Strong pace at a demanding EURO MOTO venue

The second round of the EURO MOTO Superbike season in Brno delivered a demanding weekend for Twan Smits and Team APRECO. Riding the Yamaha R1 , Smits immediately showed competitive pace around the fast and technical Czech circuit, continuing the progress made since the season opener at Sachsenring.

In qualifying, Twan Smits secured P5 on the grid with a lap time of 1:58.290, placing himself firmly in the fight for strong points heading into the races.

“The speed was there from the beginning,” Smits explained. “We made some good steps with the setup over the weekend.”

Strong pace but difficult tyre management in Race 1

Race 1 initially looked promising, with Smits able to stay competitive inside the midfield battle and match the pace of riders further ahead.

However, tyre degradation over race distance became the defining factor of the race weekend.

“The speed was always there, but the tyre management was not good enough to fight for better positions,” Smits said.

Despite the challenge, Twan Smits crossed the line in P8 in Race 1, finishing 12.757 seconds behind the winner while setting a fastest lap of 1:57.986, showing that the raw pace was still present.

Improvements rewarded in Race 2

For Race 2, the team worked on setup changes to better manage tyre performance over race distance.

The adjustments delivered improvements, allowing Smits to remain more competitive throughout the race and move further forward in the field.

He finished P5 in Race 2, crossing the line 11.993 seconds behind the race winner while setting a fastest lap of 1:58.406.

“We improved the bike for Race 2 and it definitely felt better,” Smits reflected. “But we still need to improve tyre management if we want to fight further at the front.”

Valuable points for the championship

Although the weekend did not fully deliver the results the team had hoped for, important points were secured at a demanding venue.

With 49 championship points, Twan Smits now sits fourth in the overall EURO MOTO Superbike standings, keeping himself firmly in the fight near the front of the championship.