BMW pleased with Spanish test

From BMW Motorrad

Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport concluded its two-day test at the Circuit de la Communitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo in a happy frame of mind after making good progress.

Although there was no rain throughout the two days, conditions were far from ideal. Strong winds buffeted the circuit both days and there were not enough bikes circulating to lay down enough rubber for good grip. But, thanks to the commitment of both Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus and a tremendous all round effort, the team left the circuit happy and in a positive mood ahead of the next tests. Corser comfortably got into the low 1:36s, with Xaus improving strongly throughout to finish with a 1:36.5 - all on standard tires.

"Generally we’ve gained a lot of useful information for the engineers and technicians during these two days and if I had to race the bike tomorrow, I wouldn’t be unhappy at all," Corser said. "It’s been good to be able to do plenty of laps and now I feel very comfortable on the bike and I can ride it without thinking about it. We found a good set up for the suspension, both front and rear, improved the balance of the bike, the brakes and made the throttle connection more consistent."

"After Portimao, I wondered to myself how long it would take for me to understand this bike," Xaus admitted. "Troy has many years of four cylinder experience, but for me, riding this bike was not so easy and I knew that I would have to adapt to the bike instead of the other way round. The first day was not so good, but the team and I really worked hard and bit by bit we began to progress. I am still not fully comfortable with the bike and I have to understand fully where the limits are, but today was a bit of a breakthrough for me and I was so happy that I was able to do it."