SOLID PROGRESS IN THE SUN FOR VAN DER MARK AS IMOLA WEEKEND BEGINS
The Pata Yamaha Official World Superbike Team made the most of the gorgeous weather at Imola on Friday as they kicked off round five of the FIM 2017 Superbike World Championship. The picturesque setting led to some good progress on track too as both Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes adapted well to the Imola circuit on their 2017 specification Yamaha YZF-R1s.
Van der Mark carried on where he left off in Assen as he got to grips with the Imola circuit for the first time on a Yamaha. The Dutch rider made good progress in the morning, finishing FP1 in seventh with a 1:48.265. In FP2 he also focused on working on race pace and trying to improve his feeling with the rear grip, ending the day in eighth on the combined timesheets with a 1:48.265. The 24-year-old was happy with the work done by his team and feels positive that they can make more progress tomorrow.
Michael van der Mark: “It not been an easy day, but it is Friday and just free practice, so we must be happy we made it through to SP2. We struggled quite a lot with the grip, but in other sections, I feel quite confident on the bike. We have to focus on the rear for tomorrow, but I think we did a good job today and tomorrow we can improve our lap time. We improved the front a lot today, but we need to make the bike more stable at the rear. It’s not been easy, it’s a really demanding track, but I am feeling positive for tomorrow.”
Results
Free Practice 1