FIM Superbike World Championship Valencia, Spain April 3, 2009 Provisional Qualifying Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Max Biaggi (Apr RSV4), 1:34.775 2. Ben Spies (Yam YZF-R1), 1:34.907 3. Noriyuki Haga (Duc 1098 F09), 1:34.908 4. Michel Fabrizio (Duc 1098 F09), 1:35.243 5. Tom Sykes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:35.270 6. Jakub Smrz (Duc 1098R), 1:35.278 7. Max Neukirchner (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:35.285 8. Yukio Kagayama (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:35.316 9. Jonathan Rea (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.328 10. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.372 11. Shinya Nakano (Apr RSV4), 1:35.416 12. Regis Laconi (Duc 1098R), 1:35.489 13. Troy Corser (BMW S1000 RR), 1:35.516 14. Leon Haslam (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.535 15. Carlos Checa (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.541 16. Broc Parkes (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:35.662 17. Brendan Roberts (Duc 1098R), 1:35.755 18. John Hopkins (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:35.868 19. Shane Byrne (Duc 1098R), 1:36.051 20. Davide Salom (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:36.086 21. Makoto Tamada (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:36.189 22. Karl Muggeridge (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:36.266 23. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000 RR), 1:36.404 24. Ayrton Badovini (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:36.745 25. Luca Scassa (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:36.758 26. David Checa (Yam YZF-R1), 1:36.906 27. Tommy Hill (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:37.041 28. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:37.509 29. Matteo Baiocco (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:37.541 30. Roland Resch (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:38.225 More, from a press release issued by FGSport Group/InFront Motor Sports: Biaggi (Aprilia) takes the top slot in opening qualifying session at Valencia Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was the man on form in Friday’s first qualifying session at the Valencia circuit in Spain. The Italian, who was always amongst the pacesetters, set the quickest time of the day ten minutes before the end of the session with a time of 1 minute 34.775 seconds. Right behind Biaggi were the two race winners in the opening rounds of this year’s championship, Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). Both men were the only riders to dip under the 1’35″ mark, and were separated by one-thousandth of a second. The provisional front row was completed by Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), who was up amongst the front-runners once again. Britain’s Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike), who had a crash on his R1, was next up ahead of Jakub Smrz (Ducati Guandalini) and the Suzuki Alstare duo of Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama, just half a second off the polesitter’s pace. The provisional third row of the grid saw Jonathan Rea of the Ten Kate Honda team precede his team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari, while Carlos Checa was unable to go any higher than 15th. The first of the BMWs was the S1000RR of Troy Corser, 13th overall, while Broc Parkes went well for Kawasaki in 16th. In his first Superbike qualifying session John Hopkins recorded 18th quickest time on the Stiggy Racing Honda, an encouraging performance and just over 1 second off the pace. Times: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’34.775; 2. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’34.907; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1’34.908; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’35.243; 5. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1’35.270; 6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1’35.278; 7. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’35.285; 8. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’35.316; 9. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’35.328; 10. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’35.372; 11. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1’35.416; 12. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1’35.489; 13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’35.516; 14. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’35.535; 15. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1’35.541; 16. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’35.662 Supersport World Championship The Supersport riders took advantage of a ‘grippy’ track after the previous sessions to set some quick times. Fastest of the day in free practice was set by Spain’s Joan Lascorz, now on a Kawasaki. The 2008 race winner stopped the clocks in a time of 1 minute 36.672 seconds, just a fraction slower than his own lap record from last year. Lascorz was well over half-a-second quicker than Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) in second place, one of the men on form at the moment. Kawasaki’s successful day was completed with third place for Katsuaki Fujiwara, who was over one second down on his team-mate. After dominating the first two rounds the Hondas were not on form on the opening day of action at Valencia, Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) the quickest in fourth place, while points leader Andrew Pitt was down in tenth and Qatar winner Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar) in 14th. Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini) was in seventh while Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda) completed row 2. Times: 1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’36.672; 2. