And after that we will start fighting.” Toprak Razgatlioglu Now we keep working hard and we just need to find my set-up. Today I finally made it and I am very happy about it because I see the potential of the bike and this is very good for me. I’m very surprised because for me the bike is still new, I am still learning and usually my plan is to do a mid 1:39 maybe, but yesterday I started straight away with a 1:39 and I believe that I also could have made a 1:38 yesterday. I did not expect to ride a 1:38 lap time. In general, it has been a very positive test. We just try to find a good set-up and good parts. Sometimes they worked well, sometimes not, but this is normal. Especially on these two days we have learnt a lot and we improved some things. “ These two days of testing have been very positive for me, especially as I am still learning the bike on every lap and I am improving. I am looking forward to Portimão next and see if the set-up also works on another circuit.” Scott Redding Toprak Razgatlioglu ![]() We played a little bit with the set-up and tested a few new parts from BMW and I was reasonably happy with the steps that we made for my confidence on the bike. Coming into day two I felt a lot better and then we worked a lot with the bike to get my confidence and my feeling. ![]() It was just about settling with the new team and blowing the cobwebs away. It has been difficult but we have been able to do some laps and find some feeling with the bike. “ So, the first two days of testing this year are completed. We have a strong base set-up already and can work more with the data we have, I have confidence so let’s see what we can do in Portimao.” In the end we were in a good place and we have another two days in Portimao. It was my first two days working with my new crew chief Tom, so it was good to work with him and it was also important for him too so he can start to understand the bike. “ It was nice to get back on the bike for two days of testing in Jerez, we tried a lot of things and for sure, it’s always a bit tricky as during testing you do not know what everyone is doing! But when we found something good the feeling was positive. His quickest time of 1’38.943 saw him tenth overall. The test provided an opportunity for rider and crew chief to get to know each other, with ‘Loka’ completing 145 laps over the course of the two days. Rea’s team-mate Andrea Locatelli was joined for the first time by new crew chief Tom O’Kane, who joins the team from Yamaha MotoGP. I felt we could finish with a strong rhythm, our out and out pace was satisfactory, our race simulation was good so we can be content with the work we’ve done.” We were able to work through some performance items quite fast and after that we did a race simulation before ticking off the remaining test items. Day one was frustrating at some points as it didn’t feel like we were making progress fast enough, but it was all really good data and the guys put their heads together overnight and this morning we were able to put a package together which I felt more comfortable with. It’s normal to make lots of changes when in these early stages of learning a new bike, not just to make things better but to also understand my feedback as I adapt to these changes and so the crew can better understand what I like and don’t like. “ It’s been a really busy test, so first and foremost I want to thank the entire crew as they worked tirelessly from the very first day. Working through various set-up changes and test items, Rea was able to make consistent progress culminating in both a strong race run and outright pace, with his quickest lap of 1’38.345 placing him second on the timesheets at the end of the two days. Six-time world champion Jonathan Rea completed an impressive 150 laps over the course of the two days as he continued to familiarise himself with the Yamaha R1. Bautista was the 16th quickest WorldSBK rider at Jerez this week with a 1m39.583 but despite the difficulties he put in plenty of laps, 149 laps across the two days. Problems from that lack of strength were compounded by the extra weight added to his World Championship winning machine as a result of the new parity measures coming into force this season. ![]() On the other side of the garage the struggles continued with Alvaro Bautista still suffering with the neck issues and lack of strength in his arm that are a result of a crash during testing last year, which resulted in a later diagnosis of spinal trauma consisting of a C6-C7 hernia and C5-C6 disc protrusions. Today’s lap time? It doesn’t change anything: I remain a rookie and my objectives are different to the top riders“. I think it was an important test and now we go to Portimao to continue on this path. We worked well on the time attack and that means I was also able to improve on the qualifying tires. “ I am happy because we took another step forward, even compared to yesterday, and the feeling has grown steadily.
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