News

On day one of the Portuguese round, the second last race weekend of the season, it took a few laps for Dominique Aegerter to find confidence at the challenging Portimao track.

Dominique Aegerter didn't get off to an easy start when he wasn’t able to get past 18th place on Friday morning. But the experienced Swiss rider and his GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team crew worked hard, resulting in a one-second improvement in terms of lap time in the second session of the day. This allowed the still 32-year-old to make a leap to tenth place in the combined timesheet.

Saturday morning's free practice three is all about fine-tuning before Aegerter aims to secure a good grid position in Superpole for the first main race of the weekend. Starting time is at 15:00 CEST. In German-speaking countries, ServusTV and Eurosport are live on air, as is the paid stream on worldsbk.com, where all the sessions can be seen.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GTR Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)
FP1: P18 - 1´42.369 / FP2: P10 - 1´41.367

"We did not have the start we expected. Although we tested here at the beginning of the year, the weather conditions were different today. Therefore, the bike’s behaving was differently, and we struggled to regain confidence. Nevertheless, the team did a good job, and we found a way that gives me more confidence, even if I still have to get used to it and find the limit. Also, we still need to adjust the electronics a bit, but for this I am confident that we will succeed. We will work very hard and aim for a good qualifying and a good race to enjoy a special Saturday because it is my birthday!"

#PORWorldSBK - WSBK Combined Practice Times (FP1/FP2):
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´40.476 (FP2)
2 Garrett GERLOFF / USA / Bonovo action BMW / BMW M1000 RR / 1´40.763 +0.287 (FP1)
3 Michale Ruben RINALDI / ITA / Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´40.827 +0.351 (FP2)
10 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´41.367 +0.891 (FP2)

#PORWorldSBK - WSBK Time Schedule for Saturday September 30th (CEST):
10:00 - 10:30 FP3
12:10 - 12:25 Superpole 
15:00 Race 1 (20 Laps - 91.840 km)