Stunning Top Ten For Triple M Rookies in Thailand

The all-new Triple M Honda World Superbike Team secured their best finish to date thanks to a tenth place for their American rider PJ Jacobsen in race two at a hot and steamy Buriram in Thailand today.

Following on from 17th place in race one, when PJ finished ahead of his countryman Jake Gagne, Jacobsen scored tenth place in race two, finishing much closer to the leading rider in Thailand than he had in the opening round in Australia last month.

PJ was only a couple of seconds from ninth place, and had four more experienced riders behind him in only his second full Superbike event.  A long time rider in WorldSSP before making the jump to Superbike with his new Triple M Honda team this season, PJ had qualified 17th on the grid after Superpole 1 on Saturday, shortly before race one.

Despite ambient air temperatures of 33°C Jacobsen and his bike ran strongly for all 20-laps in each race, with PJ trimming several seconds from his overall race one time in today’s race. Great advances in the team’s electronics and chassis settings were the main areas of improvement for team at this round, after a very respectable debut at Phillip Island in late February.

Thanks to his second race haul of six points, plus the two he scored in round one, PJ is now 17th in the championship rankings. The next round will take place in Europe for the first time in 2018, at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain, between 13th and 15th April.

PJ Jacobsen

PJ Jacobsen 99

Our first top ten in WorldSBK was a good step for us. We have come a long way since the first round in Phillip Island, both with the electronics and with the chassis and electronics going together. It has been a huge step and the team is brand new. Everything has just really gelled together. I got to have our first real race with someone yesterday, when I competed with Yonny Hernandez, so it was good to do that. And also to get the experience of how the bike is reacting in a real race. Today was even better and our pace was not too bad. I saw Lorenzo Savadori in front of me and I really wanted to hold onto him, and try to get to the end. I am really happy for the team because they started out two months ago with literally nothing and they have built this whole team, which is absolutely amazing.

Triple M Honda World Superbike Team

Manuel Cappelletti

Manuel Cappelletti

Team Manager

I am happy with the result of both races in Thailand. In Race 1 we didn’t get what we expected but PJ was close to the group fighting for 11th position. We made another small step in race pace for race 2 and we got a great tenth position. We are still working a lot with the new Marelli electronic system but we are looking forward. Thanks to Honda for their support and the mechanics for their hard work. PJ did a great job in the office today!

Triple M Honda World Superbike Team

Thai Round

Chang International Circuit, Thailand

WorldSBK 2018, Round 2

Sunny / 33

Sunday 25 Mar 2018, 10:01 UTC
  • Air Temp: 33°C
  • Humidity: 44%
  • Ground Temp: 41°C

# Rider Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Chaz Davies 7 GBR 25 Aruba.it Racing Ducati 31’23.406
2 Michael van der Mark 60 NDL 20 Pata Yamaha Yamaha +2.185
3 Alex Lowes 22 GBR 16 Pata Yamaha Yamaha +3.884
4 Jonathan Rea 65 GBR 13 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki +6.554
5 Xavi Fores 12 SPA 11 BARNI Racing Team Ducati +8.973
6 Leon Camier 2 GBR 10 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda +10.647
7 Marco Melandri 33 ITA 9 Aruba.it Racing Ducati +17.523
8 Toprak Razgatlioglu 54 TUR 8 Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki +21.618
9 Lorenzo Savadori 32 ITA 7 Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia +25.345
10 PJ Jacobsen 99 USA 6 Triple M Honda World Superbike Team Honda +27.076
11 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 5 Team Pedercini Kawasaki +28.668
12 Loris Baz 76 FRA 4 Althea BMW Racing Team BMW +29.004
13 Román Ramos 40 SPA 3 Team Go Eleven Kawasaki +30.434
14 Jake Gagne 45 USA 2 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda +30.527
NC Leandro Mercado 36 ARG 0 IodaRacing Team Aprilia DNF
NC Tom Sykes 66 GBR 0 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki DNF
NC Eugene Laverty 50 GBR 0 Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia DNF
NC Jordi Torres 81 SPA 0 Althea BMW Racing Team BMW DNF
NC Ondrej Jezek 37 CZE 0 Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki DNF

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