Pata Yamaha’s Michael van der Mark completely reversed his setup direction for this afternoon’s WorldSBK second practice at Magny-Cours and the gamble paid off as he ended second on the combined timesheet.
The Dutchman finished the morning session in eighth and some initial tinkering and tyre evaluation saw some improvement. However, his team decided to go the other way with settings, especially with front geometry, and it paid off.
“I think it is the strongest Friday we have had all year, I am happy. This morning started well, I felt good, we did worked on the bike a little bit, it felt better and better, and at the end we were P8,” said van der Mark, speaking at the track.
“For the afternoon, the track temperature went, we waited to change some things on the bike to see how the track was. We changed the rear, I improved but I wasn’t very happy about it. We tried some tyres but I still wasn’t happy. In the end, we went completely in the other direction, especially at the front and I did a really fast last two laps.”
