YART set the pace at a two-day pre-season World Endurance test this week at the Paul Ricard, ahead of the 24-hour Bol D’Or race which will open the 2020 championship.
Regular YART riders Marvin Fritz and Niccolò Canepa were joined on the YZF-R1 at the recently resurfaced track by Frenchman Loris Baz, standing in for Broc Parkes at the opening round while the Australian competes in the penultimate race of the Asia Road Racing Championship in Sepang.
A solid opening day on Tuesday saw the team top the timesheets comfortabyl, with Baz immediately on the pace and setting a lap of 1’54.601 to end the day fastest, 0.522 ahead of the second-placed team.
Wednesday saw lap times tumble even further. The team was once again in dominant form, with Canepa setting a blistering 1’54.154 lap that was not bettered all day, coming close to last year’s outright lap record of 1’54.007 set by Randy de Puniet.
Fritz and Baz enjoyed another strong day to finish just a few tenths off their teammate’s time. After completing a clean sweep in the final pre-season test the team head to the first race of the season in promising form.
"I’m really happy with how the test went. It was great to be back with YART for the first time since 2011, there are some familiar faces still and I had a warm welcome from the whole team which was really nice," said Baz.
"It was great to ride with Niccolo and Marvin also. We worked really well together, and I didn’t know the track when I arrived so they helped me a lot there.
"We did a great job as a team to set up the bike, we had the same focus for the direction of the setup, we knew what we had to improve and found a position that suited us all.
"All week we did good lap times and had good pace, which is always positive, even though it is just testing.
"It’s important to have a strong pace for all three riders, I can’t wait for the race and it will be a good challenge to do a 24-hour race. I want to thank YART again for the opportunity, thanks to the whole team and of course to my teammates for this week."
