Marino Marches onto the Podium in STK1000 at Portimao

Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team’s Florian Marino produced a brilliant ride in a red-flagged race at Portimao on Sunday, round seven of the 2017 FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship, to secure his fourth podium of the season and firmly establish himself back in the title fight. His teammate Roberto Tamburini produced another strong performance on his Yamaha YZF-R1M to record his fifth top-six finish of 2017, and cement his fourth place in the championship standings.

Marino ended Friday’s practice in second overall after immediately finding a good rhythm on his Pata Yamaha R1M. In Saturday’s qualifying, he improved even further to record his second pole position of the season, and the 24-year-old French rider was confident of being able to run at the front during the race. When the lights went out, he rode superbly but struggled slightly with his acceleration out of the low-speed corners, despite this he managed to fight with the group of riders battling for second. By the fourth lap, he had got to the front of this group and set his sights on hunting down the race leader Toprak Razgatlioglu. Unfortunately, on lap 10 the red flag was brought out and the race ended prematurely, so Marino had to settle for second and a vital 20 championship points. He now lies third in the standings with 100 points, just 22 points behind the leader with two rounds remaining and his home race at Magny-Cours up next.

Tamburini also looked strong all weekend, ending Friday’s practice in sixth overall and then qualifying on the front row in third. The 26-year-old did not enjoy the best of starts during the race and struggled with the feeling with his bike, experiencing a couple of big moments and almost losing the front at Turn 5, which cost him valuable time. Undeterred, he fought hard to get the best result possible and battled all the way until the red flag appeared, securing a well-earned sixth-place finish. After this result, Tamburini remains fourth in the championship standings with 82 points, 18 behind his teammate Marino.

The Pata Yamaha STK1000 Team return to action at round eight of the 2017 FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship in Magny-Cours on the 29th September-1st October. Check out the race results and latest championship standings.

Florian Marino

Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team – 2nd +2.478s

“After a couple of difficult races, it was good to finish in second, even in the circumstances. I found a great attitude this weekend, and we have been quick in every session. On Friday I was second overall, then I was quickest in FP3 and qualifying. All weekend we have been right at the top of the timesheets, so I definitely feel that we are back on the right path. The race, unfortunately, highlighted our weak point, which is on the exit of low-speed corners. So, we will regroup and work on improving in this area for the last two rounds, but it was great to be back on the podium. I look forward to Magny-Cours, it is my home race and I am really excited about riding there!”

 

Roberto Tamburini

Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team – 6th +6.361s

“It has been a good weekend! In the race, the start was not so good, which meant there was a gap to the leading riders. I tried to recover this but after two or three laps the feeling with the bike was not so good. In one corner, the front closed on me and I almost crashed, afterwards I had to enter that corner slower and that unfortunately cost me time. We will try and improve this for the next race in Magny-Cours, which is a circuit I like, and do our best to get back on the podium!”

Sandro Carusi

Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team Manager

“It was a very positive weekend! We had both riders in the top six and we are very proud of them for this. They have been working hard and for Florian to ride like he did all weekend, you can see he has found a good rhythm and he is still in the hunt for the championship. Roberto just didn’t have the same feeling with his R1M during the race as he had all weekend, so we will try and find a solution and we will be working hard to arrive in the best possible shape at Magny-Cours.”

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