Back on the podium with Oscar Gutiérrez and a tough weekend in Supersport Next Generation
Back on the podium with Oscar Gutiérrez and a tough weekend in Supersport Next Generation
Andotrans Team Torrentó has completed the fourth round of the Spanish Superbike Championship, marking the halfway point of the current season. This weekend’s race at Circuito do Estoril (Portugal) was full of emotions and challenges for our riders.
The competition was marked by intermittent rain, which led the team to decide not to take to the track for free practice on Thursday, as they had trained on the same track the previous week. On Friday, with good weather and a dry forecast for the whole weekend, the team did a good job of setting up for the competition and final qualifying.
Saturday saw qualifying and the first round of Superbike where Oscar Gutiérrez took P2 for Saturday’s race, just +0.088 off pole position. In the Supersport Next Generation category, Harry Khouri and Abdulla Alqubaisi finished in P18 and P24 respectively, positions from which they would start Saturday’s race.
Oscar started the first race feeling very comfortable on the Yamaha R1, he got a well deserved 3rd place and fought until the end for the win, staying at +0.505 of winning the race and thus getting the third place on the podium. Moments later, in the SSNG category, both Abdulla and Harry crashed on laps 3 and 4 respectively.
On the final day, rain was again the main problem during the warm-up and the riders decided not to go out on track. Harry was feeling discomfort in his wrist from the previous day’s crash and decided not to ride, ending the Australian rider’s day. Abdulla, for his part, started from P24, but this did not prevent him from making up places throughout the race, finishing in P13.
It was time for the main event of the day, the SBK, where Oscar started on the front row and after a good start in which he maintained his position, he lost control of his front wheel in the third corner and crashed in the early stages of the race. It was a shame because both the team and the rider were ready to fight for victory again.
The team will now have three months off to rest and prepare for the second half of the championship. The next round will take place on 16 and 17 September at the Circuito de Navarra.
FERRAN TORRENTÓ
Team Manager
“A weekend of hard work for the team. I am happy to have fought for the win with Oscar on Saturday. It’s a shame he crashed on the first lap today when he made a mistake, I’m sure he would have fought for the win. We have to learn from this and keep working hard, we send him our best wishes. As for the 600cc category, both riders crashed yesterday and the bikes were badly damaged, but fortunately nothing serious happened to them”.
“Congratulations to the whole team for the good work they did to get the bikes ready for Sunday. It is a shame that Harry had discomfort in his hand and decided not to start the race, we wish him a speedy recovery. Congratulations to Abdulla who has done a race from less to more, going up to P13. We would like to thank our sponsors for their support and assure them that we will continue to work towards our goal”.