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 1’37.343; 3. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’37.701; 4. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’37.834; 5. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’37.864; 6. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’37.893; 7. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’37.971; 8. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’38.055 Superstock 1000 One of the title favourites, Claudio Corti, powered to the quickest time in today’s Superstock 1000 free practice session. The Italian, this year with Suzuki Alstare Brux, ended the day with a time of 1 minute 38.428 seconds, almost 2″ off the pace of Roberts’s mark from last year. Riders from Eastern Europe made a big impact today, with Czech Republic’s Ondrej Jezek second and Hungarian Balazs Nemeth (both Honda MS Racing) third. Fourth place went to another top Superstock rider Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox Junior Team), who had a harmless crash. Davide Giugliano was also well up in fifth on the MV Agusta, while Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) could only manage eleventh. Times: 1. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1’38.428; 2. Jezek O. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 1’38.637; 3. Nemeth B. (HUN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.006; 4. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 1’39.046; 5. Giugliano D. (ITA) MV Agusta F4 312 R 1’39.312; 6. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 1’39.389; 7. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’39.474; 8. Burrell B. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’39.511 Superstock 600 Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Italia Trasimeno) dominated the Superstock 600 session with quickest time in the opening free practice session. The Italian put a fair distance between himself and his rivals, except for Belgium’s Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha), who was three-tenths away. A third Yamaha took the next slot, this time with Marco Bussolotti, while Eddi La Marra (Honda Lorini) making up the front row. One of the pretenders to the Superstock 600 crown, Britain’s Gino Rea could only manage ninth quickest time for a provisional third row slot. Times: 1. Petrucci D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’40.320; 2. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 1’40.650; 3. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’41.098; 4. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’41.430; 5. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 1’41.808; 6. Guittet B. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.000; 7. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’42.186; 8. Chmielewski A. (POL) Yamaha YZF R6 1’42.240 More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Jonathan Rea was ninth fastest in today’s opening qualifying session for Sunday’s third round World Superbike championship encounter at Valencia in Spain. His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Carlos Checa, was 15th. The session was led by Italian Max Biaggi, as Checa was unable to improve significantly on the time that saw the Spaniard leading the opening free practice session earlier today. Rea was able to improve his own lap time this afternoon as the top seventeen riders were split by less than a second. Tomorrow sees a further qualifying session followed by Superpole to determine the grid for Sunday’s two 23-lap races around the 4.0005km Valencia circuit. Jonathan Rea P9, 1’35.328s I’m just having a nightmare in the last sector, where I’m about 16th quickest. I’m third and second fastest in the two sectors before that so I’m happy with most of the corners and have to concentrate on that last one. We’ll compare data with the others tonight and bounce some ideas round to get that sorted. We’re pretty sure on race tyres as well, so there are definitely some positives to take from today. Carlos Checa P15, 1’35.541s We had a few little problems this afternoon, like a sensor breaking on my number one machine. This morning was not so bad and we went some way to improving the chatter that we suffered during the last races. Now we need to work on getting the bike to turn a little better. I was unable to take my preferred bike out to go for a better lap time this afternoon and so I couldn’t go any faster than this morning. But we’ll do some more work tonight and try to start tomorrow in the same positive way as today. Ronald ten Kate team manager The basic speed is there to achieve the lap times that we anticipate for the race quite easily. With 17 people covered by less than a second, a small improvement can make a big change in the order so it’s very close. We didn’t manage one outstanding lap today but I’m happy with our race pace and tomorrow we’ll work on a good qualifying performance. