Leonov gets into the groove at Almeria
After the encouraging times recorded at Jerez, the Yakhnich Motorsport team then moved to Almeria to complete its testing programme before leaving for Australia. Rider Vladimir Leonov was able to lap constantly for three days at the Spanish track, and the team did a lot of work, only failing to complete the long-run scheduled for the morning of day 3 due to 5°C temperatures.
The Russian team mainly focused on suspension, engine and electronic management work on the Yamaha R6 Supersport Leonov will ride in this year's series. Right from the start of day 1 he found a good feeling with the bike, lapping in the low 1'39s. On day 2 he knocked a full second off his time, ending up at the 1'38.0 second mark in all different bike specs. On day 3 Leonov kept the same pace and was able to lap in a best time of 1'37"8. The team is now ready to tackle the opening round of the 2012 Supersport World Championship with a good base starting-point.
"These were four intensive days, but I have to admit that I am leaving for Australia very motivated after seeing my bike improve day after day," said Leonov. "I had a good feeling with the base setting and it was easy to lap constantly in 1'37"- 1'38" without taking any risks. Now we're curious to see how we will get on at Phillip Island, where naturally we will suffer due to a lack of experience. Hopefully we will be able to make the best of the two days of tests before the race to complete the set-up work. We know that for us the start of the season will be tough alongside the world's best teams and riders, but at least we're starting off on the right foot".
