Toni Elias still has no idea what he’ll be doing next year after a very dismal return to MotoGP, after winning the Moto2 championship in 2010.
The Spaniard was invited by BMW Italia to take part in the World Superbike test at Misano, but it wasn’t exactly a stunning success, even if was the first time he rode a Superbike.
Elias ended up two seconds slower than his former Gresini team mate Marco Melandri who led the timesheets on both days and was even slower than Aprilia and BMW test riders and TV commentators, Alex Hofmann and Steve Martin.
The LCR Honda rider, who had to cut the test short because he had to return to Spain for the upcoming MotoGP round at Aragon, was interviewed by motosprint.
it explained the problems he encountered on riding the BMW S1000RR.
“The tank is so big that I can’t reach the handlebars and levers with sufficient force and can’t control the bike.
The first thing I’d need would be smaller gas tank and a different riding position: foot pegs, controls, handlebars.
”“I’m not used to riding production based bikes, they move a lot and I can’t open the throttle.
I tried stiffening the suspensions, but the BMW become even more difficult to ride.
I needed more time to adapt the bike to my physical and riding characteristics.
The BMW has a great engine but the power comes suddenly and isn’t easy to manage.
The Superbike is more powerful than I imagined.
”According to Motosprint, it seems that BMW Italia after this test, is no longer interested in offering Elias a ride next season and that even Castrol Honda who was looking at the Spaniard to replace Ruben Xaus, has also changed their mind.
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