RIZLA SUZUKI MEN SMASH LAP RECORD
 Rizla
Suzuki Tom Sykes and Atsushi Watanabe riders ducked under
the lap record at the Al Carras circuit in Spain today during
the team's third and final day of its private pre-season test.
Both riders left the Al Carras circuit knowing that they
were the fastest people to ever lap the demanding venue with
Sykes setting the new unofficial lap record while Watanabe
was just 0.47secs behind.
Sykes more than made up for the electrical gremlins which
hit his track time yesterday by completing a total of 80 laps.
He concentrated on chassis geometry and getting in plenty
of consistently fast laps.
"It has been a good test, I'm very happy," said
Sykes. "We have got some good base settings now to work
from. I've got plenty of laps under my belt; now I need a
rest and then I'll be excited and ready to go for the next
test. I'm really enjoying the atmosphere in the team and I'm
enjoying my Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000."
Watanabe worked on various set-up combinations in order to
learn as much about his Rizla Suzuki as possible as he completed
69 laps. He said: "This track is very different to Calafat
and to Japanese tracks and it took some time to get used to.
After the first day I was comfortable and the end times were
good. I'm happy with my Rizla Suzuki. I come to the UK in
late February and look forward to my first visit to UK tracks
with John Reynolds as he will help me learn."
Team Manager Jack Valentine was thrilled with how well both
his riders and team performed. "The team worked really
hard to get the Pirelli tyres working on the abrasive track
surface," explained Valentine. "This will stand
by us as we prepare to go to the official Pirelli test at
Almeria which has a similar surface.
"We've got a good feel for things and just need to keep
tweaking the package," he continued. "I'm looking
forward to getting to Almeria so we can get our hands on race
rubber. It will also be good to see where we stand against
our competitors as there will be other teams there. I'm really
pleased with how this test has gone and if we had stayed here
for another day both guys would have dropped their lap times
even further."
|
