Guintoli and van der Mark complete Jerez test

Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark have completed their first shakedown tests on the Pata Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP during a private test at Jerez in Spain which concluded yesterday afternoon.

The four-day test was plagued by rain showers, including a completely wet day on Thursday, which limited track time for the two new Pata Honda World Superbike riders. However, both expressed satisfaction at their first rides on Honda’s flagship production sports bike.

Carrying the number one plate for the first time, Guintoli, spent his first laps on the Fireblade getting accustomed to a different engine configuration compared to the machine on which he won this year’s World Superbike championship title.

However, the 32-year-old French rider gave his new team, including crew chief Flavio Prodolliet, some valuable feedback and a positive response to the 1000cc in-line four cylinder machine, particularly its refined chassis and handling characteristics.

For young Dutch flyer van der Mark it was an entirely new feeling to experience the raw power of a SBK-specification race bike, despite winning the last two editions of the famous Suzuka 8-hour World Endurance race on Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade.

The 2014 World Supersport champion, 22, started the Jerez test with a minimum level of electronics in order to fully appreciate the full-power Fireblade, with traction control and other rider aids gradually increased during the four days of testing.

Sylvain Guintoli

It’s been a really positive first encounter with my new team and the CBR. It’s clearly a different machine to what I’ve been riding for the last two years so this test was really all about dialling into the Honda and learning about its strengths. We’ve gone in a big, wide circle to learn how the bike reacts in a number of different situations. So, while the lap times are nothing to jump up and down about, we’ve done the base work here and we have a good direction to go in the next time we test. It’s also been good to get to know the mechanics, the technicians and the rest of the team this week. We’ve had some good laughs and there’s already a great atmosphere in the box.

Michael van der Mark

Well, when I first got on the bike on Monday it was certainly different, but I’ve really enjoyed this first test! The weather hasn’t been so great but I started on the first two days with no electronics, just to get a feel for the bike and a new level of power. On Wednesday I used a bit more of the electronics and we made some really big changes just to see what each part of the system can do, so that was really useful. I was quite happy with everything this week and also happy with my lap times on old tyres. I also used a qualifying tyre on Wednesday and was able to go around a second faster on that, which is the expectation I think. Now, it’s back to training through December before getting back on the bike in the middle of January, which is going to be a really busy month.

Pieter Breddels

The week has been really good, even though the weather here in Jerez has not. Sylvain was quite fast in the wet on our final day and we were able to test some different engine maps, as well as a different clutch and chassis settings. In the dry weather that we had on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, we played with the CBR quite a lot and obviously had to work differently to what Sylvain has been used to. However, we made good progress and came back to some settings that have worked before. Michael was not quite so fast in the wet but his performance and work was really good in the dry and we’re very happy with his first outing on the bike. Neither rider has identified any major problems, so we’re looking forward to a lot more positive progress during a really busy testing programme in January.

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Positive Final Winter Test Of 2104 For KRT Duo

The official Kawasaki Racing Team pairing of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea completed their last winter tests of the current year today at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, having ridden their Ninja ZX-10Rs in a wide variety of weather and track conditions.

New technical rules come into play for 2015 in the FIM Superbike World Championship and the tests at Jerez concentrated on optimising a variety of new settings and components that were first tried at the recent Motorland Aragon tests.

The original plan for the tests at Jerez was to run for the first two days, sit out Wednesday 26th, and then complete the tests with two more full days yesterday and today. With occasionally torrential wet weather arriving at times, especially on Thursday 27th, and the best weather coming along on Wednesday, that plan had to be modified and the team fielded both riders at some points on each and every day.

In total there was only one and a half days of useable dry track time at Jerez. Having had some issues in wet conditions in the recent past both sides of the KRT garage made use of track conditions that were frequently fully wet to make improvements in machine set-up.

On the dry Wednesday afternoon Rea set a 1’40.738 lap time, Sykes a 1’40.853 on Tuesday’s dry track surface, with both riders running timing transponders at this test, which was conducted alongside many of their 2015 rivals. Sykes and then Rea were fastest of the pairings that ran transponders in the fully wet conditions on Thursday, when Tom did a 1’52.206 and Rea a 1’52.638.

Jerez proved to be the backdrop for the final winter test session of 2014, with two more Spanish track sessions scheduled in January, and one final official test in Australia, before the first round of the new season on Sunday 22 February, at Phillip Island. The next track outing for the team will therefore be at Motorland Aragon on 19 and 20 January.

