The last pre-season private test has come to an end for the Honda World Superbike Team, who now head confidently towards the start of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship campaign.
At Jerez de la Frontera, both Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark worked hard to continue with the development of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP, which has received several updates - including important engine upgrades.
The track-time available to all teams was reduced by the foggy conditions encountered in the morning of both days, while damp patches on the track further delayed the start of on-track activities.
Hayden once again completed an impressive number of laps (159) while trying a new swingarm, for more stability, and a different linkage to improve braking and acceleration. On the second day of action, the experienced American had a small crash at Turn 2 from which he escaped unharmed, although the incident cost him some valuable track time. In the closing stages, he also went for a quick-lap on qualifying tyres, which resulted in a 1:40.534 lap time ‰ÛÒ the 4th fastest overall.
‰ÛÏIt hasn‰Ûªt been the perfect day, because the fog cost us a couple of hours in the morning and we had to squeeze the testing program in a shorter amount of time," Hayden lamented.
"It‰Ûªs a shame because there are still some things left to try and, of course, that time would have been useful for me too, but we did what we could. I was able to do a race simulation and to use the qualifying tyre and in the end, the lap-time was not too bad. There is still room for improvement. The winter season went too quick and the weather did not help, but now it is time for Phillip Island and I look forward to having some fun!‰Û
