The three-day World Superbike test at Portimao went well for BMW and Aprilia, but a little less so for the debutante in the series, Crescent Suzuki who battled with front brake and electronic issues.
Leon Camier spent the first day and a half of the test concentrating on solving a front brake caliper problem until Brembo brought in the latest 2012 callipers, and then the team had problems with new Motec electronics.
Crescent Suzuki team manager Jack Valentine said, “It was a pretty frustrating start to the test, particularly on Leon’s side.
The first day was hampered with a braking issue, and the second saw us struggling with the bike’s firmware.
However, once we reverted back to our old settings on Leon’s bike he was able to get going properly.
He posted some quick times on the race tyres on day three, after which some mechanical issues put us back again.
He then went on to post a 1:43:7 with the new firmware, which puts him a second off the fastest lap set by Eugene Laverty, but is very close to the rest of the field running in the mid 1:43s.
Leon’s done a great job considering he was only able to do 120 laps across the three days and I’m convinced we are going to improve from here on.
“Alastair also did a fantastic job and set a very impressive time on qualifying tyres.
He was running with the new firmware throughout and kept chipping away, learning both the track and getting used to the bike.
Together with the Motec guys we have managed to get an abundance of data which will now be taken away and analysed and help us tremendously in the next test.
On a final note, despite a few set-backs, the team is bonding really well and I’ll ensure we take all the positives forward.
Yoshimura’s support and team spirit was also very welcome and we’re looking forward to 2012 together.
”Leon Camier stated, “Unfortunately we had a few issues throughout the test, which can easily happen with new parts and systems, but I must say I really like the initial feel of the bike.
The first day was pretty much lost due to the front brake problem and we had some issues with the new electronics – so there is still a lot to try out still with the chassis to find the exactly right set-up for me.
But at least we now know what needs to be done and we can head in the right direction at the next test, where I hope to get a lot more time out on track to find my ideal setting and post some faster lap times.
”Newly crowned British Supersport Champion Alastair Seeley standing in as test rider for recovering John Hopkins said, “This was certainly a tough track to learn with its many undulations, but I soon got into the swing of things.
We didn’t do an awful lot to the chassis set-up of the bike and focussed mainly on the electronics, which just kept getting better throughout.
Towards the end the bike felt really good and I managed to post a good time on the soft tyres.
I’d like to thank the team for giving me this opportunity.
It was a real pleasure working with Jack, Lez, Russ and Dale.
”
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