Strong Winds Hamper Testing for FPR at Phillip Island
 Craig
Jones wheelies his FP1 during his debut visit to Phillip Island
Strong winds at Phillip Island’s costal circuit proved
a force to be reckoned with for FPR’s Steve Martin and
Craig Jones, on the second day of the team’s four day
test.
Both riders made good progress on their PETRONAS FP1 bikes
at the outset of the day, with Craig becoming increasingly
confident in his familiarity of the circuit and improving
on his lap time from yesterday by over a second, to 1:36.75.
Steve was straight back on the pace and able to consistently
lap in the low 1:34s on standard race tyres, to finish the
day with a time of 1:34.04 – over one and a half seconds
faster than his quickest lap time during the race at Phillip
Island last March.
Steve and Craig both completed forty one laps each but, were
forced to sit out much of the afternoon’s track session,
along with other riders present at the test, as strong winds
that swept across the costal circuit greatly affected the
handling and stability of their bikes.
Craig said, “I’m happy with my progress in learning
the track today and it’s a shame the winds were so strong
this afternoon that it limited the amount of laps we could
do. Hopefully it will die down for tomorrow as it’s
too dangerous to ride at high speed as the wind just pushes
you off line. I tested some different rear shock settings
and have found a direction I’m happy with, so we’ve
got a good game plan for tomorrow.”
Steve commented, “From straight out this morning I
was back in the 34s and lapping there comfortably until the
terrible wind came in this afternoon. So that we didn’t
waste testing time I was able to do a few slow runs in the
afternoon in order to gather data for some system developments,
but tomorrow I’m looking forward to testing three new
specification rear tyres which should give me more speed.”
Unofficial Times
1. Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki) 1:32.81
2. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.62
3. Steve Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1.34.04
4. Norick Abe (Yamaha France) 1:34.88
5. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha France) 1:35.20
6. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha France) 1:35.8
7. Craig Jones (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:36.75
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