World Supersport wildcard in Magny Cours

Hello

During the last weeks there have been some changes to our plans this year. I will not race in the last round of EJC. I got the chance to do a wild-card of World Supersport Championship with Kallio Racing in Magny Cours and after our DNF in Jerez, we decided to go to race there. It was a hard decision to make and it’s hard to expect any results from this weekend. I just want to see where I am in World Championship level and learn as much as possible for the future. 

Summer break and Estonian Championships

Hello

Now the summer break is over and we are in Spain for the penultimate round
of the EJC. During the break I have been racing in Estonian championship
Supersport 600 with completely standard Honda CBR600RR where I achieved
overall second place competing 4 races out of 8. Between the races I drove
as many kilometers as possible on auto24ring and some enduro trainings as
well.

On Monday we had the official mid-season test of the EJC at Almeria and I
had a good feeling with the bike. I have been training a lot with
different bikes during the break and I feel like my form is good. Now I’ve
had a few days for relaxing and on Thursday we are driving to Jerez for
the race. Jerez has not been my favourite track but I hope I can still
make a good result there and close the  gap to 3rd place in the
championship.

Sommu #38

Imola, Donington and Portimao

Hello

Now there has been 3 races in a row every second weekend in Imola, Donington and Portimao. In Imola I felt good going into the race from the second row, but because of a mistake in the race I crashed out and couldn’t continue. It was a shame as I really liked the Imola track and thought I could make a good result there. The Donington circuit was difficult for me last year but this year with the bigger bike I felt more comfortable. I was feeling strong for the race, but in the first lap there was a big crash in front of me. I had to avoid it by going on the grass and when I rejoined I was in 22nd place. I managed to come back to 10th and have the second fastest lap of the race in my name. This showed, that I had the pace to fight for the win. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be this time. Portimao was the latest race of this row last weekend. The Portimao circuit is a very difficult one to learn and I struggled a lot during qualifyings and practises. This meant I had to start from 9th on the grid. In the first corner there was again a huge crash which I was very lucky to escape. This resulted in a red flag and a restart. In the restart I wasn’t able to go with the first group, but took all what I could finishing 5th. Now in 2 weeks we have a race in Misano and I hope I can return to fighting for the win there.

Sommu #38

First podium in Assen

Hi

After thinking a lot about our mistakes in Aragon we changed a little bit our setup for the first practice in Assen. It paid off as I finished second in the first practice and first in the first qualifying later that day. Before second qualifying on Saturday we got new tyres. We knew that when we ride all of the 30 minutes in qualifying our tyres would be dead for the race. The plan was to go out later than others, do two fast laps alone and come back in, because new tyres help me more in the race, than pole position. I was able to put in a decent lap and luckily took the pole position. It wasn’t our main goal in the QP but it was good for the confidence. In the beginning of the race I tried to get away from the group as I knew I had the pace. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do so and there was two guys more with me in the front. Before the last corner Orellana went to make a move so I knew I had to try to get a good exit to get second. It worked and I got second place. It was not a win but I’m still happy for my first podium. The win has to come another time. I want to thank my team, all my sponsors and supporters. The podium has been close many times but now we were able to finally do it. Thank you.

Sommu #38

Good points from Aragon

Hello all

This weekend we had the first race of the season in Motorland Aragon. After friday we still had some work to do with the setup of the bike so in saturday’s qualifying we worked the whole session with the setup of the bike and although I qualyfied 4th on the grid, I had used much of our rear tyre. In the race I had the pace to stay with the first group but I didn't have the speed to attack for first place. I was struggling on the exit of the corners which was a little bit due to our setup and a little bit due to the tyre. I did my best to secure fifth in the last corner. This result gives me 11 points for the season but we have to work hard in Assen to be competitive enough to go and fight for the win. Now we have a few days for resting and already in thursday we fly to Holland for round 2. I love the Assen track and hope for a good result there.

Sommu #38

First official training camp in Calafat

Hello all

In monday and tuesday we had the first official training camp for the EJC in Calafat, Spain. In the two days we worked a bit with the setup of the bike to get the new CBR650F working right for me. By the end of the second day we got the bike working pretty well and my speed was good. We have some small things that we have to try in Aragon in order to be quicker but the overall pace is fine. I had a small crash in the end of the day but I’m fine. In the weekend we have the first race in Aragon and after one week in Assen.


This year all the races can be seen live on worldsbk.com.

Sommu #38

Season preparations in Aragon

Hello

In end of February we had the first test of the year in Aragon. Our main goal there was to get my own speed up after winter break. For the bike we had a new rear suspension what we had never tested before so getting this to work was a challenge itself. In the first day the weather was very windy so it was hard to make a good laptime. We also worked on the suspension. Despite all the things I did a faster laptime, than I had done last year. The feeling was good but I knew I had places to improve and the time had to be faster. The second day was also very windy and quite cold. On the track there were some places on hills where the wind was horrible, and some places where there was next to wind at all. By the end of the second day we had the bike feeling quite comfortable to ride. In the third day the weather was the best, so we expected better laptimes. Before lunch we had some technical problems with the bike but in lunchtime we could fix it. After lunch I felt really good with the bike. We made some small changes more to the setup which made a big difference. By the end of the day we had gone 3 seconds quicker than last year and the feeling was great and controllable. Overall the  test was really good and I feel ready for the season. Now we look forward to the first training camp with EJC in 6-7th April.

 

Here is a onboard lap from this test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK6GLDs_LTE