Storming Start by GRT Yamaha on Friday at the Lausitzring
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22/08/2017
Free practice
The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team enjoyed a great start to the action on Friday at the Lausitzring for round eight of the 2017 FIM World Supersport Championship. Championship leader Lucas Mahias impressed throughout the day to finish third on the overall timesheets despite some heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon. This result means that Mahias has made it directly through to SP2 on Saturday.
The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team are back on track at 9:20am on Saturday morning for FP3, with qualifying starting at 2pm and Sunday's race scheduled for 11:30am.
Lucas Mahias
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team - 3rd - 1:41.757
"The feeling with my Yamaha R6 was really good today! At the test we did here, I worked a lot to improve the base setting. The track has so many bumps it is very difficult to find a good setup with the bike here, so we definitely have an advantage by the fact we tested here. I am very happy! In the morning, I was very quick and then in FP2 when it was wet, I only went out at the end and did four laps but I was second fastest, which is great. My feeling is good and I am confident for qualifying tomorrow and for Sunday's race. It is very important to take a good result from here to allow us to stay ahead in the championship and get the best possible start to the second half of the season."
Filippo Conti
GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team Manager
"I am very happy! We have started in the right way after our test here and we feel the targets we set ourselves here are attainable in regards to position and lap times. In FP1 we were working to ensure we could be in the top five, which is always our target on Friday, and then we normally focus on race pace in FP2. Unfortunately, the weather in the afternoon was not very good and we lost most of the session, apart from the last ten minutes. Despite this, both our riders were happy with the feeling of their bikes and their lap times were very close to their best time in FP1. We are very happy with this and we feel we are ready for Superpole tomorrow and for Sunday's race. Our aim is to focus on the championship and maintain our lead, that is the most important thing!"
