GRT Yamaha Fire to a Top 10 Finish in Teruel Opener

05-09-2020

GRT Yamaha Fire to a Top 10 Finish in Teruel Opener

With temperatures soaring at the MotorLand Aragón circuit, GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team’s rookie riders had another intense day of on-track action, and recovered from a difficult Tissot Superpole to bring home solid points finishes in Race 1.

FP3 kicked off the second day of the Teruel round, with Federico Caricasulo and Garrett Gerloff enjoying good pace to set the seventh and 10th fastest times respectively.

However, by the time the Tissot Superpole got underway, the temperatures had risen higher and Italian Caricasulo, who had gone third fastest in the final 10 minutes of the session, eventually dropped to 11th, while his American teammate was 14th.

During the 18-lap race, however, both riders improved their performance, as Caricasulo joined the top 10 battle, crossing the line in ninth, just in front of Gerloff, who gained three places to finish 11th, and still looking for set-up improvements ahead of Sunday.

After Saturday, the two GRT Yamaha riders maintain their positions in the standings, with Gerloff 12th on 33 points, and Caricasulo now has 29 points in 14th. The Spanish double-header will conclude on Sunday, with Warm Up at 09:00 (GMT+2), before the Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2, at 11:00 and 14:00 respectively.

Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSBK Supported Team's Loris Baz endured a difficult day, as he struggled to find the best set-up for the hotter conditions. After qualifying in 10th, the French rider hung onto the top 10, but ultimately finished 12th.

For full Tissot Superpole results, click here.
For full Race 1 results, click here.

Federico Caricasulo: P9

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

It was a positive day. We made several changes to the bike after yesterday, and I was hoping this would help improve the bike before FP3 this morning. Thanks to the new modifications the whole front end of my Yamaha R1 felt great, both on the single lap and in the longer race run. In the Superpole we were faster than usual, although perhaps we still could have qualified a little further ahead, and in Race 1 we were able to fight in the second group of riders. Tomorrow, the goal will be to improve further and to be able to battle with more confidence in that group, possibly gaining some more spots. It's much hotter than last weekend, and I have always struggled in these conditions because it usually reduces my feeling with front-end grip. With this morning's adjustments, however, we were able to finally fix this problem, and make the bike’s behaviour more consistent in the hot track temperatures. We hope to continue improving tomorrow.

Garrett Gerloff: P11

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

Our Saturday started off well, with some very good changes that this morning, in cooler conditions, allowed us to be fast. Despite a bad qualifying, I was looking forward to Race 1, as I knew I had a much better feeling with the race tyre. I had a good start and passed a couple of riders, and latched onto Loris Baz and Michael van der Mark, but I soon realised that the changes made this morning in the cooler conditions were not as effective in the heat of the race. It almost felt as if the limit of the bike wasn't the same as in the morning: I was giving it everything I had but I still struggled more than I expected. In the end, I managed to stay pretty close to the group in front of me, but I'm still disappointed because I thought I could fight with them. At least now we know that the direction we took today was wrong, and we can go back the previous way, hoping that this change will bring positive outcomes. This is our goal for tomorrow.

Loris Baz: P12

Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSBK Supported Team

It has been a very difficult weekend so far. I am doing my best and also the guys are working extremely hard. The problem we had last weekend with the electronics is a lot better now, and I think it’s solved. But still I can’t ride as I would like, especially after a couple of laps. Also in Race 1, after the first few laps I already lost a number of positions. I had to fight the bike constantly in order to be able to ride a decent lap time. The disappointment is huge, this has actually been the first time since I joined the team that we haven’t been able to find a solution before the start of the first race. Anyway, I am convinced that we will manage this together and find a solution.