Team HRC continues to put in maximum effort with a test in Catalunya

“Overall, I think it was a positive test, but we were alone on track and so it’s difficult to say as you cannot draw comparisons with anyone else. In this regard, we had a bit of bad luck because yesterday we would have had the chance to ride with Alex (Lowes), but rain came in the morning and we were really looking forward to testing on a dry track, so we postponed our test to today. Then the track was quite dirty due to a combination of heavy rain yesterday and very hot conditions in the middle part of today. But as I said, overall, the test was positive because we were able to confirm the direction we took at the first Cremona test, one that we then followed at the Misano round and again at the second Cremona test. So having some sort of confirmation also at this track is promising, considering it’s quite different to the other two circuits. It was not a matter of trying many things but working on the base setup, suspension, and electronics, following a well-organized testing plan. We didn’t make so many laps but focused on making quality laps in terms of race pace, in worse conditions compared to when we raced here but with better performance, collating good data to help them work in Japan. Anyway, we’ll have to see at the upcoming Donington round as that track is usually critical for us and so will serve as a good test bench to understand where we really are after returning to the top ten at Misano. I’m happy with my physical condition as well, not really 100% as far as the shoulder is concerned but all in all very good.”

“We can say it’s been a positive test in the sense that everyone in the team worked very well. Firstly, we made the decision to postpone the test by one day, even though we had to share the track with some slower riders, as we really needed this track time in dry conditions to reconfirm our setup and direction. We worked as we did in the previous test to find a bit more turning ability and to carry speed through the drive area. For part of the day, I felt competitive and was able to significantly improve on my lap time with race tyres compared to when we were here before and set some good lap times. But there were moments during the day when we had a completely different feeling, despite not having made significant changes to the bike. This is something we need to understand because it's easy to get confused. So, I leave this test with both positives and negatives. We need to understand a few things, but luckily, I have an incredible team. Between now and Donington, they have a lot of data to analyze to find the answers we are looking for.”