News

Dominique Aegerter continues preparations for his rookie season in the top category of the production-based World Championship on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at the challenging circuit in southern Portugal.

After the first test in Jerez last week, most of the teams moved over to Portimao at the Algarve coast, just under 400 kilometres away, where the upcoming two days will see the next fine-tuning for an optimum start to the new championship, which begins in Australia on the last weekend in February.

32-year-old Dominique Aegerter has once again caused a stir at the southern Spanish circuit with his quick adaptability, as the Yamaha rider finished the test in sixth place overall after two days. Nevertheless, the ambitious racer from the canton of Bern keeps both feet on the ground and is focussed together with his experienced crew from the Italian GRT Yamaha team led by crew chief Andrea Oleari to use testing at the Portimao roller coaster to further acclimatize to the new environment.

The track times on the next two days are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)

"Nach dem positiven Abschluss des Jerez-Tests gab es eine weitere angenehme Überraschung für mich, als wir am Freitag das Team-Fotoshooting in Sevilla hatten. Das neue Gesamtdesign mit allen Sponsorenlogos sieht sehr schick aus. Am meisten freue ich mich aber, meine gelbe Startnummer «77» wieder im Originaldesign auf dem Motorrad zu haben. Aber generell gefallen mir die Farben und ich kann es kaum erwarten, das erste Rennen damit und mit meinem neuen Team zu bestreiten. Ich hoffe, dass es auch allen Sponsoren und Fans gefallen wird. Aber vor allem hoffe ich, dass es auch auf der Rennstrecke schnell sein wird. Es ist schön und ich bin stolz darauf, Teil der Yamaha Racing Familie zu sein."

"This week we continue with our second test this year. Apart from cool temperatures in the morning and evening, the weather forecast for Portimao is also very encouraging so, I am looking forward to getting back on my bike and continuing our work. Mainly it will be again about further improving the feeling for the bike, finding a good base setup and hopefully there will be enough time to do a race simulation for the first time. Maybe we can also improve our consistency a bit, because in Jerez we saw that there is still room for improvement. But in terms of the process of adapting to the Yamaha superbike, I am already getting used to it well, but there is still a lot to learn and understand."

"Besides, we have to see that we collect as much useful data as possible over the next two days because, unlike Jerez, here in Portimao we return later in the year for a race weekend. So, this test is doubly important, and a more difficult task awaits us because the track is much more demanding overall. With the heavier and more powerful superbike, physical efforts are much greater, which I honestly felt a little bit after the two days in Jerez. But I am looking forward to getting back on my bike and being with the team."