PATA YAMAHA PAIR PUSH FORWARD TO TOP FIVE FINISHES AT ARAGÓN
Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team with Rizla riders Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu both made positive progress to finish Race 1 in the top five at the Teruel FIM Superbike World Championship round at MotorLand Aragón today.
During the Tissot Superpole session, Van der Mark was fastest of all riders in the first sector of the tricky Spanish circuit and on course to set an impressive overall qualifying time, when unfortunately, the Dutchman was held up by another rider on the 5.077 km lap. He managed to make a second lap on the Pirelli qualifying tyre but was unable to improve on his start position of 12th for the race.
With work to do to make up places, the 27-year-old kept his cool to finish fourth in his 150th WorldSBK race with a mature ride using the softer “X” tyre, normally selected for the 10-lap sprint race, to find more grip.
Michael van der Mark: P4: “This morning we were just unlucky in Superpole, I caught a slower rider on my quick lap so I had to roll off and try again, but the best of the tyre was gone so I had to start from 12th position – which is far from ideal, especially at this track. We knew we had a good pace and would need to have a good start – I managed to pass a couple of guys from the beginning but I was using the softer “X” tyre and understood that I had to stay calm and try to be consistent. It was a bit of a lonely race after I’d made the initial passes but it worked out to stay calm and consistent, and in the end we finished fourth which is not so bad. I think we can improve the bike a little bit and tomorrow in the Superpole Race I need to fight hard for a better starting position.”