Zero points
The Jerez weekend proved to be decidedly complex for Yamaha, and not just for the Japanese manufacturer’s official team: among the riders on track, including wild card Augusto Fernandez, only Fabio Quartararo managed to secure a points finish in the Sprint race and Sunday’s race, though not going beyond 14th place in the latter. Consequently, the satellite team Pramac, both with Jack Miller and with the outgoing Superbike world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Weekend to forget
The latter, penalized with a long lap following contact with Lorenzo Savadori in the Sprint Race, inevitably ended up at the back despite a good start from 19th place on the grid, then crossing the finish line in that very position: “It was a really difficult race – declared the Turkish rider – at the beginning I struggled to find the rhythm, especially with the new tire, and I had the same engine brake problem that I’ve had in the past: the bike wasn’t braking as I wanted. But towards the end of the race, the feeling improved and I managed to set better lap times in the final laps. Now we need to analyze the difference between the beginning and the end of the race to understand what changed. At the moment, the main problem for me is still the engine brake. It’s something I constantly feel and we need to fix it. Once that’s resolved, we can focus on improving cornering stability and rear grip. We will continue to work together as a team to find solutions, starting with tomorrow’s (Monday) tests.”
For the first time in this championship, Jack Miller finished a race ahead of Razgatlioglu, ending in 18th place: “The race itself wasn’t too bad: I had a good start, but I made a mistake on the last corner of the first lap, going too fast on approach. After that, I started to find my rhythm and regain positions. I had just overtaken Diogo (Moreira) and had done a couple of fast laps, but then I lost the rear brake. This obviously made things difficult, especially in the more demanding braking zones, and Diogo managed to overtake me again. In the fast, flowing corners I felt quite good, but overall it limited my possibilities. Tomorrow we’ll get back to work and try several new things that, hopefully, can represent a new step in the right direction.”
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