The second round of the WorldSBK championship has concluded at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.
In Saturday’s race 1, Bahattin Sofuoglu crossed the line thirteenth, scoring his best result of the season so far, while Tito Rabat concluded fifteenth and scored his first point of the season. The Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK riders were back on track today for the Superpole Race followed by Race 2.
In the sprint race, which ran over a distance of just 10 laps, an innocuous crash prevented Bahattin from reaching the finish line, while Tito concluded eighteenth.
The tables were turned in Race 2, where a slip by the Spanish rider was offset by an excellent thirteenth place by the Turkish rider, who thus added three points to his standings.
The next round of the WorldSSP Championship will take place at the Assen TT Circuit in The Netherlands on 11-13 April.
"I’m pleased with what we’ve done at this second round. Sofuoglu proved fast and is continuing to grow and Rabat has also shown great progress. It was just a pity he crashed in Race 2, fortunately without any physical consequences, like Bahattin in the sprint. We can be optimistic looking ahead to Assen.”
“I’m disappointed because I was maintaining a good rhythm in Race 2 and we’d found the grip we’d been lacking in the Superpole Race. Unfortunately, I forced the braking at one point, lost grip at the front and crashed. I’m sorry because I’ve made some small mistakes this weekend that conditioned the outcome of the two races. Beyond the crash, I’m pleased though, because I’ve seen here at Portimao that we have the potential to do well and score good results. We go again at Assen.”
“In morning warm up I saw that I could maintain a strong pace but unfortunately, I then crashed in the sprint race. I wasn’t pushing too hard and was in the chasing group when I lost group at the front and crashed. In Race 2, I quickly found good pace and was able to enter the turns well. I could stick with a group of fast riders, and this allowed me to score some championship point. In the end, it’s been a good weekend in which we’ve achieved our goals – to be fast and reach the points zone. I want to thank the entire team for all their great work and valuable support.”
