Edwards trumps career best result in Catalunya, taking 1st in the WSSP Challenge
The YART Team showed just how serious they are this season, making major progress between their season opener in Assen just a few weeks ago and race 2 in Catalunya, Barcelona.
Free Practice
FP1 and FP2 was just another day, with Edwards sitting around P24 in both sessions. That all changed on Saturday when Edwards came from no where in Superpole with only a lap to go to jump from P13 to claim P4 on the starting grid. Narrowly missing the podium by just an 0.093 of a second behind Federico Caricasulo and only 0.53 seconds behind World SuperSport leader Niccolo Bulega in P1.
“This was the first time I’ve rode a bike here since I was on a 300 back in 2019. So it was a whole new ball game for me.”
“In practice it was difficult I couldn’t find anyone to follow so it was hard to find pace. So I just focused on getting as many laps in as I could to get comfortable with the circuit.”
Superpole
“In qualifying I sat behind Bulega on the first lap, which helped me understand the track more and improved my lap time from Friday.”
The middle of the session was red flagged, which gave the team time to regather themselves and make a tyre changed before heading back out to get the job done.
“I followed Caricasulo out of pit lane and sat behind him for my qualifying lap. My pace felt super comfortable and easy.”
“I didnt realise I was P4 until I came in and my mechanics took my bike. I looked up the screen and saw ‘Edwards P4’“
“I was very stoked. It’s my best qualifying so far, it was a good sign that the team is on the right track.”
Race 1
“I got a good start but wasn't aggressive enough. It came down to experience. It was a good lesson for me to up there with guys who have that experience.”
“I was knocked around a bit there at the start and it took me a few laps to regather myself after being bumped down to p18.”
We salvaged a good race from a bad start to finish in p14”
Race 2
“I came into it with the mindset to be more aggressive off the start but I absolutely blew the start and I lost all momentum through the first sector.”
“I found my feet after my first lap and had a great pace. I battled with some really experienced guys. I was happy to finish in P11, my best result for the season so far”
“Really happy with the progress we made and to see the podium for 1st in the World SuperSport Challenge."
"Our goal this weekend was to improve in qualifying which we smashed. We’ve seen how strong we can be in the later part of the races. Our goal for the next one is to work on the first few laps and put it all together.”
Next Race: Misano 2 - 4 May