The EAB Racing Team started their FIM World Supersport Championship season in the weekend from 24 to 26 February at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia. A weekend with good progress for Glenn van Straalen and difficult weather conditions.
After the last official test was completed on the Monday and Tuesday before the race weekend, Glenn and the EAB Racing Team were ready for the start of the season. It was a good weekend all around with progression and speed.
Friday we rode two free practice sessions. Under summer temperatures, the 22-year-old rider got up to speed. The feeling with the Yamaha YZR-R6 quickly got to the level where it belongs and the team was able to build on this for Superpole on Saturday
On Saturday morning the lights turned green for the Superpole session. Just before the start of this qualifying it started to rain on the Australian circuit. Glenn quickly went out to set a lap time. This resulted in a good time, which put him on a provisional Pole Position. At that point, the rain stopped and the track dried up quickly, changing a lot in the closing stages. Glenn picked himself up and clocked a time good for the seventh place on the grid for the first race of the season.
The first race of the season was hectic. A few seconds before the start it started to rain. The first part of the race started well and the start was great. Glenn managed to take the lead from seventh place within a few corners. A red flag on lap four of the race prompted a restart. The Yamaha rider was allowed to start from second place. Unfortunately, the wrong tire choice caused difficult conditions, resulting in fourteenth place.
The second race on Sunday was held with a bright sun in the sky. It was a good race, Glenn started from sixth place on the grid. In the opening laps he managed to keep this place and fought with a number of riders for fourth place. As the race followed, the group became a bit larger, but later fell apart again. As a result, the young Dutchman came to ride alone, with a fifth place as a result.
Glenn van Straalen: “Overall we are satisfied with the start of the season. On Friday we started well and soon had the right speed for the rest of the weekend. The first race on Saturday afternoon was hectic. We showed that we had an excellent rhythm and that we had speed. Due to a red flag situation and then a wrong choice of tires, we finished fourteenth. In the second race we showed were we belong with a good fifth place. We are satisfied but need to close the gap. On to Indonesia next weekend!”
We leave Australia behind and go straight to Indonesia where the second race weekend is scheduled for next weekend. From 3 to 5 March we race at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit in Lombok.
