Following the Grand Prix of Spain, an intense day of testing at Jerez brought positive results for Alvaro Bautista. Under bright sunshine and with temperatures reaching 50° on track, the Spaniard tried out some new setups for his machine and worked on his Showa suspension. The results were encouraging for the future and his pace was better than over the weekend, whilst he also improved with used tyres.
Bryan Staring also had a good day, going faster than his quickest lap in qualifying and keeping up a solid pace which illustrated his progress. Unfortunately, a crash ended his day early, putting his planned workload on the backburner for the while.
Alvaro Bautista (6th 1’39”457 50 laps)
"Today was an interesting day, because we tried out some new solutions with both the front and the rear. We also used a new fork, with which we found some good things but which needs more work. For the moment the fork that we used yesterday performs better, but the basic details of what we used today looks very interesting for the future. As for the rear, which gave us problems at the weekend, we found some settings that gave us positive feedback. Today we were faster than over the entire weekend and I clocked my best lap time. So it was a positive day and the pace on used tires was also good. We also did a great job with Showa, because we were able to collect data and information of interest to them for developing the rear –which we’ve neglected a bit recently. I am confident ahead of Le Mans, where I am sure we will have better performance with both the front and the rear of the bike."
Bryan Staring (15th 1’41”181 46 laps)
"I'm unhappy about the crash at Turn 11, which forced me to end the testing session early. I was doing well, despite a really bad headache, and I was pleased with what I was doing. Unfortunately, the unexpected early finish has left a bad taste in my mouth and I can only apologise to the team. I felt a strange vibration on the front and I lost control of the bike. In any case, I consider this a positive day; firstly because I went faster than in qualifying, but mainly because I rode with a good pace, felt good and was confident on the bike. All this gives me confidence for the next race at Le Mans in France. "
Go&Fun Honda Gresini Press Release
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