Press Release | January 30, 2009
The following is from BMW… Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport concluded their 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 and Ruben and a tremendous all round effort, the team left the circuit happy and in a positive mood ahead of the next tests. Troy comfortably got into the low 1:36s, with Ruben improving strongly throughout to finish with a 1:36.5 – all on standard tyres. Troy (156 laps) 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. 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. I did a long run of 24 laps this afternoon and was able to do good consistent lap times and felt OK at the end of it. We used standard tyres throughout the test and, if the conditions had been a bit better and more rubber had been down, I’m sure I could’ve gone faster. I feel we’ve made big steps here and although there’s still lots of work to do, I’m pretty happy and positive about the next time out on the bike. Ruben (106 laps) After Portimao, I wondered to myself how long it would take for me to understand this bike. 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 was so happy to get into the 1:36s because I know that is a good time for me here and also because I could do 1:36s consistently. At the moment, 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. Now, I think that things will come better and better. I always knew that coming to this bike and the team would be a challenge, but I have never regretted this decision and now I can’t wait for continuing my progress on the bike.
