Working on set-up of their Yamaha YZF-R1 machines, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) completed the two day test around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli with beaming faces and some solid steps made.

Fresh off the back of his first podium of 2017 at his home round of Donington Park, Lowes was able to make some big steps in terms of electronics as track temperatures soared to over 55⁰C in Rimini. Preparing for the Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round in just over two weeks time, the British rider will head into Italy with a comfortable setting on board his Yamaha machine.

Lowes explained: “The test was really positive for both myself and the team. We worked through lots of stuff and found a couple of improvements, which is really nice. We found a clear direction with some electronic settings that I feel could really help us a lot. Overall, it's been a positive test and I want to say a massive thanks to all the crew, it has been a busy week for them and I appreciate all of their hard work, especially in the 30 plus degree weather. I'm looking forward to a few days off now before we come back for the race, I can’t wait.”

Dutch team-mate Van der Mark narrowly missed out on making it a podium in both races for his team last time out at Donington, as he lost out to Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the closing laps, but he put in a lot of time and hard work to get the best from his machine around Misano. Putting in over 100 laps across the two days, along with some updates to suspension the 24 year old is looking forward to returning to Misano to put his hard work into practise.

“It has been a really good test,” began van der Mark. “The weather has been amazing, and we have worked really hard. Yesterday I did 118 laps working on some new suspension updates and electronic settings. I felt really strong yesterday and got quicker all day, in fact my last lap was my fastest. Today we tested some new swing arms back-to-back and carried on working on the setup of the bike. I am really pleased with the work done during this test as not only were we quicker, but we also improved the feeling of consistency with the bike which makes it easier to ride. I am now really looking forward to putting what we have learnt into practice at Misano when we come back!”

Keep up with all Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team updates, and re-live some of their stunning performances all over on the WorldSBK VideoPass, and get ready for some thrilling WorldSBK racing action.