Both Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes finished P4 and P6 respectively.
Pata Yamaha WorldSBK rider, Michael van der Mark, managed to finish fourth place in yesterday’s WorldSBK Race 2 at Circuito San Juan Villicum in Argentina. Teammate Alex Lowes trailed behind to secure sixth place. Currently, the Pata Yamaha duo is separated by just a single point in the championship standings, with Lowes standing at third place overall.
GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK rider Sandro Cortese, on the other hand, was aiming to cap his run within the top ten but due to the choice tyres during the race, he lacked the rear grip and was only able to come in 15th place. Marco Melandri struggled with the bike to suit his riding style and ended his run at 14th place. Ten Kate’s Loris Baz encountered an unfortunate crash on Saturday morning but collected some points when he ended at 12th place in Race 2.
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK)- As It Happened
“If you look at the results then it’s not been too bad here in Argentina. It’s been a difficult weekend for everyone, I think, but fourth place yesterday was a good start for me. In the Superpole Race this morning I didn’t really have a good feeling. I struggled a bit with the bike. But we made quite a big change for Race 2 and I felt a lot stronger from the start. Of course there were some areas where I’d have liked to be a little better. But anyway I picked up another fourth place on a track that proved difficult for us last year. So we must be happy with these points. Now we have to look forward to Qatar, where I’m sure we will be even stronger and able to fight for the podium once again,” says van der Mark as quoted from Yamaha Racing.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK)- As It Happened
“I had a bit of a frustrating start to Race 2. I’ve had a few issues back shifting to first gear and on the opening lap I got a slipstream from Sandro on the straight and was maybe in a bit too fast and I couldn’t get the gear to go in. It was a shame, because when you lose track position it’s really difficult to recover. I had a good pace, but not quite enough to catch back after losing ground.”
“Michael was in a similar situation in the Superpole Race; he was matching my pace but didn’t have that little bit extra needed to close on me. I felt I rode quite well today, made no mistakes and I enjoyed the race, but I didn’t want to be finishing sixth. But now we need to focus on the final round in Qatar. I’m looking forward to racing there and defending my third position in the championship.”
Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK)- As It Happened
“This has been another weekend where I’ve struggled a lot. My main strength is my riding style and, unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be compatible with the bike. Every time I tried to push harder after a few laps I made a lot of mistakes and lost ground. It looks like me and the bike are working in opposite directions still. I’ve tried many things with the team to find a solution this season but, as the results show, we’re still looking.”
Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK)- As It Happened
“This morning I had a good Superpole Race after a strong start, and I was looking forward to more of the same in Race 2 this afternoon. Again, I got a good start. But we took a gamble on tyre choice which proved to be a step too far and, after seven laps, the rear tyre was completely done. To be honest, I’m not sure how I managed to finish the race. I’m disappointed and it’s a shame because I think I could have finished with a good result today but, again, we didn’t take the chance that was open to us. So, yes, a big disappointment today.”
Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha Supported WorldSBK)- As It Happened
“The only goal in the Superpole Race is to finish in the top nine and secure a grid position on the front three rows. I was pushing hard to make up as many places as possible on the opening lap. Then, I strayed onto the dirty part of the track while trying to pass Alessandro Delbianco and crashed. The impact was a heavy one and it meant that I was riding with some pain in Race 2 this afternoon.”
“I took no risks in the early laps and came back slowly. I lost a bit of time overtaking the guys ahead of me, but eventually finished P12 and not so far away from the top eight or nine guys. It is really frustrating. Because like in Magny-Cours, I think we had the pace to stay with the two Pata Yamaha guys. But we scored some points and now we’re not so far from the top ten in the championship. I want to say sorry to the guys in the team because the two crashes were really my mistake. But now I will try to recover in the best way I can for Qatar.”
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