The HANNSpree Ten Kate Honda Team has finished the official FG development test at the circuit of Vallelunga in Italy today. The two-day test has been organised by the Flamini Group in view of the second part of the season and in particular the Italian Round at the Rome circuit on September 21st. The three-men strong HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Superbike squad and their Supersport team mates experienced severely hot track conditions but have been able to make some important progress in the development of the Honda CBR1000RR and CBR600RR machines.
Hardworking Kiyonari rounded off an impressive amount of laps and finished first Honda in 1'37.017s, just 0.006s clear of team mate Carlos Checa who recorded a best lap of 1’37.023 in today’s first session.
Sofuoglu spent the first day of his test focusing on adapting his riding style to the CBR1000RR and was able to put his learning into practice on the second day and closely matched his team mates in a best of 1 minute 37.300.
In the Supersport category, Jonathan Rea looked good on his first ever outing on the Vallelunga track. After a successful first day of testing, the young British rider further improved his pace and set the second quickest time in the first session on Wednesday in 1 minute 40.016 seconds and only left a 0.277s gap to fastest man Craig Jones.
Championship leader Andrew Pitt was 0.480 of a second slower then his team mate and posted the sixth fastest time in 1 minute 40.496s on his first outing at the Rome track. Both riders had to cut the test short and have not participated in the second session on Wednesday afternoon.
Results Superbikes:1. R.XAUS 1'36.032
2. N.CANEPA 1'36.404
3. T. BAYLISS 1'36.448
6. R. KIYONARI 1'37.0177. C.CHECA 1'37.023 10. K. SOFUOGLU 1'37.300Results Supersport: (after 1st session, Wednesday):1. C. JONES.739
2. J. REA 1'40.016 3. B. PARKES 1'40.226
4. F. FORET 1'40.409
6. A. PITT 1'40.496 Ronald ten Kate – Team manager”Both Supersport riders have successfully completed their first outing at the Vallelunga track during the two days of testing. We have tested several new parts on the machine and have been able to consistently set a good pace. I am confidently looking forward to the next races and especially the Vallelunga round in September.”
“After the issues we faced in the last races this test was extremely important for our Superbike machines. We have taken the opportunity to make several changes and test different parts. It looks like we are heading in the right direction, even though we are still off the pace.”
”Sofuoglu has made an important step forward today and will hopefully be able to continue doing so in the next rounds. Kiyonari has set a good result in today’s concluding session, while Checa spent his time on track testing different parts.”
”The Brno track has a different layout that will better suit our bikes and the track temperature will be lot less then the 60 degrees we endured here in Rome, so I am confident we can put the results of this test into practice for the next round and be up front again.”
Carlos Checa – 1'37.023“We have tested different tyres for Pirelli, but couldn’t improve the bike as much as we wanted. We couldn’t find the grip, especially in the rear and didn’t find the improvement we expected to make. The tyres just didn’t seem to work for us here and we are off the pace we should be able run. We tried several things but nothing seemed to be constructive.”
”This track will be difficult for us, specially when it comes to the handling of the bike in the slower sections. I’m confident with some more time we can put the information and ideas we gathered here into practice.”
Ryuichi Kiyonari – 1'37.017”I am happy with the progress I made during this two-day test. I have been off the pace in the Germany and Misano, but have found the connection again today with the faster guys.”
“The bike has been running well, but we will have to improve some things before the next race in Brno. I am eager to continue my progression and have set my goal on achieving some good results in Brno.”
Kenan Sofuoglu – 1'37.300“We had a very bad start yesterday. I then sat down with my mechanics to make a plan on how to improve during the test. On the first day we focused on riding style and learning to better understand the machine rather then good lap times.”
“Today we focused on putting yesterday’s experience into practice and get closer to the guys in front. I’ve changed a lot in my riding and have been able to come closer to the lap times of my team mates Ryuichi and Carlos.”
“Our plan worked out well today, it has been a positive day for me and I hope I will be able to continue my progression throughout the next rounds and achieve some good results.”
Andrew Pitt – 1'40.496 ”I suppose we got through everything we needed to test here fine, even though my lap time wasn’t as good as I wanted. I had some problems with one part of the track and lost a lot compared to Johnny. Hopefully come September we will sort it out.”
”We tested some new parts for the bike and made some good progress with them. We also did some tyre testing and found one that should help us here in the race, although the temperature is going to be different in September.”
“I am feeling confident for Brno. I have never ridden the 600 there, but like the circuit a lot. We had some good results in the last races so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue. We should have a good weekend.”
Jonathan Rea – 1'40.016;“Everyone has worked very hard these two days to get the best out of the test. Even though we cut the test short by one session, we are in the ball park.
“Everything is been going very good, we got dialed in very fast and the pace was good throughout the session. We tested a lot of new components for the chassis with positive results.”
”We leave this test in good shape in the lead up to Brno, I have never been on the circuit before but it should suit my style. I’m quite motivated to keep the bike on the podium and set a good result.”