Tom Sykes: “We have worked on a long list of things we had to try. It has been a five-day test but unfortunately on day two I have come down with some virus, which hasn’t helped the job. But we have done a lot of dry laps and understood what we needed to improve and where to go in the future. In the dry we did not get to show our full potential but in the wet I was happy. We have really struggled in the past in the wet and this was the first time I was able to what I wanted to do with the Ninja ZX-10R in those conditions. For sure we are not on the perfect set-up yet but we are going in the right direction, because I went faster at this track than ever before in full wet conditions. We did a lot of practice starts as well, to evaluate some material for next year. In general it has been a very constructive test and one that has put us on the right path for continuing testing in 2015.”

Marcel Duinker, Tom Sykes’ Crew Chief said: “In the recent Aragon tests we had limited track time and we went through the most important changes for the regulations there, so we did the same here. On Monday and Tuesday we were a bit interrupted by the wet track but in the afternoon we could test. Wednesday was a nice day and we went through the complete test programme. We have managed to find an acceptable base that we can take to other tracks, because we found similar results carrying on from Aragon to here. Last year we were not able to find an optimum wet set-up but yesterday we found a key improvement in our wet weather testing performance and I am happy for that.”

Pere Riba, Jonathan Rea’s Crew Chief said: “We started our programme recently in Motorland and we have a new rider and new rules this year. In Motorland we started to look to Jonathan’s riding style his position on the bike and things like that. Here we kept going and tried out many different items. This week it has been raining but we had one and a half days of dry weather and we could follow the plan for the items we have to test. We received a lot of information on the setup of the bike just to understand which ones to keep going with. This track is more about handling than engine. We also worked a lot on the gearbox because this year you have only one choice of ratios. In the wet weather Jonathan took the bike, made some small adjustments and was very positive about it. Overall, I am really pleased with our tests.”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Three days of testing for the Ducati Superbike Team concludes today at Jerez

Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), Friday 28 November 2014 – The Ducati Superbike Team has today concluded a three-day test session at the Jerez circuit in Spain, consolidating the positive results already seen during last week’s tests at Aragon.

The Ducati Superbike Team and riders Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano made the most of day one (Wednesday), the only totally dry day, continuing from where they had left off at Aragon with the work on the new bikes. This week was spent concentrating on the set-up of the new Panigale bikes in their 2015 configuration, working with the new engine and electronics and testing various new components. Lap times have been positive and are in line with expectations at this point of the winter season.

On Thursday and Friday, weather conditions were adverse with several heavy rain showers during the sessions. On a constantly wet track, the team focused inevitably on rain settings and on the testing of different electronics settings. Although work was disrupted by rain throughout days two and three, the Ducati Superbike Team is nevertheless satisfied with what it has achieved in Jerez.

On the final two days, Luca Scassa was also present at the track. He was able to complete some laps on board the 1199 Panigale in its 2014 Superbike version. The test was organised in order to evaluate a possible collaboration with the Italian in terms of test riding next season.

The Team will now take a break, with the winter testing programme set to resume on 21-22 January 2015 at Portimao in Portugal.

Quotes at the end of testing:

Chaz Davies – Ducati Superbike Team #7

“It’s been a pity about the weather, which hasn’t helped us, especially today when the track has been mixed, neither dry nor fully wet and so not very useful. It was however important to continue to work with the 2015 bike and even yesterday’s wet day allowed us to work to identify the right rain setting. I’m pleased with what we’ve done in terms of electronics, especially with the anti-wheelie system that now works very well. We made an interesting test on day one, on a dry track, to improve rear grip. It went well and we will develop this further next time we’re on track. We’ve collected some important information to use over the winter break, so that we can come back in January ready for the fight that awaits us next season.”

Davide Giugliano – Ducati Superbike Team #34

“Overall we’ve had three positive days, despite the weather that limited us to just one dry day. We’ve got a lot done here anyway. We had various things to try, particularly with the electronics and the two wet days allowed us to take things steadily and test almost everything. It was also a useful exercise to ride in the wet, our first experience with the 2015 bike and rain settings, and everything worked well. I’m pleased with the material; we have a good base for the championship and I can’t wait to get back to it and resume testing in January, after the Christmas break.”