Round three of the 2020 WorldSBK campaign and the second of the two back-to-back race weekends for Steven Odendaal and his team EAB Ten Kate Racing Yamaha took place in Portimão, Portugal with another double header for the World SuperSport class.
Having only competed in three races (2 race weekends) so far since his debut in the WorldSBK championship, Steven Odendaal was determined to continue to learn and make progress aboard his Yamaha R6, a mission which he accomplished with a superb performance and a fourth position in Race 2. The South African now lies in 5th position in the provisional world championship standings in his debut season.
Steven Odendaal (Race 1 – 8th, Race 2 – 4th): “We finished the weekend off on a high note with a fourth position in the second race. I had a great start, I was up to 7th from 10th on the grid but on the second lap I had a huge moment. I was lucky to stay on board but it cost me a couple of positions. I felt really comfortable on the bike and got into a good rhythm, climbing up through the field. When I got into 4th half way through the 17-lap race, I was able to break away from the group behind me straight away and I saw on my pit board that I was closing on Isaac Viñales in third, however, the gap was just too difficult to close. I knew the team would appreciate a solid result to end the weekend so I decided to settle for fourth. We were doing the same lap times as the guys in second and third, which proves that we could have been on the podium if we qualified better on Saturday – this is something we need to focus on going forward. We worked really hard with the team throughout the weekend to identify a problem which held us back at the beginning of the weekend and in the first race and we made a big step forward in race 2. I enjoyed riding my R6 and we were competitive. I am really looking forward to the next race in Aragon (end of August) to confirm that we are going in the right direction to secure our first podium. Huge thanks to my team for all their hard work this weekend.”