The race weekend in Portugal has come to an end. It was once again an exciting race. Jeffrey Buis finished sixth, and shortly behind him in ninth place we see Ferre Fleerackers. Throughout the entire race, we saw a large leading group where every position was fought for. We can look back positively on the weekend in Portimão. The start of the week began with the necessary challenges, but during the race weekend, most things fell into place. Both drivers could be found at the front all weekend. And a podium in a debut is, of course, fantastic. The work of the past few months has been rewarded.

“The start of the race was not ideal. I wanted to move to the front too quickly, which ultimately worked against me. After that, I was able to find my rhythm and moved forward step by step. Ultimately, a sixth place, where the field is very close together. All in all, I am satisfied with the weekend and the positive steps we have taken as a team.”

“Overall, we can be satisfied with the weekend, but I am still slightly disappointed with the result, because there was definitely more in it for today. At the same time, it was a good race in which I was able to show my speed and also compete at the front. We will take the positive points with us and build on this for the next round.”

The race week in Portimão, Portugal, began on Monday with the official first test day, which proved to be a strong and productive start for both the rider and the team. Throughout the day, various setups were tested, and several challenges were successfully addressed. Each session provided valuable data and insights, helping to build a solid foundation. In the days leading up to the first Free Practice, the team worked hard behind the scenes, fine-tuning every detail to ensure the rider would be fully prepared for the start of the season.

Friday marked the beginning of the race weekend. The first Free Practice session showed clear progress, with Kas setting the 10th fastest time and feeling significantly more comfortable on the bike compared to Monday’s test. Later that day, during qualifying for Race 1, the rider exceeded all expectations by securing an impressive 4th place. Considering this was the first World Championship race for both Kas and the team, this result was a remarkable achievement. Following a penalty for another rider, the 4th place was promoted to a P3 starting position.

On Saturday, Race 1 got off to an incredible start. Kas launched off the line and immediately moved from P3 to P1 heading into the first corner. In the following laps, several intense battles unfolded, with Kas holding strong within the leading group. Unfortunately, in lap 6, the race took a dramatic turn when the rider suffered a high-sider caused by oil on the track from a previous incident. The situation led to a red flag. Despite the team’s impressive effort to repair the bike in record time, Kas was unable to restart due to a mandatory visit to the medical centre. Fortunately, the injuries were limited to the rider’s fingers, allowing him to return for Race 2 on Sunday. Nevertheless, the performance clearly demonstrated that both the rider and the bike have the potential to fight for victories.

Sunday’s Race 2 presented a new challenge. Due to Saturday’s crash, Kas had to start from P14. The race became even more difficult after receiving a double long-lap penalty for a jump start. Although it was later clear that the rider had not actually jumped the start, he had moved too much before the lights went out. This penalty made scoring points extremely difficult. Despite this setback, Kas showed strong race pace and determination, managing to recover positions and come close to the points. Ultimately, a P17 finish was the maximum achievable result.

While the weekend did not end with the results the team had hoped for, there were many positives to take away. The pace, competitiveness, and overall performance showed great promise. With these lessons and confidence gained, the team now looks ahead to the next race in Assen, motivated and ready to fight again.

“Despite the poor results in both races we can look back on a productive week in Portugal. We can safely say that the official debut of the GSX-8R on World Championship level was impressive. For sure we still have a fair bit of development work to do at this stage but that shows the base package is very strong in the early stages of the season. We look forward to our team home round in 2 weeks time at the TT circuit of Assen. This time we hope to turn our pace into good race results! Thanks to all our team sponsors/crew and Suzuki for their support! Stay tuned!”

“First weekend in the books! We made great progress over the weekend and with my team we made a bike that was easy and comfortable to ride and ready to fight at the front! The results of the races unfortunately dont show the potential that we have but we did show the speed. I’m very impressed with the feeling of the bike and i’m sure that the results will come in the future!”