Kervin Bos: Ten Kate and Yamaha can "learn from each other", ‘good future’ ahead
Team manager for Ten Kate Racing Yamaha Kervin Bos predicts a prosperous future after a successful first full season with Yamaha in 2020
Ten Kate Racing Yamaha team manager Kervin Bos said that his team’s 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign was an emotional journey as he reviewed the year in which the Dutch team returned to the podium and to the lead of WorldSBK races. Four podiums, front rows and eighth overall in the standings for Loris Baz and second Independent rider, 2020 may well have just been the start of a bright future.
Looking back on the team’s first full season with Yamaha, Bos said: “If you look back from now to the start at Phillip Island, then our podium count is standing at four; two in the Superpole Race and two in the full races, so I can say that all together, we did a good job. The biggest triumph for Loris was the two podiums at Magny-Cours during his home round but it all started in Phillip Island, our first time there with the Yamaha. We were expecting our first podium there, but we had some bad luck and then afterwards with the COVID-19 situation.”
With 42 wins in WorldSBK, Ten Kate – in just their first full year with Yamaha – have proved their worth and returning to a full-race podium at Magny-Cours was the highlight of their year: “The real season started in Europe and step-by-step, we regained the mojo and the team was performing well. Our last podium in a main race was at Magny-Cours in 2016 and we achieved it again in Magny-Cours this year, so it was very emotional for us all; I am still shaking about it!”
“We swapped manufacturer in the middle of 2019, so for us, we had to get used to the working system of Yamaha and for Yamaha, they had to get used to the way in which we are working. After a bumpy start up, the collaboration was really good and we can learn from each other, we work properly together, and I think the future will be very good for us all.”
You can enjoy the full interview at the top of this article. You can also enjoy team principal interviews with KRT team manager Guim Roda, ARUBA.IT Ducati’s Serafino Foti, BMW’s Shaun Muir, Team HRC’s Jaume Colom and Paul Denning from the PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team. In terms of Independent teams, Denis Sacchetti talks all things Team GOELEVEN, too.
Get ready for the 2021 season with all the latest testing highlights and the highlights from a stunning 2020 on the WorldSBK VideoPass!
