Both GRT Yamaha Riders in the Points at Portimão

08-08-2020

Both GRT Yamaha Riders in the Points at Portimão

The second day of FIM Superbike World Championship action at Portimão saw both GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team riders make their way into the points in Race 1, despite some difficulties, and contrasting feelings among the two.

Saturday began with the FP3 session, in which the team continued their efforts to improve the riders’ feeling with the bike. Garrett Gerloff and Federico Caricasulo closed the session with the 12th and 14th fastest time respectively, backing up this performance up with an 11th and 16th during the Tissot Superpole.

In the main event of the day, Race 1, Gerloff had a strong start, but little mistakes and fading grip cost him some positions, with the American rookie eventually finishing in 14th, whereas Caricasulo gained one spot to score a point in 15th.

GRT Yamaha will return to the Portuguese track in Sunday's Warm Up at 09:00 (GMT+1), followed by the Tissot Superpole Race at 11:00, and the 20-lap second race 14:00.

Garrett Gerloff: P14

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

There were some positives today. My starting position was better than in Jerez, even though I still made a couple of mistakes during my qualifying lap. In the race, I had a good start, but then I had to close the gas going into Turn 1 because Laverty did the same in front of me. Then, on the second lap, I ran off at the same corner, losing contact with the front group that I was with. Still, in the early laps I was happy because I could catch Haslam and Laverty, but in the second part of the race I started making a few mistakes. I struggled with the traction and a lack of front grip at full lean angle. These problems are definitely what we are going to work on for tomorrow. I am not the happiest to finish in 14th, as I felt I could have at least crossed the line in 11th, given where I ran most of the race, but I for sure learned a lot. We will take the positives and move on to tomorrow, with some new hope.

Federico Caricasulo: P15

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

For the entire weekend we concentrated on improving our race pace compared to Jerez, and we managed to do so. In Spain, I crossed the finish line 38 seconds after the leader and today the gap was down to 30. I’m still not perfectly comfortable on the bike but we will try to fix that problem for tomorrow’s races so I can reduce the gap further. That’s the objective for the Tissot Superpole Race too, as I hope to have an aggressive start and stay closer to the front.