dominique Aegerter: P16 (1’40.402)
“It was a tricky Friday for my body, especially in the morning. I felt some pain, but thankfully it was better each lap and I got used to it again. We’re not too far from the top and everyone is quite close, so being able to push as much as I can will make a considerable difference in terms of lap time and track position. We’ll try to have a good qualifying tomorrow to build a good race, targeting to stay inside the top 10.”
Alessandro Delbianco: P21 (1’41.409)
“Overall it was a good day, I enjoyed it and I like the bike. This is the third Yamaha I’m riding this year, but the feeling is okay and I kept improving my feeling on the bike each lap. Unfortunately I suffered a small crash in the early stages of Free Practice 2, but I was able to be back on track in the final minutes. I’d like to thank the guys for that, tomorrow we’re looking for further improvements.”