The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team comes away from the British WorldSBK round at Donington Park with important references and data after substitute riders Tito Rabat and Ivo Lopes run two consistent races on Sunday.

After a short warm-up, Rabat and Lopes took to the track for the ten-lap Superpole race. From the eighth row of the grid, both riders made a spirited start, making up one position apiece on lap one. Despite being a little off the pace of their closest rivals, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders were able to find and maintain a consistent rhythm throughout the ten-lap sprint. Putting together a clean race, Rabat crossed the line in nineteenth place and Lopes twentieth, collecting more important data ahead of race 2.

The weekend’s second full-length SBK race ran according to schedule at 2pm local time (CET-1), over a distance of 23 laps. Keen to make the most of this final race and learn as much as possible, Rabat and Lopes focused on maintaining the strongest possible pace without committing mistakes. Making up a couple of positions over the course of the race, the Spanish rider concluded in nineteenth place, followed by his Portuguese teammate, twentieth.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda team will now prepare for the eighth championship round that will take place in two weeks’ time at the new Balaton Park circuit in Hungary.

Tito Rabat #53

“A very difficult weekend but I knew it would be hard. In the end, I think we did a good job considering the challenges the Donington track poses. I’d say that we did well to do what we’ve done here. I’ve got to know how the team and the Honda engineers work, and we’ve collected a lot of useful information. The small crash in Race 1 penalised us as we lost the chance to collect data, and we paid for that a little today. But we’ve learned a lot over the weekend and hopefully I've been able to provide the team with useful feedback.”

Ivo Lopes #75

“We made a change for today as I wasn’t particularly comfortable with the setting yesterday. And it worked because I had better feeling. We went with something new for the Superpole race and also used that race to prepare for the long race. As for Race 2, we went with a harder tyre which worked well over the second half of the race. I was feeling good, quite comfortable and was able to maintain a good rhythm. Overall, I think we did a great job, I’m happy with how the weekend went and think I could do more given more time and experience. A big thanks to the team and everyone for the opportunity, and to the sponsors; I'm very grateful."