Pata Yamaha Make Excellent Progress in Portimao

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team concluded a successful two-day test on Monday in Portimao, completing 334 laps in total and continuing their excellent build up to the 2018 FIM Superbike World Championship.

Michael van der Mark was amongst the front-runners throughout the whole of the test in Portugal, with the 25-year-old Dutch rider finishing in fourth overall on the timesheets on Monday after setting a 1:42.028 and completing 164 laps.

The Pata Yamaha team had already completed a positive two-day test at Jerez last week and managed to keep their superb momentum for the 2018 season going in Portimao after getting through a huge workload over the two days.

Van der Mark was in sensational form at the scene of his first Yamaha podium in 2017, ending Sunday in third with a 1:42.218, before improving on Monday to a 1:42.028, which was good enough for him to finish in fourth overall on the timesheets, 0.543s behind the fastest rider. Impressively, he actually set his fastest time on a race tyre, as he focused on his race pace and rhythm while working to assess a number of new updates for the 2018 season on his Pata Yamaha R1. The 2014 WorldSSP Champion managed to put in a huge effort over the two days in Portimao, completing 164 laps in total to ensure he is in the best position possible as he heads into his second season with the team after a promising 2017 season that saw him on the podium twice.

Up next for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team is the official test in Phillip Island on the 18th-20th February, ahead of the opening round of the 2018 WorldSBK Championship at the same venue from the 22nd-24th February.

Michael van der Mark

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - 4th - 1:42.028

"We have finished two days of really positive testing here in Portimao! The first day was really good and on the second day we improved even more, so I am really happy with how everything went. We had some important things to test, we tried some different settings and we found some really good solutions for a number of setups, plus we were really fast and consistent as well. I am really happy with my race rhythm, I did my fastest time on race tyres so, I am really pleased with that and even with used tyres, we were a lot faster than we have been here before. I am really happy! I am feeling good with the bike and I cannot wait to get back on my R1 in Phillip Island!"

Paul Denning

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal

"It's been a positive test here in Portimao, more so than in Jerez, we found a slightly better rhythm and better settings for the 2018 spec Pata Yamaha YZF-R1. The end result in terms of ultimate lap time is not so important, there are no points on offer for a test, but both riders were right up there in the top positions and pretty close to last year's champion Jonathan Rea, which is very encouraging indeed. The bike's been working well, between the two riders they did well over 300 laps over the two days and neither rider wasted a single lap on the track. You often see riders go and do a fast lap, then take it easy for a lap to let the tyre cool down and then try again for a quick time, but our guys aimed at trying to be consistent to set the bikes up for the season in the best way possible. We are done now with our testing in Europe, it is getting to that point of the year where everyone is excited about getting to the warm weather in Australia and starting to race. We head there as a team feeling positive!"