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Being a replacement rider, Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) couldn’t have expected to achieve Honda’s best WorldSBK result in over a year, especially after finishing 19^th in the Tissot Superpole session. But the determined Japanese rider took experience of the difficult wet conditions to come home with eight WorldSBK points and to give Honda their first top ten of the season.

Starting from 11^th after making up eight positions in the first start procedure, Takahashi was placed firmly in the midfield battle, swapping places regularly with fellow Honda rider Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team). However, as riders ahead such as Alex Lowes, Leon Haslam, BARNI Racing Team’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Michele Pirro and Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed out, Takahashi used his experience to bring home valuable points.

Speaking after the race, Takahashi said: This is my second round and the track conditions were very difficult. We tried many things about the settings for the weather and our team did a great job. I am so happy to finish inside the top ten and I will continue in this way for tomorrow. Step by step, we are improving, and I hope for the future, we continue like this. In the end, we always want to be in the top ten or the top six.”

Takahashi’s top ten makes it the first for a Japanese rider in WorldSBK since Takumi Takahashi in 2017, with 10^th in Race 2, Portimao. The last back-to-back top tens for a Japanese rider in WorldSBK came from Hiroshi Aoyama on the Ten Kate Honda in Race 1 and 2 in Phillip Island, 2012 – something he will be keen to update in the Tissot Superpole Race tomorrow.

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