The EAB Racing Team and Glenn van Straalen rode on the circuit of Autódromo Internacional do Algarve last weekend. The penultimate race weekend for the FIM World Supersport Championship was scheduled during the weekend of September 29 to October 1. During the first race Glenn crashed hard but managed to recover in race two with a nice sixth place.
It was a warm weekend in Portugal with temperatures around thirty degrees. The weekend kicked off on Friday with the two free practice sessions. The EAB Racing Team rider got up to speed well and was able to build a strong rhythm during the sessions. In the end of the second training session, the Yamaha rider had a technical problem and forced him to stop. Just before that, Glenn managed to set a good time with eleventh place overall.
On Saturday morning we saw the Superpole session. It was important for the rider from Hoogkarspel to take a step forward. This is what he did and improved his lap time significantly. In the early stages of qualifying, Glenn set a fifth lap time. Halfway through the session, he has an innocent fall. In the final minutes of Superpole we see a red flag situation. After that everybody has time to set one lap time. Glenn is unable to improve and start the races from eighth place.
Unfortunately, the first race did not go as Glenn had hoped. During the opening phase he managed to position himself well and maintained himself around eighth place. Later in the race Glenn makes a mistake and has to go wide and loses some positions. After that it is difficult to keep up with the pace of the riders in front of him and he is in tenth place for a long time. The young Dutchman loses the front of his machine in the final laps and crashes out of the race.
Despite the heavy crash in the first race, Glenn is ready for battle during race two. He gets off to a good start and gains a position. A group is formed fighting for fourth position and Glenn shows up well and fights hard for his position. Later in the race he rides alone but sets fast times and a good pace. He crosses the line in a nice sixth place. A positive end to the weekend at the Algarve circuit.
Glenn: “Overall I am satisfied with the weekend in Portugal. During the free practice sessions we quickly got up to speed and that gave us confidence during the weekend. In Superpole we managed to qualify in eighth place with a good pace. In the first race it was difficult to keep up the pace during the opening laps. After that the rhythm was better, but unfortunately I crashed out of the race in the final laps. We managed to finish the second race in sixth place. This is a great result after the crash on Saturday. This gives confidence and shows that we belong to the top. We take this feeling with us to the last race in Jerez. Thank you to the EAB Racig Team for this weekend.”
The EAB Racing Team is going recharge and get ready for the last race of the season. This will take place at the end of the month on the weekend of October 27 to 29 at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto circuit in Spain.