Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Pata Yamaha Primed for Phillip Island Opener
february 21, 2018 - Yamaha Racing

Pata Yamaha Primed for Phillip Island Opener

The Pata #Yamaha Official #WorldSBK Team concluded a positive preseason at the official two-day Phillip Island test on Tuesday and feel ready for the opening round of the 2018 FIM Superbike World Championship at the same venue this weekend. After impressing in private tests at Portimao and Jerez, the team continued the good work in Australia with hardly anything to separate Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes, who finished in sixth and seventh respectively on the overall timesheets, after focussing on race setup and tyre life for the first round of the season.

It has been a busy winter for the team and the riders arrived in #philipisland after attending the #Yamaha Motorsports Media Conference in Thailand. They were the guests of #Yamaha Motor Corporation and not only got a chance to meet the passionate fans in the region but also to showcase the 2018 Pata #Yamaha #WorldSBK livery alongside the Movistar #Yamaha MotoGP Team of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales.

Two days of testing followed at Phillip Island, with the team having a busy workload to get through before the beginning of the 2018 season. Michael van der Mark continued his excellent preseason form, ending the test in sixth overall with a best time of 1:31.131 after completing 141 laps over the course of the two days. The 2014 WorldSSP Champion is beginning his second year with #Yamaha, having impressed in 2017 with podiums at Portimao and Magny-Cours and finishing sixth overall in the championship standings. For 2018 van der Mark is determined to continue his superb progress with the Pata #Yamaha R1 and establish himself as a consistent challenger for the race win. After two top-ten finishes in 2017 at Phillip Island on his debut for the team, van der Mark is looking forward to kicking off his 2018 season at a venue he recorded a double podium at in 2016.