Bradl Makes The Most of Changeable Weather Conditions at Jerez
The WorldSBK rookie leads Honda development in southern Spain
After two days of valuable testing at Jerez on Monday the 21st and Tuesday 22nd of November, the Honda WorldSBK Team can now enter the winter break in confidence, having found a good base setup ahead of the arrival of their new 2017 Fireblade next year. With Nicky Hayden out of action following an injury sustained last Friday during a flat-track training session, it was up to WorldSBK rookie Stefan Bradl to carry out the testing duties at the fast-flowing Andalusian venue.
With weather conditions not as kind as during the previous two-day test at MotorLand Aragón, Bradl and the team spent Monday trying to find a good setup for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP in the wet conditions as well as for flag-to-flag races.
On day two the track was still soaked by rain. Around midday, the sun came out briefly but the lack of wind slowed down the drying process. Despite never getting back to fully dry conditions, later in the day the asphalt was grippy enough for Bradl to be out on slicks and to finalise his base setup and riding position.
“It wasn’t the perfect weather to go testing this week,” said Bradl. “Monday we did 35 laps in wet conditions, just to get a feeling with the bike and with the Pirelli tyres in the wet; it was quite a positive day and we made the best of it. Even Tuesday was affected by poor weather because it rained until noon, and it took a very long time for the track to dry. We did 20 laps with slick tyres but the there were still a few damp patches about, so I didn’t stay out for too long and we didn’t make any modifications to the bike, because I was not fast enough to get a feeling for it. At least we managed to do a couple of laps in mostly dry conditions and the feeling was very similar to Aragón, so I can say that it’s been a good first experience overall with Honda in World Superbike. Now it’s time to relax, recharge the batteries and be ready to jump on the new Fireblade at the beginning of next year.”
The Honda WorldSBK Team will be back on track in January next year to start development on their 2017 machines, as they prepare to put up a challenge at the season opener at Phillip Island in February.
