Motorpoint Yamaha were left to rue the heavy rain which made life so difficult for them on race day at Thruxton.
The team had shown tremendous promise throughout the weekend with James Westmoreland and Loris Baz going first and third quickest in final practice. That from continued into qualifying with both riders making it into Q3, Baz taking eighth and Westmoreland ninth, but a penalty for an illegal practice start relegated the Frenchman to 12th.
Any hopes of a recovery in race one were lost for Baz when a poor tyre choice on the wet track necessitated a pitstop and he trailed home two laps down in 25th.
The 18-year-old had a much simpler time in race two, coming from 14th on the grid up to 11th and was relieved to end a challenging day on a high.
“It was a shame as I had the pace to take the top five in race two but I couldn't see two metres in front because of the spray so it was horrible to take over. For the second race I had no hesitation in choosing wet tyres. I started 14th on the grid and moved up to 11th so I'm satisfied with that second race.”
Monday followed a very similar pattern for Westmoreland who took the same decision on tyre choice in race one and ended up in 26th. The Beverley based rider took the safe option and went with wet tyres for race two and was rewarded with 12th place and four points.
As a result, Westmoreland is 18th in the BSB standings with 18 points while Baz has kept himself in touch with the top six positions. He is tenth on 56 points and is 12 behind Peter Hickman, who currently holds the final spot in the end-of-season Championship Showdown.