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW PLACES FOR THE DUCATI XEROX RIDERS HAGA AND FABRIZIO AT VALENCIA Valencia (Spain), Friday 3rd April: A positive start for the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio today at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, with the riders concluding the first of the two qualifying sessions in third and fourth place, reserving provisional places on the front row of Sunday’s grid. The Superbike teams followed a new-look track schedule for the first time today with no track action taking place until the first Superbike free practice session in the early afternoon. A dirty and partly damp track did not stop Noriyuki from getting straight to work, exiting on a tyre with which he immediately found feeling and completing close to race distance with very consistent lap times. Michel too soon got up to speed and the two Ducati Xerox riders concluded the session in fifth (Michel) and ninth (Nori) place. In the afternoon qualifying session the lap times of most of the riders picked up due to better track conditions and both Noriyuki and Michel were satisfied with the consistently fast times that they registered. Noriyuki Haga 1m34.9s “Today has gone well. I did two good long-runs on different tyres and am satisfied with the results, we can choose which tyre we want to use for the race. Tomorrow we’ll try a different setting to try to improve through the corners and make things smoother, also saving the tyres somewhat. My lap times have been very consistent all day and we’ve had no real problems.” Michel Fabrizio 1m35.2s “I would say that for the moment things are under control. We’ve got the race pace and although I was lacking a certain level of grip at the front, I’m quite happy with my times and with the feeling I have on the bike. Towards the end of the last session we found a rear solution that I liked but I hope to make further improvement tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda: Ryuichi Kiyonari of the Ten Kate Honda Racing team set the tenth fastest time in today’s opening qualifying session for round three of the World Superbike championship at Valencia in Spain. The Japanese ace, had been fourth fastest in this morning’s free practice session and finished today a little over half a second behind provisional pole position man, Max Biaggi. Kiyonari is running this season alongside the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda squad but with backing from Honda Genuine Accessories and in the same HRC colour scheme in which he won last year’s Suzuka 8-hours race in Japan. Ryuichi Kiyonari P10, 1’35.372s I was able to go a little faster than this morning, when I was fourth, but, unfortunately everyone else went a bit more fast! The lap times are very close and I am confident we can improve the position again tomorrow. I had some problems with the front tyre this morning and I thought it was just because the track was a little dirty; but the same problem was there this afternoon it was moving around and giving me very little feedback. There is another option, but we didn’t get a chance to try it today, so we’ll do that in the morning. We’ll do some more work on the set-up as well to try and get a good feeling. Ronald ten Kate team manager It’s not where we would want to be after a qualifying session but I think Kiyo has shown that his race pace will be pretty good. There is less than a second splitting the first 17 riders so it shouldn’t take much to move him up the board and hopefully get a good qualifying position for Sunday’s races. He has demonstrated his ability to run at the front and that’s where want to get him tomorrow. More, from a press release issued by Team Sterilgarda: Team Sterilgarda has employed day 1 of practice at Valencia to allow Shane Byrne get to grips with the track where he had only tested in the past. After two practice sessions, the 2008 BSB champion has gathered useful information to improve the cycle part and has tested different trajectories that he could use during race on Sunday afternoon. SHANE BYRNE | Ducati 1098R | 19th in 1’36.051: “We’ve done some testing on tyres and setup that will help us tomorrow. My position is not worrying me at all as the starting grid will be decided in the Superpole where we must have a good bike setup. I prefered working during both sessions without following anybody’s trajectory or wake. This was very helpful in understanding the track and so I will have more options for Sunday’s race”. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: TOP SEVENTEEN SEPARATED BY LESS THAN A SECOND! Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus finished the first day of qualifying at Valencia in 13th and 23rd places respectively. Less than a second separates the top seventeen riders, so Troy is up with the fastest riders, even though he only set the 13th quickest time. After two fast, flowing circuits, Ruben found it a little difficult getting his S1000 RR to work well round the twisty 4.005 kilometre track, but is confident of improvement tomorrow. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) ended the day with the fastest time, followed by Ben Spies (Yamaha), with Ducati team mates Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio in third and fourth. Troy – 13th, 1:35.516 After the long flyaway, I watched the videotapes of Phillip Island and Qatar and tried to understand what was happening on the bike in the races and see if I could come up with some ideas to make improvements. So instead of starting with the set-up from either of the first two races, we began the first practice with a completely new set-up. And guess what? It worked! We changed the geometry of the bike a bit and used some different offsets and the bike felt better almost straightaway. For me, the bike is now turning a bit better and it didn’t take me long to go half a second faster than when we tested here at the end of January. Now we’ll keep on making small adjustments and see how much we can improve but, for the first day, I’m pretty happy. Ruben – 23rd, 1:36.404 I found today hard because Valencia is a completely different type of race track to Phillip Island and Qatar. Both those tracks flow well, but Valencia is much more of a ‘stop and go’ track and my bike is not working the way I want it just yet. I just need time to work with the bike and my mechanics to get the bike more comfortable for me to ride. At the moment, it is just a question of time, that’s all. Berti Hauser (Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport) It’s good to be back in Europe and be in touching distance of our workshops again. We learnt a lot in Australia and Qatar and have been working very hard back at our base to get ready for Valencia. This track is completely different in character to the first two rounds and Ruben has to find out how to make the bike work with him and then an improvement will follow for sure. Troy may only have finished 13th today, but the top seventeen lap times are very close and show just how competitive this championship is. More, from a press release issued by Stiggy Racing: Hopkins gets first taste of Superbike Qualifying John Hopkins only spent a little time testing the Stiggy Racing Honda Superbike before making his Superbike debut, but was able to get his first taste of the competition today in the first Qualifying Practice at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia. Both Free and Qualifying Practices could best be seen as testing time for the new entry to the Stiggy Racing Honda team as the biggest part of the session was used to getting the feeling and finding the right set-up for the bike. Hopkins took things step by step without pushing it and set today and set his fastest lap at 1’35.868s, just over a second off the fastest time, but a promising start for his first Superbike weekend. Leon Haslam spend most of his session working towards the best set-up for his bike and set his fastest lap at 1’35.535s. Leon Haslam, 1’35.535s, 14th; “I was pretty happy with my session. We have tried a lot of different things and ran out of time as usual but that’s the normal situation when you are out there but I think we found a good direction for tomorrow. I messed up my fast lap at the end of the session but it still didn’t put me too far away on time. I am pretty confident we have found a good race setup and direction for tomorrow.” John Hopkins, 1’35.868s, 18th; “It’s definitely an experience getting back into the swing of things. We did a short test earlier this week but didn’t really get to spend that much time on a dry track. Unfortunately this afternoon in qualifying we ran into some technical problems that held me back a bit so I couldn’t do as many laps as i wanted to do.I haven’t really changed a thing from Rolfo’s set-up but now that we started to push towards the end of the session that’s when we ran into the problems. We started to get it right with the set-up towards the end but still need to change some things for tomorrow. I’m not pleased to be in 18th position but am happy to only be a second away from the leader board. Once we make the changes I am confident we can close the gap to the front group.” Johan Stigefelt (Team Manager); “It seems like we are struggling a little with the suspension here and we can’t get a good grip with the circuit. Both riders basically have the same comments and mention the same problem so we’ll have to look at the data tonight and see what we can improve. John has done a great job in his first day of qualifying. It is his his first time on the bike today where he can set this many laps and ride with the others. It’s looking promising and he hasn’t even been able to push yet. We have reached a level now from which we can take the next step. We still have to take another second off to find the connection with the front group, but I’m confident we can make that step tomorrow. Leon is not too happy with his current position and considering what he can do, we know he will be determined to do better tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Alstare Brux: Team Suzuki Alstare Brux riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama finished the first day of practice and qualifying with the seventh and eighth fastest times respectively. Less than a second separated the top seventeen fastest riders at the Ricardo Tormo circuit at Valencia today and tomorrow’s qualifying is sure to be just as hectic. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) ended the day with the fastest time, followed by Ben Spies (Yamaha), with Ducati team mates Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio in third and fourth. Max – 7th, 1:35.285 I think today wasn’t so bad and to see seventeen or so riders with only a second between them is pretty amazing. We started off with one bike set up from Qatar and the other with the set-up from Phillip Island, but the Australian one seemed to work better. There was not much grip in the first session, and the track felt a bit dirty, but the grip level was much better in the afternoon. We did some good consistent lap times this afternoon and the tyres were working OK even at the end, so that was encouraging. Hopefully we will improve the bike further tomorrow afternoon and get further up the grid in Superpole. Yukio – 8th, 1:35.316 I began today with the same set-up as in Qatar and Australia and the feeling was not so bad. My bike had some rear end chattering, so we will make some adjustments tomorrow to see if we can cure the problem. Unfortunately I had a big crash this afternoon at turn eight. It was a big highside and everything would’ve been OK, but the bike ran me over and hurt my back, one thigh and a finger. I went out again, on the spare bike, and managed to put in some good lap times, but when I had been off the bike for an hour or so, I was sore! Hopefully, I will be OK tomorrow because I want to do well in Superpole. Friday qualifying 1 Biaggi (I-Aprilia) 1:34.775, 2 Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1:34.907, 3 Haga (J-Ducati), 4 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:35.243, 5 Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1:35.270, 6 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:35.278, 7 Max Neukirchner (D-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 