WSB: Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista complete two-day Jerez Test

Team HRC’s Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista have completed a productive two-day test at Jerez.

The duo were at Jerez on Friday and Saturday (March 19-20) and were keen to make up the time that they lost at the official test and another private test at the same circuit in January due to bad weather. 

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In almost perfect weather conditions, Bautista completed two full days of testing whilst Haslam finished half-a-day early on Saturday. Both riders were testing upgrades for the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP which they debuted last season. 

“It’s been a very positive test, especially because last time out we were only able to make about ten laps with the 2021 bike due to the bad weather,” Haslam said. “So having this day and a half has been very important. We had a long list of things to try, and we’ve been able to get through almost all of it. We’ve found some more consistency and I’m feeling a lot more confident.

“Now we head to Barcelona with everyone else, where we will be better able to understand where we are and how the bike is working. We only did a half day today as we need to be careful considering the limited test days that we have available.”

Haslam and Bautista both finished on 113 points last season, with Haslam securing a best result of fourth at Aragon. Bautista clinched the team’s, and the bike’s, maiden podium by clinching third at the same circuit.

“We have done a lot of work over the last two days, taking advantage of two sunny days with no sign of any fog or rain, which unfortunately prevented us from doing any real work on the bike back in January,” Bautista said. “It was important to complete the entire testing programme, which concerned bike set-up in general and specifics such as braking and electronics, areas in which we concentrated a little more.

“The session was very useful in providing the information that the engineers need to continue working on the bike back in Japan. I’m very happy with work we have done, and I think we now have a clearer idea as to where to focus during the next test”.

Team HRC will be back on track at the official Barcelona test on March 31 and April 1. The team will unveil its 2021 livery on March 30 with a virtual presentation which will be broadcast on HRC’s Facebook and YouTube pages.