Cartagena test, final lap times

Very few riders managed to improve on their times on the final day of the BSB test at Cartagena due to the windy and cold conditions at the Spanish track.

Luke Mossey, who threw his leg over his Quattro Plant  ZX10R Kawasaki for the first time at Almeria last Monday topped the timesheets throughout the four days. “We can’t ask for much better than that.” the 23 year old said. “We have tried a lot of stuff to get the bike dialled in this week.” It does feel very similar to last year’s bike but a little bit better, especially with the fly by wire. I’ve never ridden a bike with fly by wire before and it took a while to get used to that.”

Danny Buchan was second fastest on the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati, half a second behind Mossey.  By contrast, last year’s runner up in the series, Shane Byrne, continued to struggle with his Be Wiser Ducati, finishing over a second off the pace. “We didn’t go as fast as everybody else did but I have already come to the conclusion that this is a blessing in disguise.”

The four time champion said as he tried to take something positive from a weekend when he skittled into the gravel trap twice. “This is one of those points that you need to have at some time or another and its far better to have it now than in round ten of this year’s BSB championship.” he said. “ It’s been difficult but I will take a difficult day in testing at Cartagena over a difficult race weekend all day long.”

JG Speedfit duo Leon Haslam and James Ellison were in the 1 min 33 sec bracket in spite of making numerous changes to their ZX10Rs. “We have been making big changes and testing components but now it is about fine tuning.” Ellison explained. “We still have a lot of work to do but we have come a long way since the first day.”

Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon were so happy with the set up on their Tyco BMWs that the team packed up early from the test. “We have made the bike a lot more user friendly around here.” the winner of the last BSB race of 2015 said explained. “We have the power delivery really smooth and the chassis reacts good so I am leaving here really satisfied.”

The man with the broadest smile as the sun set on the Spanish test was Californian, John Hopkins. After declaring himself in love with the ePayMe R1 Yamaha on day one, Hopper’s love deepened over the four days as he posted the seventh fastest time. “It isn’t a priority for us to go out and set a blistering qualifying lap but I have ridden around a lot of top riders out there.” he said after concentrating on setting consistent lap times.

 

CARTAGENA FINAL TIMES

1. Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) 1m:33.1s
2. Danny Buchan (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati) 1m:33.6s
3. Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1m:33.6s
4. Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) 1m:33.7s
= James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1m:33.7s
6. Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) 1m:33.8s
7. John Hopkins (ePayMe Yamaha) 1m:34.0s
8. Peter Hickman (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 1m:34.3s
9. Tommy Bridewell (Bennetts Suzuki) 1m:34.5s
10.  Ryuichi Kiyonari (Bennetts Suzuki) 1m:34.5s
11. Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) 1m:34.6s
12. Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:34.8s
= Fillip Backlund (Quattro Plant Cool Kawasaki) 1m:34.8s
= Martin Jessopp (RidersMotorcycles.com BMW) 1m:34.8s
=. Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW) 1m:34.8s
16. Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati) 1m:35.3s
17. Stuart Easton (ePayMe Yamaha) 1m:35.5s