GRT Yamaha Focus on Adapting to Increased Temperatures on Friday at Aragón

04-09-2020

GRT Yamaha Focus on Adapting to Increased Temperatures on Friday at Aragón

Today, for the first time in FIM Superbike World Championship history, the riders returned to the same track that they raced on just a week ago, MotorLand Aragón, with the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team making progress during the two free practice sessions.

The FP1 session that kicked off the second Spanish weekend proved to be a little more complicated than expected for the GRT Yamaha duo, with Garrett Gerloff 16th and Federico Caricasulo 18th due to an engine issue.

In the afternoon, the team showed a big improvement for the two 2020 rookies, as American rider Gerloff finished 10th while his Italian teammate ended FP2 in 12th. For Caricasulo’s side of the garage, they’re still searching for the perfect setup and will aim to build on Friday’s findings to achieve a solid result in the Tissot Superpole and opening race.

The changes made on Friday evening will be tested tomorrow in FP3, which will commence at 09:00 (GMT+2). Later, the first crucial results of the weekend will be up for grabs, in the Tissot Superpole and Race 1, at 11:00 and 14:00 respectively.

At the Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSBK Supported Team, Loris Baz endured a difficult opening day back at Aragón, with the Frenchman 11th in the morning and 13th in FP2, and hopes to make a step forward in Saturday's running.

For full FP1 results, click here.
For full FP2 results, click here.

Garrett Gerloff: P15 - 1'51.449

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

I thought I would be faster in the first session, especially after the good feeling of last weekend, but then again we didn't expect to be very far up the order either, because we opted to use only one set of tyres for the whole session. However, we gathered some useful information for FP2, and we did a really nice job to find a strong set-up, and the bike felt good in the afternoon heat. Despite the much higher temperatures compared to the last round, I was only one tenth off of my best time in last weekend’s race. We also made a lot of adjustments, some were good and some not so good, but all were useful to understand which direction to take tomorrow. I'm happy to have been the second-best Yamaha in FP2 and to know what to improve upon for the rest of the weekend.

Federico Caricasulo: P16 - 1’51.613

GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team

It was not an easy day because we missed FP1 due to an engine issue, and we had to change it. In the second session, on the other hand, we tried our long-run pace but I was not very fast. We are now analysing the session to find out where our biggest problems are, and we will work on them to improve tomorrow.

Loris Baz: P11 - 1'51.081

Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSBK Supported Team

We don’t have to look for excuses here, it has been a complicated and difficult day today. We have tried a lot based on the data we gathered last weekend. We definitely found some things that work well, but it is quite difficult to put it all together. I was not constant enough in my riding and then, when it feels like things are going better, you crash, it is quite frustrating. Whatever happens, I am still very confident that we will be stronger tomorrow. Usually we are quite fast on Friday and then it’s more complicated on Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully this time it’s the other way around and we will be stronger on Saturday and Sunday during the races, in comparison to last weekend.