Just after the eighth round of the championship World SBK Superbike at Magny-Cours in France, Honda and its Team HRC participated alongside Kawasaki to a productive one-and-a-half day test at Motorland Aragon in Spain.
The pilots Xavi Verge et Iker Lecuona, currently 14th and 16th in the championship but who achieved one of their best performances of the season at the Magny-Cours round last weekend, are looking to continue in this vein in the final part of the 2024 season. During the tests, which took place on Wednesday 11th and the morning of Thursday 12th September, the two Spaniards worked with a view to the rest of the season and the Aragon round, which will take place later in the month (27th-29th September).
Boasting dry but fairly windy conditions on both days, the riders took to the track between 9am and 13pm, then 14pm to 18pm on day one, and 10am to 13pm on day two, working with their technicians to complete a series of general set-up tests, with a particular focus on the suspension. The Spanish track has recently been resurfaced, meaning the riders also had the opportunity to get to grips with the abrasiveness of the new asphalt ahead of this season’s Aragon race weekend.
Xavi Verge et Iker Lecuona were able to successfully complete their work plan, with the duo generally satisfied with the outcome of the test. Team HRC now prepares for the ninth round of WorldSBK, which will take place from September 20-22 at the Cremona circuit in Italy, a new addition to the production-derived calendar for the 2024 season.
Xavi Verge : “We finished this Aragon test with a good feeling. It was good to come here because with the new asphalt everything has changed, so it was useful to work on this aspect. There was a lot of grip on the racing line, so we had to adapt to it. We also worked on the bike settings and on different aspects related to the suspension. There were some small positive points, and we were able to maintain a satisfactory race pace throughout the session. I am happy with that, and now we head to Cremona, a circuit on which we have already had the opportunity to test, which was important given that it is a new circuit in the calendar. Let's see if we can confirm the progress we have made in recent times.”
Iker Lecuona : “We rode for a day and a half instead of two, both because we were able to finish our work plan and because the conditions are expected to be even windier this afternoon. We mainly used the track time to learn the new tarmac, because the feeling is very different since they resurfaced the track. It has a lot of grip now, but at the same time it is quite aggressive on the tires. This is something we will have to deal with when we come back here for the races, because after five or six laps the tires' drop in revs is very noticeable. On the other hand, we continued to work on the general settings of the bike, especially on the suspension. Showa brought us new things and ideas to try, and we found something that we plan to use next week. As for my right arm, I felt some fatigue at the beginning of the test, but overall I have to say that it did not give me any problems. It was probably the combination of some hiking with walking poles and some difficulties with the handling of the bike during FP1 at Magny-Cours that caused me problems last weekend, but fingers crossed I hope to be in full possession of my faculties in Cremona next week."
