The Castrol Honda World Superbike team was revealed the other day to the media, but once finished with the official presentations, packed up and headed to the Aragon circuit (the round is scheduled for the middle of June) for a two day test, which was hampered by freezing conditions and rain … it is the middle of winter after all, even in sunny Spain.
Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus were supposed to learn the new track after missing the October test, but the weather conditions forced them to do a minimum number of laps and then call it quits.
The team is now on their way to Portimao for the the official three-day test that starts Wednesday January 26th“It’s been a frustrating couple of days really because after the rain yesterday morning it’s been sunny, but it’s been really, really cold.
At least I got some laps in yesterday afternoon – maybe 30 or 40 – so I know which way the track goes and I was able to give some good feedback on gearing to my crew.
It wasn’t a complete waste of time – it’s a really nice circuit and I enjoyed riding it but we were understandably a little way off where our rivals were when they had three days testing here last October.
But when we come back in June, at least we won’t be starting completely blind,” said Rea.
“It was freezing!” declared Ruben Xaus.
“Much colder than when the team was launched in the UK earlier this week! Today, it was maximum 3° [C] in the sun and always below zero in the shadows.
And there are many shadows here, because the circuit has many hills.
In fact, it was difficult to ride yesterday afternoon when the sun was very low because of all the shadows.
The circuit is blind everywhere, but still very interesting.
And the bikes looked amazing on track for the first time.
”Ronald ten Kate – Team manager:“The wet and cold conditions really allowed us only yesterday afternoon to test and then it was -5° [C] overnight with a really cold wind all day today.
Of course, we were hoping for more laps, but we were happy to test at this new track for the championship and I’m sure that after the laps they did yesterday, the riders now know which way it goes.
We got a little bit of information on the set-up we’ll be looking for but we could certainly have used more.
But it is what it is and we’ll go to Portugal next week to test the bikes and new parts properly.
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