The opening race of the FIM Superbike World Championship weekend at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand saw Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team riders Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes finish fifth and sixth respectively on their YZF-R1s, earning good points once again as they did during the opening round in Australia. With the second race of the Thai weekend to come on Sunday 12th March both Alex and Michael will have another chance to add to their points totals very soon.

After Lowes had qualified fourth in Superpole 2, and van der Mark sixth, both team and riders knew that today's opening 20-lap race offered possibilities to score well.

Van der Mark took his opportunity to record his best result of the year, fifth place, after 20-laps in which he had to pass his team-mate early in the race and then concentrate through the hot conditions to bring it home just over three seconds from a podium finish.

Lowes, not feeling quite as comfortable on his machine as his team-mate in this particular race, was a clear sixth; over 11 seconds ahead of the rider in seventh place.

As was the case in Australia, the new championship rules governing the grid for race two will change the starting positions for many riders, including Lowes and van der Mark on Sunday. Michael will now start second on the grid and Alex third, with the race one podium finishers now relegated to the third row.

Michael van der Mark - Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team

"I was really happy with Superpole. We made a big step this morning then Superpole was really good and sixth was very positive for us at this stage of the year. Third to sixth place was really close in Superpole. That was important for us to be in there with them. For the Race I got a decent start and kept my position. For the first couple of laps Alex and I lost a bit in the first two sectors but in the corners we made it up. I am really happy because I was really consistent through the whole race - we just need to find a little bit more! I am happy with fifth place in my second race weekend with the team. I think everyone can be really happy today!"


Alex Lowes - Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team

"Superpole was good because we went in with a new setting on the bike, new tyres and it felt really good. We stuck with that for the race. As the tyres dropped it was not quite as good as it had been in Superpole but it was still a step up from what we had during the practice sessions. I have struggled all weekend finding the feeling that I want and I had to settle for sixth in that race. I am hopeful of some improvements tomorrow, to get my feeling back a little bit and have a good race. My tyre in the race today was good at the end, almost too good, and I think I can work it a bit more at the beginning tomorrow. I seemed to be spinning too much rather than me using the tyre to the full so I am quite confident we can make some improvements before race two."

Paul Denning - Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team - Team Principal

"We can be very happy with the performance of both riders, the Crescent crew and all the Yamaha team after today's race. The Chang circuit was always going to be a bigger challenge than Phillip Island in terms of outright pace compared to the top competitors but we took a huge step forward in performance compared to a year ago. Both riders stayed focused and got the best out of the YZF-R1s for the whole 20 laps. For Michael to finish only three seconds off the podium is going to be a huge confidence boost for him. His rhythm has been very strong here all weekend, his consistency is incredible and we just need a little more outright performance to help him take the next step forward. For Alex, he didn't feel entirely comfortable with the setting and struggled to find the sweet spot compared to Michael so far this weekend. We will make some more adjustments for warm-up tomorrow and see what we can achieve. Both riders start from the front row now, which gives us a chance to be a little bit closer to the action in the early laps and we will do our best in Race 2 to take another step forward."

1    - Jonathan Rea Kawasaki GBR 31'16.125
2    - Chaz Davies Ducati GBR 00'06.279
3    - Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 00'08.165
4    - Marco Melandri Ducati ITA 00'08.239
5    - Michael van der Mark Yamaha NLD 00'11.384
6    - Alex Lowes Yamaha GBR 00'14.862
7    - Jordi Torres BMW ESP 00'26.035
8    - Leon Camier MV Agusta GBR 00'31.755
9    - Nicky Hayden Honda USA 00'33.305
10  - Stefan Bradl Aprilia DEU 00'35.208
11  - Xavi Fores Ducati ESP 00'35.428
12  - Randy Krummenacher Kawasaki CHE 00'38.865
13  - Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia ITA 00'39.869
14  - Markus Reiterberger BMW DEU 00'40.140
15  - Román Ramos Kawasaki ESP 00'47.407
16  - Alex De Angelis Kawasaki SM 00'57.203
17  - Riccardo Russo Yamaha ITA 01'00.996
18  - Ondrej Jezek Kawasaki CZE 01'05.330