It proved to be a difficult weekend for the Anvil Hire Yamaha duo of Shaun Winfield and James Rispoli at Assen – with both riders failing to score points.
Both riders suffered from a DNF in race one of the day before ending the second race in Holland outside the top 20 positions.
Winfield, who has re-signed with the team for 2017, started race one down in 30th place but managed to get a good start – making his way up to 24th by the end of lap seven.
Just moments after posting his personal best lap-time of the weekend though he was forced to retire from the race due to a brake issue.
On race one, Winfield said: “This weekend started off quite steady, we struggled to find some pace and find the correct bike setting. I ended up having a poor qualifying and I didn’t end up around the people I wanted to be around and that put me back for the first race.
“Race one I got a good start and I managed to pick up a few places and I improved on my personal best by a full second around here so I was going well, until we had issues with the front brake lever, I was struggling to stop into turn one and I had to retire.”
The 23-year-old started race two from 27th on the grid and despite making a positive start, he was hampered with tyre issues and ended the race down in 29th place.
Winfield added: “Race two we made some changes to the bike to make it turn a little bit better, but because of the cooler conditions it didn’t work. I went the wrong way tyre wise, I should have gone for the harder tyre because the zero destroyed itself, but we hadn’t done enough laps on that tyre to warrant making that call.
“I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch now and I’m looking to finish the season on a high.”
On the other side of the garage, Rispoli also made a positive start to race one before being hampered by technical problems. The American tried to continue for as long as he could but was eventually forced to retire with three laps remaining.
Rispoli made a great start again in race two and by the end of the first lap he made up three places to 18th. Mid-race he had dropped back to 22nd, and became embroiled in a battle with Josh Hook until he lost grip with his rear tyre.
However, the ‘Rocket’ fought back and got the better of the Australian rider in the final two laps, crossing the line in 22nd place.
A frustrated Rispoli said: “It’s been a frustrating weekend for us, we had a DNF in race one and in race two we had a good chassis but we are losing nine bikes lengths out of the hairpin to the first chicane and then we were right on the back of them again, that tells me we have worked well on the chassis, so that is a positive.
“We’ve given it our all this weekend, the guys are working hard and that’s all I can ask. We’re taking it every race as it comes, I’m going to go away and train hard and come back at Brands stronger, it’s probably going to rain so let’s see if we can put somewhere near the front.”
The final round of the 2016 season takes place at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit and gets underway on Friday, October 14.
