POSITIVE FINAL TEST FOR VAN DER MARK
Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team with Rizla rider Michael van der Mark completed the final pre-season test at Phillip Island in strong form. After a strong two days on track for Yamaha’s Official Team, van der Mark was satisfied with the seventh fastest lap, having focused on overall race pace and making final technical preparations – which included two very encouraging full distance race simulations.
The 4.445km long Phillip Island circuit witnessed light rain at times on day one, and several red flag incidents, but the team made the best of their available track time at a circuit which has a reputation for being very tough on tyre durability, especially on the left side. With the potential for high tyre wear in mind, technical solutions and adjustments to riding styles were much more of a focus today than going for any class leading single lap time.
Now the attention of the Pata Yamaha with Rizla team is to focus on making a good start to the race weekend, on Friday 28 February, to prepare for the first race of what appears to be shaping up as an exciting new season on Saturday 29.
Michael van der Mark – Position: 7th Time: 1’31.077: “I am quite happy with our test and the 2020 R1. Our main goal was to improve our race pace and save our tyres. Yesterday we did a long run, which was really positive, and today we tried some different things with the rear suspension and the pace was there again, especially in a race simulation. So, I am really happy with how the test went but unfortunately this morning when I was on my way to my fastest lap I crashed, so that was a shame. But if you look back at the race simulations they were pretty good. Today I did 20 laps and the tyres were still fine. You have to start the race with a different approach than normal here but this is not my first time in Phillip Island, so we know this. At the beginning I think everyone will be a little bit conservative but at the end we will see who is the strongest. It is always going to be a surprise in this race!”