The riders of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship finally experienced a dry, cold but dry day at the third WorldSBK test in Jerez de la Frontera. During these tests, currently dominated by Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) impressed with his ability to adapt quickly, which has become a trademark for him.
Unlike the December test, which took place in the rain five weeks previously at the same location, the first test of the 2023 season started under clear skies and, later in the afternoon, also under pleasant temperatures , while it was still very cool until shortly before noon this Wednesday. The outlook for Thursday should be even better. In almost optimal conditions, the WorldSBK rookie Dominique Aegerter did not take long to develop a good feeling with his new Yamaha R1, after being particularly eclectic last year by trying the Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP before winning the Supersport and MotoE titles.
The Swiss rider and his team from the Italian GRT Yamaha team started the two days of testing at the Circuito de Jerez with a clear idea. The primary objective is to adapt as quickly as possible to the heavier and more powerful Superbike. The 32-year-old driver finally achieved a flawless performance on the first day in the south of Spain, and the longer the session continued, the more convincing his ability to adapt proved, since in the aftermath- At midday, he was already posting times below the 1'40 mark, just like the best in the highly competitive category at that time. Dominique Aegerter finished Wednesday in the top 10 with a promising personal best of 1'39.934 established during the 69th of 89 holes played.
The first test for 2023 continues this Thursday with the second and final day before preparations resume in a few days in Portimão, Portugal.
#77 Dominique Aegerter : " For sure, it was a good start to the pre-season. But it was only the first day in the dry. Of course, it helped that I already knew my team a bit from our test in December here. That's why we were able to make some progress with the electronics and chassis settings, but we also worked on better ergonomics, having done no more than find a reasonably adequate seating position five weeks ago . At the time this was sufficient for the track conditions. But today we worked on the basic setup for the first time, and we also tried two different rear tires. The almost 90 laps we did today were very productive in every way. But the most important thing is above all the adaptation to the Superbike. The first thing I had to do was memorize the new reference points on the track.
In my long career so far, I have almost always had the same braking points. But with the more powerful and slightly heavier Superbike, this area changes because I get there at a higher speed. So I can't brake as late as usual. It was the first thing I had to understand and adapt to. After that, the focus was on power delivery, because we started with a setting that I think Toprak Razgatlioğlu raced with in 2021 here. I wanted to use it, of course, but we quickly realized that we had to reduce the power a little out of corners because the bike was wheeling too much. It also took a lot of strength and physical effort to adapt, and it also took me a while to realize that I needed to use the rear brake more. These are the main points of the day. I still had to push hard to get decent lap times even if, in the end, I'm happy with what we achieved today. »
Photo credits: @geebeeimages and WorldSBK
