Balance of Performance fizzles out: Twan Smits moves to WorldSBK

Following the two races at the Nürburgring, it was time for the next checkpoint in the Euro Moto Superbike series. After four consecutive victories, it was Twan Smits’s Yamaha’s turn, and it would have had to cope with 14,500 revolutions per minute at the final race at the Hockenheimring. That’s 300 fewer than during his victories. We will never know to what extent this reduction would have affected Smits’ lap times and results. For Smits bid an early ‘Tot Ziens’ to Euro Moto and moved on to the Superbike World Championship. He will finish the season for Moto X Racing. As Bahattin Sofuoglu wanted to return to the Supersport category, the Italian Yamaha team needed a suitable replacement who was available as early as this coming weekend in Cremona.

The 22-year-old Dutchman, who is only in his second year riding a Superbike in the German Championship, is on a roll: he secured pole position and both victories at the last two race weekends. First at his home race in Assen and then at the penultimate Euro Moto weekend at the Nürburgring. Smits is part of Yamaha’s ‘BLu Cru’ programme, through which he began his career in the Yamaha R3 Cup in the Netherlands, followed by the IDM Supersport300 and the IDM Supersport.

On his way to the world stage

“I’m still lost for words when it comes to describing how I feel,” Smits explained before setting off for the World Championship. “Getting the chance to be part of the Superbike World Championship has been my biggest dream ever since I started racing in the Dutch R3 Cup. When Yamaha rang me with the offer, I simply couldn’t believe it. I’d like to thank the whole Yamaha family and Moto X Racing for this fantastic opportunity. I’ve already completed my first test on my new bike, and this R1 really is ‘next level’. You can brake much later, and the electronics package and the possibilities it offers seem endless. It will take some time to realise the bike’s full potential, but we’ve already made progress during the test, and I’m looking forward to my first weekend in Cremona. As always, I’ll give it my all, and my aim is to score my first points in World Superbike this year.

World Championship team boss Sandro Carusi was already familiar with Smits, as when the Dutchman took part in this year’s Assen round on a wildcard with his Euro Moto-Yamaha, his riders struggled to keep him behind them. “He is a young rider who is already showing considerable talent, and I am sure that the whole team will do everything they can to provide him with the right conditions so that he can perform at his best,” promised Carusi.

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