SWAN YAMAHA TEAM BOOSTED BY SPANISH PRE-SEASON TESTS Reigning MCE Insurance British Superbike champions Swan Yamaha have today (Tuesday) concluded their Spanish pre-season testing campaign as Tommy Hill and Noriyuki Haga now prepare for their final UK-based tests ahead of the opening round of the season at Brands Hatch (6-9 April). The Swan Yamaha squad completed an initial shakedown test at Cartagena at the end of last week, as defending champion Hill returned to the track for the first time since securing his maiden MCE BSB title in sensational style. Japanese ace Haga meanwhile made his much-anticipated debut with the team as he began working with his new crew and was reunited with Yamaha. The team then headed to Almeria for a final test as Hill completed his programme ahead of schedule, whilst Haga used the final hour of track time today to make some final setting changes to the Swan Yamaha as the team now return to the UK. The riders and team crew will now analyse the data and formulate a final programme for the team’s next test at Snetterton before the end of the month. Hill said: “We decided to just have one day at Almeria and call it a day as we are happy with the progress we have made. We worked again yesterday on the fuelling and we have got it working really well. The Swan Yamaha team have been fantastic and we have just tried to stick to the basics and then get the bike and chassis working as best we can; we have done some good work and moved forward massively on the fuelling and we are running a good pace. We are now ready to get back the UK and crack on for the British test ready for Brands Hatch. “I feel I am ready to race now; like I said before I never like to count my chickens too early but testing has been fantastic. I am not sure what times everyone else has been doing but as far as we can see and from what we have, we have been setting the pace. It was another great day yesterday and when we get back to the UK the team can look at the data and I will do a full report so we are ready for the next tests so we are ready to rock and roll at Brands Hatch. A big thanks again has to go to the Swan Yamaha team for all their hard work.” Haga said: “Today was our final day and we had just an hour on track for testing and we got some good feedback on the front, but we had the same feeling with the rear tyre again and we still need to do some more work on the setting. My five days of testing with the Swan Yamaha team have been positive as we have some good data that we have been working with and we can also now look at the direction for the next test where we will try a different setting. I hope at the next test we can work well again and we will focus on the rear tyre and bike balance. I always like to make big changes with the bike! I am looking forward to seeing what we can produce at the next test.” Team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “We are very happy with how these tests have gone and the pace we have been able to run after testing at two different tracks so we know that the Yamaha will be competitive. I am really pleased with Tommy and what he has achieved in the time we have been here and for Nori, how well he has adapted to a new team, bike and tracks. We are now looking forward to our final tests in the UK so we are set to kick the season off in style at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend.” For more information visit www.swanyamaha.co.uk