Team Pedercini look ahead to Estoril after positive steps in the season opener

After more than 210 days since the last chequered flag of the 2020 season, TPR Team Pedercini kickstarted their 2021 WorldSBK year at MotorLand Aragon in Spain, competing in both World Superbike and World Supersport 300.

With new parts arriving on the eve of the opening Free Practice session, the squad worked hard to ensure that all three riders were able to compete in all sessions, the trio improving with every session, with TPR Team Pedercini ultimately leaving the weekend with a best place finish of 18th in WorldSBK and 26th in WorldSSP300.

It was also a historic weekend for the team’s title sponsor Outdo Battery who celebrated the start of their second year in style, their branding displayed at one of the prominent Aragon turns.

There is little time to rest before Loris Cresson, Samuele Cavalieri are back on track Round two of the series takes place at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal in a week’s time.

Loris Cresson:
“Our results don’t show our true potential. The new bike is so different to the old one and we have many things to try, which is hard on a race weekend. We were able to finish the race and gain valuable data and in the qualifying my lap time was not so bad even though I was unable to fully use the quali tyre to the maximum. Sunday was my first time in wet conditions with the new bike, so we had nothing to work from. A lot of things are different in the rain on a Superbike compared to when I was in Supersport, but the team worked well to help me find a feeling. We had to change tyres in Race 2 which lost us time but overall, we can be happy to have made progress. Sure, there is more work to do but we don’t have to wait long. I am looking forward to Estoril as it’s where I made my debut with the team last year so at least I have some idea of what to expect.”

Samuele Cavalieri:
“Sunday’s race was difficult. Half the track was wet and the other half dry and it was real gamble to know what to do. We had to change to dry tyres, and we lost a lot of time, but we knew that with limited tests before the season that we would have a weekend like this. We have three or four days to rest and then we go again in Estoril. We will arrive to Portugal with more experience, and I am ready to give it full gas. Thanks to the sponsors and to the team for all of their hard work.”

Johan Gimbert:
“It was a tough qualifying for me because it was the first time I rode with the ‘race’ engine and it was so different. The team worked hard to find a solution but because we started so far back on the grid it was not easy to make such a great comeback, but we did what we could. I made a good lap time and was feeling much better after Saturday’s race. Sunday was wet in the morning and then it dried for the race and I was able to improve my lap time by quite a lot. We know we are going in the right way and I am looking forward to my next race in Misano.”

Lucio Pedercini:
“It wasn’t an easy weekend, and with the weather on Sunday it was even more difficult, especially with our riders not having a lot of experience. We knew that our first races would be like a test, and we worked through the things that we needed to do, especially with the new parts. We made kilometres and we are looking forward to making more progress in Portugal”.