PATA YAMAHA RIDERS BANK ANOTHER TWO PODIUMS AT PORTIMÃO
The Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team with Rizla rounded out a successful weekend at the third round of the FIM Superbike World Championship today, with Michael van der Mark taking a well-deserved third in Race 2. Van der Mark recovered from, by his own admission, a disappointing seventh in the 10-lap qualifying race to become one of the main protagonists in the second full-length race at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
The flying Dutchman made steady progress up the order, keeping a cool head until he caught Ducati’s Scott Redding in second. Van der Mark was able to capitalise on Redding’s mistake running wide at Turn 5 but was, unfortunately, unable to hold on to the runner-up position due to a small error later on lap 13. While he kept the pressure on right to the chequered flag, Van der Mark ultimately finished just 0.093s shy in third.
The Pata Yamaha team will now make their way to Motorland Aragón for a two-day test on 13-14 August prior to back-to-back race weekends at the Spanish circuit at the end of the month, scheduled as the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2020 FIM Superbike World Championship, where the goal is to once again challenge for the podium as well as make a step forward to fight for victory.
Michael van der Mark: P7 & P3: “Let’s start this morning with the Superpole Race – we thought in warm-up that we had found a good solution, but that turned out not to be the case and it was a real struggle from the start. I was so disappointed because I thought with the temperature a little lower than the normal race time that I would have a good chance to be on the podium, but I could do no better than seventh in the end.”
“In the second race this afternoon, we made some changes again and to be honest from the start I wasn’t that quick but everybody’s pace was a lot slower than yesterday. I saw many people making mistakes and just tried to keep my own rhythm and stay calm, which was quite difficult. One-by-one, I caught some guys up and close to the end I caught Scott. I couldn’t really pass him until he made a mistake – but just after that I missed a gear and I lost the gap that I had pulled from him. After that I got right back onto his wheel, I was faster but he was stronger, I just had to wait for him to make a mistake but he didn’t. I’m happy with this podium though, and was also happy with the difference in the feeling of my R1 this afternoon compared to the first race.”