YART Yamaha Endure Difficult End to an Otherwise Sublime Most WorldSBK Weekend

08-08-2021

YART Yamaha Endure Difficult End to an Otherwise Sublime Most WorldSBK Weekend

That YART Yamaha team, who were running lightly modified FIM Endurance World Championship bikes at the FIM Superbike World Championship’s round at Autodrom Most, were unable to match their impressive Race 1 result on Sunday, but still leave the Czech round confident that they can fight amongst the WorldSBK regulars.

Sunday got off to a strong start for YART Yamaha rider Marvin Fritz, who went sixth fastest in the morning Warm Up. The German got a much better start in the Superpole Race compared to Race 1, climbing from his 12th place starting position to run 11th after the opening stages. On lap seven, the 28-year-old dropped back to 12th after his rear tyre moved off the rim, which is where he went onto finish.

In Race 2, Fritz lost five places to run 17th as the field filed through the first section, after being hit by another bike. He was able to climb back to 15th by the end of the first lap and with a third of the 22-lap race completed, the 2016 IDM Superbike Champion had made his way up to 12th. Unfortunately, Fritz lost the front at Turn 2 on lap 14, but was able to pick himself up and finish the race in 19th.

Teammate Karel Hanika tested the altered race set-up in the Warm Up and after some initial difficulties was able to find a good balance. However, the Czech rider encountered a clutch problem in the Superpole Race and recorded a DNF.

With the problem fixed for Race 2, the 25-year-old made his best start yet, and was challenging for 11th going into the Turn 1, but was caught up in the first corner incident, having to run through the gravel which put him several seconds behind in last place. Hanika made his way back through and eventually finished 18th.

While Sunday’s results were disappointing, the YART Yamaha team’s wildcard WorldSBK event was a success overall, and Fritz and Hanika demonstrated the speed of their modified EWC-spec Yamaha R1 bikes throughout the weekend.

For full SPRC results, click here.
For full Race 2 results, click here.

Marvin Fritz – SPRC: P12 / Race 2: P19

YART Yamaha

I had a good start in the Superpole Race, and I found myself in a good group with the likes of Bautista and Haslam, who I even managed to overtake. I thought that if I could get through on Alvaro, I could catch the group ahead and fight inside the top 10. In the final few laps my tyres moved off the rim and I had some chatter, but I was happy with P12. In Race 2, I was unlucky in the first corner because Delbianco’s bike hit my bike and I had to go off the track. I was far back, but managed to pass a number of riders. I could see that I was maintaining the gap to the guys ahead, so it was a nice feeling to be at the same pace. I was pushing to the limit, I still had some chatter, but when I released the brakes it was OK. Then I crashed at the first corner without any warning, which was unlucky. I could restart and even overtook two other riders while running a good pace, so overall I’m happy with the performance.

Karel Hanika – SPRC: DNF / Race 2: P18

YART Yamaha

Sunday was not a very good day for me. In the Warm Up I had to reset and get some feeling, but we had some issues. In the end, we were able to set a decent lap time so was quite happy heading into the races. In the Superpole Race however I could feel the clutch slipping from the start, so it was difficult to continue. My mechanics did a great job to get the bike ready for the second race, so thanks to them. In Race 2, I had the best start of my life, I really earned positions and was entering the first corner in 11th. Unfortunately, there was a Ducati rider who had crashed in front of me and I had to go into the gravel so I didn’t run over him. I lost so much time in the gravel, but I tried to make a good pace, which was difficult because I still had some pain in my arm from yesterday’s crash. It was a bad weekend for me, but I’m happy that me and Marvin could show the speed on our endurance bikes and I hope that one day we will get another opportunity to show that we can fight with the regular WorldSBK riders. This is a really positive thing that we have to take into the future. Thanks also to my team for the hard work, sorry for the crashes, but I know we’ll come back stronger.