Christian Iddon and Josh Waters got their first taste of the Halsall Suzuki GSX-R1000 they will campaign in this year’s British Superbike championship during its four-day test at the Cartagena circuit in Spain. 

The newly-formed team, guided by experienced Team Manager Jack Valentine, completed a positive shakedown test with the aim of getting laps under the belts of both the riders and bikes, as well as allowing the team to get a better understanding of the GSX-R1000’s capabilities.

Both riders spent the test working on finding a good base-setting as well as exploring the differences various set-up changes made to the characteristics and performance of the Suzuki, before the team travels to Guadix for three more days of testing next week.

Christian Iddon:

“It’s been a really good, positive test for us. It was my first time on the bike and first time on a racebike since Assen, and it already feels good. I’m enjoying riding it; it finishes a corner really well, it’s plenty fast enough, and I’m really comfortable on it. But we’ve been experimenting and making changes, not because we need to, but so we know what changes we can make and what effect they have so if we have any issues in the season we know what we need to do to solve them. We’ve got lots more to try at Guadix as we’ve only really scratched the surface, but we’ll throw more at it, keep building, and maybe go for some times next week.”

Josh Waters:

“We had some teething problems over the four days but in the end it all came together. The guys have worked hard and it’s been good to spend more time with them and work through things. We got a good base and the feeling is improving, and after three more days we’ll be in a good place for Donington.”

Jack Valentine – Team Manager:

“This has been a good test for us and we’re coming away very positive. The purpose for us was to get everyone together and get the team to gel, with a new bike and new riders. The plan was to get laps under our belt and get a good base-setting for both riders, rather than chasing outright lap times.

“On Christian’s side of the garage he’s worked through the bike, making lots of different changes to the set-up to better understand what differences those changes make. He’s coming away happy and posted a string of consistent times.

“Josh had a few teething problems and suffered from some chatter, but the team worked hard to get those resolved and he was running some good times by the end of the four days and found a good base setting to take to the next test.”

After Guadix the team returns to the UK for the final pre-season test at Donington Park on March 26th, before the opening round of the British Superbike Championship on April 6th.