1:35.285, 8 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare Brux) 1:35.316, Team Suzuki Alstare Brux launch Before the action got underway on the track today at Valencia, there was plenty of action in the hospitality unit of Team Suzuki Alstare Brux. This morning was chosen to officially launch the team together with its new sponsor Dr Brux. Dr Brux is the name of the dental protection unit worn by the team’s riders, Max Neukirchner, Yukio Kagayama and Claudio Corti and was shown to the press by the manufacturer’s representative, Mauro Turchetti. Unlike other dental protection units, Dr Brux requires no visit to a dentist and does not cost a fortune. The unit can be purchased over the counter, at a cost of about sixty-nine euros, and can be used anybody. Also present at the launch was Francis Batta – team manager and owner of Suzuki Alstare Brux – who explained the relationship between the team and their new sponsor. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha make a strong start in Valencia The Yamaha World Superbike Team ended the first day of on good form with both riders taking top five positions in the first of the Valencia qualifying sessions. As relative newcomers to the circuit having never raced here it was an impressive start for both Spies and Sykes who were quicker than a number of World Superbike regulars in the Spanish sunshine. Spies finished the session in 2nd position 0.13 seconds behind fastest rider Max Biaggi (Aprilia) whilst team-mate Sykes wrapped up the session in fifth place a mere 0.5 seconds off the leader. Sykes took a small spill at the end of the session whilst experimenting with different corner gears but was unhurt. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1’34.907) “It was a good day for us, in the first session we ran into some problems and we were unable to finish the session but in the second session we were really good. I think we’ve found our race set-up and race tyres already so we’re now just going to continue to make the bike better. I think it’s going to be a really good track for the bike, everybody’s definitely a little bit closer here, our goal for sure is just to stay with all the other bikes and see how we get on. The Ducati’s have always statistically been the better bikes round here, so our goal is to stay with them and look for our opportunity, if we can be strong at this track we can be strong anywhere. Right now our bike is working really well, but we can still make improvements and make it better for the race.” Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (5th 1’35.270) “Over all for me it was a good day. We started off a little bit slower in the first session but again thanks to the team we’ve come back this afternoon and tried a couple of things with the suspension and straight away I felt a lot more at home, especially with the heavy braking areas . At the end of the session we tried some new tyres and straight away I was doing low 35’s, and I feel confident we could have got into the 34’s. I had a small crash at the end, totally my mistake. I was going into turn two and I tried using a different gear. On the exit it was working really well but unfortunately I had less engine braking on the way in so I just overloaded the front a little and at this pace that little bit is enough go down. On a positive note it was something that we can identify, it was my fault and not the bike, we’ve got a really good base setting and can go into tomorrow looking to make even more improvements.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “we are very satisfied, considering it’s the first proper day in Valencia for our bikes and for our riders we’ve performed pretty well. We are already looking to tomorrow to make some small adjustments to the set-up which we will do and that’s it. We may work a little bit more on the tyre endurance to try to find the best one to use for the race but overall we have a good set-up and looking forward to racing on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY 13TH, BUT LESS THAN A SECOND SPLITS THE TOP 17! Troy finished the first day of qualifying at Valencia in 13th place today but, as less than a second separates the top seventeen riders. Troy was pretty happy with how the day went. Normally Troy and the team would’ve started first practice with the bike set-up from either of the two last races, but Troy went for a radical approach after watching videotapes of the races. After studying the tapes intensively Troy called his crew chief and threw some ideas around. The fruits of those ideas are what Troy started out with in the first practice session and immediately he was happier with the bike. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) ended the day with the fastest laptime, followed by Ben Spies (Yamaha), with Ducati team mates Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio in third and fourth. Troy – 13th, 1:35.516 I watched videotapes of the first two rounds and tried to analyse what was happening to me and the bike on the track. Afterwards I called Tom (my crew chief) and threw some ideas at him and so we began first practice with a bike set-up that wasn’t based on either, Phillip Island, Qatar or when we tested here at the end of January. The bike felt a bit better right from the start of the practice and soon I was half a second faster than our January test. We made changes to the bike’s geometry, used different front offsets and also got to try out some new Ohlins suspension that wasn’t available at the start of the year. The track was a bit dirty and dusty in the first session, but the grip level definitely improved in the afternoon. We’ll keep on making small adjustments and see how much we can improve the bike, but I’m pretty happy.