Team HRC completes an additional test at Cremona Circuit
With the Emilia-Romagna round of the WorldSBK championship having concluded just a few days ago, on Sunday 16 June, Team HRC’s commitment to the production-derived series sees the squad complete a further one-and-a-half-day of test at the Cremona Circuit.
Factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge were out at the Italian track on Wednesday 19 and on the morning of Thursday 20 June, where they continued to build on work completed during the latest Misano round and recent test sessions, staged last month at both Cremona and Misano.
The Italian race weekend brought encouraging results for Iker, who placed seventh, ninth and tenth in the three races aboard the CBR1000RR-R. Able to ride consistently and showing a return to form after a spate of injuries, Lecuona is keen to continue this positive trend at the next rounds. Having experienced a few issues over the course of the weekend, team-mate Vierge left Misano with questions, which the team immediately sought to address during these tests.
Exploiting the dry weather to make a good number of laps and collate valuable data in the process, Team HRC was able to check off most of its scheduled testing activities. Both Lecuona and Vierge continued to focus on developing a base setup for the CBR1000RR-R, as well as preparing ahead of the ninth championship round that will play out at Cremona Circuit on September 20-22.
Iker Lecuona 7
Overall, not a bad test at all for us. We tried many things relating to the base setup of the bike. No new items, because we focused only on the bike's settings and electronics to confirm the progress made over the Misano weekend. We struggled on day one, to be honest, stuck in the low 1’30s and unable to improve on our lap times. But today things started to feel good, right from the first exit, and the lap times came easier. It's true that the temperature was cooler earlier in the day, but even towards the end of the morning, when it got hotter, I could still ride consistently. I completed a long run with good pace, so it seems we've made a step forward, but we'll keep our feet on the ground until the race. Now it's time for the team to check all the data. Physically, I feel tired, but the positive thing is that my shoulder felt much better this week than it did the first time we came to test here at Cremona. Every time I get on the bike, I feel more comfortable, and I've been working hard at home to recover, so day by day, I feel stronger.
Xavi Vierge 97
Today was a good day for us with a more stable bike. We focused on getting the maximum performance out of it, and my feeling improved a little, which I'm happy about. We’ve better understood the direction we need to take. This is a new bike this year, and so what worked last season doesn't always work now. But today, we put together the best base possible as things stand and tried to fine-tune all the details. My race pace, particularly, isn't too bad. We used just one qualifying tyre, and I was able to improve on my lap time quite a bit, which doesn't often happen, so that was good. We finished the test with the best base setup we've found so far, and this is important in order to be able to regain some feeling with the bike. I want to say a big thanks to the team because we worked super hard to get to this point, and now we'll try to build on it.
