The rain in Spain mainly falls on test circuits and if anyone is still skeptic that global warming exsists just ask any MotoGP or World Superbike rider.
Even yesterday’s final day of testing for the four SBK teams who were at the Motorland Aragon circuit were again hampered by a damp track but in the afternoon the teams were able to get in some dry time, but the weather left everyone slightly frustrated and hoping that at least at Jerez – who will host the final round of the 2013 WSBK championship – and will also host the final 2012 winter test for several teams later this month before the testing ban goes into effect.
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes said, “I am very happy with the test even if we had reduced track time.
We still managed to evaluate a number of things.
We have learned quite a bit today and we have definitely improved the feel of the bike in some areas.
We have been able to do reasonable lap times and we can do them consistently with good feed back and I hope we can build on this at the next test.
There were a few other riders out there today, on different bikes, so that was good because the track surface needed a little bit of use.
Even in mixed conditions at Aragon we know exactly where we stand and can still work well and make progress.
Also the track surface itself is usually quite consistent at Motorland so it is a good place for testing.
”While team mate Loris Baz: “The test was good on the final day but we could not ride yesterday because of the weather.
This morning was not so good either but we had some nice sunshine finally in the afternoon and we did something like 60 or 65 laps.
We improved the feeling with the bike a lot, and I was more comfortable on it again.
I think this was a really good step.
” Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea and new team mate Leon Haslam were also present, with Rea testing a new swingarm, and new brake discs and pads, while Haslam suffered a crash that even further cut down testing time.
“It was a little frustrating because we lost the first day and had to wait until late morning before we could get out on day two.
We tried some new brake parts at the test and found an improvement in both consistency and performance, so that was positive.
The new swingarm worked OK with the new 17-inch wheels but we still need to do a bit of fine-tuning with some other new chassis parts that are coming.
We have some other things to test at Jerez, plus the new electronics, which I’m looking forward to,” said Rea.
Leon Haslam commenting on the test said, “I did a few wet laps on Wednesday but it was only to get more accustomed to bike.
When the track finally dried we got to try a load of different stuff and did everything on the harder tyre, which felt good.
When I went out on the softer tyre, I lost the rear going into turn one and the bike ended up in the barrier and too badly damaged to repair.
The boys got the spare bike ready but it was quite different and there really wasn’t much time left anyway, so it was quite frustrating in the end.
The one lap that I did on the softer tyre told me that the swingarm felt much better, so I’m looking forward to trying that with some other new parts at Jerez.
BMW Italia’s Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies also suffered the same weather setbacks, and between the two rider they got in 149 laps.
with the Italian testing some new parts but unable to complete the test programme, while the Welsh rider concentrated on getting to know the intricacies of his S100RR.
Marco Melandri: “Actually it has been the first time we were able to ride for some hours in dry conditions.
We tested some new components, but we still have a lot to work to do in order to make our bike work with the new 17 inch tires as we struggled to ride fast lap times.
so we hope for our next test at Jerez the weather will be good because we need three days of dry conditions in order to continue our work and improve our feeling with the bike.
Chaz Davies: “It has been challenging again due to yesterday’s weather.
A few days ago the forecast said it would be bright sunshine and I was quite excited.
But then we came to the track and it was completely wet.
Anyway I did 25 laps yesterday and improved my feeling in the wet, so that was positive even if these weren’t the conditions we were looking for.
This morning it was wet again and we eventually had to wait for half the day until the track dried.
I was very happy to finally ride the bike in fully dry conditions and my good first impressions of the RR were confirmed.
I think it went very well and I have learned a lot.
We focused on me getting comfortable, were working with the electronics a lot and also started to work on the suspension, but obviously we only had three or four hours of riding in reasonable conditions.
That is not enough to know everything about the bike.
So we are still missing track time but I am very positive at the moment.
”New Alstares Ducati team was also at Aragon, but only with Carlos Checa.
The team did not issue a press release, with Checa tweeting, “Finish test with not much time for the rain next test n Jerez.
”
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