David Salom - Photo Credit: Team Pedercini
Team Pedercini look set to face an uphill battle to get a rider into the Superpole session after a tough Friday at Imola. David Salom led the way for the Italian squad in 20th place but trailed the top 16 by three quarters of a second although he thinks there is more to come from the Kawasaki ZX-10R.
“We are working on the bike that's completely new for me especially as far as the electronic setting is concerned. The problem we found today is that when it comes to hard braking, the bike is moving and jumping at the front. Tomorrow if we're able to solve this problem I'm sure we'll improve a lot in terms of lap times. I'm satisfied with the work we have done today and I hope to continue tomorrow in the same way. I'm feeling some pain in my right wrist but I think I'll be better tomorrow morning for the qualifying session”.
Teammate Leandro Mercado is making his SBK debut and his inexperience showed with a crash during the afternoon. The Argentinian lost crucial set-up time and isn't making any predictions until he's learned more about the bike.
“Unfortunately this afternoon I crashed during the first qualifying session and so in fact we lost one session entirely. This is my first weekend on a Superbike and I need more time on the bike to understand it and to adapt my riding style to the Superbike. This morning we have done a good job but in the afternoon we didn't improve the bike because I crashed. Tomorrow we'll work hard to find the right set up for my Ninja as we try to enter the Superpole”.
