WSBK: Factory Inspection: Pata Yamaha

The Pata Yamaha World Superbike team really developed their bike towards the end of the 2017, regularly challenging the likes of Ducati and on occasion, Tom Sykes, for the podium. Remaining with the same rider line-up for 2018 is crucial for Paul Denning’s Crescent team, with Alex Lowes beginning his third season onboard the bike, whilst Michael van der Mark starts his second.

Alex Lowes had an amazing 2017, with four podiums and a best finish of 2nd at Misano. The Brit finished within the top-10 every time he finished a race, with the exception of Aragon race two and Portimao race one. Lowes has been crucial in developing the new Yamaha, having been on the project since the factory came back to Superbike racing. The 2013 British Superbike champion will be setting his sights on nothing less than a race win in 2018, although the title may be a stretch too far just yet.

Michael van der Mark begins his fourth season in World Superbikes, his second at Yamaha. Whilst the Dutchman may not have got as many podiums as his teammate last season, he was undoubtedly the more consistent of the two, regularly finishing as top Yamaha and rarely crashing or finishing outside the top 10. Magic Michael has looked quick in testing, proving that a second year on a vastly improved bike may well be what he needed. Can van der Mark achieve his first WSBK win? I think so.

Yamaha always show well at Phillip Island so expect them to be up the sharp end Down Under. Misano has proven to be a circuit where we can see an ‘upset’ and last year, van der Mark led for a while, so again, Misano may be a strong circuit. Magny Cours is another circuit where the nimble Yamaha makes things look easy, whilst Losail also looks like a good circuit for both machines, having both gone strong in the last race of last year.