The Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team has completed day two of the seventh WorldSBK round at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.
In yesterday’s free practices, Bradley Ray set a time of 1’41”833 to place nineteenth, just 1.1 seconds from provisional pole.
This afternoon, in much higher temperatures, the British rider too part in Superpole, the session that serves to establish the grid for the subsequent Race 1.
Ray was able to improve on his best lap by almost a second and, with a time of 1’40”983, he qualified eighteenth, 1.2 seconds from the front.
With this result, he lined up on row six for the early evening’s 20-lap race. Over the first laps, Ray was lying nineteenth, but he was then able to get into a good rhythm and avoid any mistakes, moving up to seventeenth, the position he held to the line.
Tomorrow the Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team will be back on track for the Superpole Race and Race 2.
“We’re quite pleased with our result today. Perhaps with a better start Bradley could have reached the points zone, but the important thing is that he maintained a consistently fast pace. The team is working well and this leaves me confident for the next races, starting with tomorrow’s.”
“I’m happy with my race today but particularly with the pace I was able to maintain. I lost a little time at the start but my pace was then consistent. I can’t wait for tomorrow when I’ll tackle the last two races because I’m sure that if I can make a strong start, I’ll be able to close the gap to the faster riders. We’re working well and this makes me happy.”
