The first race making up round six of the WorldSBK championship played out today at Most in the Czech Republic.
After yesterday’s two free practice sessions, the Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team and rider Bradley Ray returned to the track for third free practice, a session they completed in eleventh place (1’32”003). The team was able to refine the set up of the YZF-R1 ahead of the subsequent Superpole phase.
With a time of 1’32”216, the English rider qualified in twenty-first place, which meant he started the afternoon’s 22-lap race from the seventh row of the grid.
Ray got away quite well when the lights went out but was then unable to find a rhythm that would allow him to gain much ground. He ended the race in nineteenth place.
Tomorrow’s schedule will see the team back out for the Superpole Race and Race 2.
“This morning’s free practice, which we finished eleventh, had us feeling hopeful for Superpole and race 1. Unfortunately, though, placing twenty-first in qualifying compromised the result of our first race. We’ll do our best to reverse the trend tomorrow.”
“The end of Race 1 was pretty difficulty. I felt comfortable and thought I was riding well but a small technical problem began to bother me. I can’t wait for tomorrow, as I know we can do a good job!”
