After an unsuccessful Superpole this morning, Dominique Aegerter was able to take three important points for the championship, coming home in 13th place in the first main race of the weekend at Dutch Round.
Ongoing changeable weather this weekend in the north of the Netherlands brings Dominique Aegerter and his GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team to the brink of despair, as the 33-year-old Swiss rider struggles to get going at a completely wet track. Aegerter only finished the rainy Superpole in 19th place, and FP3 before that was no bright spot in the rain either.
After repeated rain showers, the track at the historic TT Circuit in Assen began to dry out, so there was a flurry of activity at the starting grid to decide with which tyres to go into the race. Aegerter and his crew opted for slicks, although there were still many wet patches. He only got going better towards the end of the race with a more and more drying track and was able to make up a few positions.
Austrian channel «ServusTV» will broadcast live on free-to-air TV from 13:10 on Sunday. A recording of Superpole Race will be shown in the preliminary coverage before the second main race. Everything live can be followed on the broadcaster’s online platform «ServusTV Online» as well as on its «ServusTV On» app, and in the live stream on the official WorldSBK website. Eurosport 2 will broadcast a recording of the second race in the evening.
#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, Yamaha YZF R1)
Grid position 19 / Race 1: P13
"Things did not go to plan today, as the weather conditions made it very difficult. We are still missing something in the wet, because FP3 and qualifying took place in rainy conditions, where we ended up quite far back. I am sorry for the team that we had to start that far down the grid. P19 on the grid is not what we need. So, our starting position ruined our race a bit right from the start. As 95 percent of all riders did, we opted also for slicks tyres at the start."
"It was not easy to ride the 1000cc Superbike at the beginning, when the track was still completely wet in four or five corners. In the end, we finished in P13 and took a few points from this race. Our goal now is to finish Superpole race in the top nine. It will not be a walk in the park, for sure, but we will try to get a good starting position for the second race. I am also hoping for better track conditions so that it is less dangerous to ride."
#DutchWorldSBK – WSBK Superpole:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Pata Prometeon Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´42.650
2 2 Nicolo BULEGA / ITA / Auruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´42.744 +0.094
3 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´43.003 +0.353
19 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´45.420 +2.770
#DutchWorldSBK – WSBK Race 1 (14 Laps):
1 Nicholas SPINELLI / ITA / Barni Spark Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4R / 25.08.898
2 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR / +1.979
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / +2.089
13 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 4 Sectors
WorldSBK Standing:
1 Nicolo BULEGA / ITA / Ducati / 92
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Ducati / 91
3 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / BMW / 91
9 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Yamaha / 37