Editor

Pre-season testing for the Yakhnich Motorsport team has gotten off to an encouraging start with the completion of one of two test sessions planned in Spain for the end of January. The first took place from January 20-22 at Jerez de la Frontera with the second scheduled for tomorrow 24 January thru 27 at the Almeria circuit. In these two sessions the team will be aiming to complete set-up work on Vladimir Leonov's Yamaha R6 before the start of the FIM Supersport World Championship season at Phillip Island.


The talented Russian youngster required just a couple of runs in the morning of day 1 to find the right feeling with his bike and as soon as the track temperatures reached an acceptable level, he was able to lap constantly around the low 1 minute 45 second mark before putting in an impressive time of 1 minute 44.9 seconds, just three tenths of a second off the track's Supersport outright lap record.


On Saturday testing work slowed down in the afternoon due to an electrics problem, but Leonov was then able to improve on the Sunday when temperatures were around 20° C. The Yakhnich Motorsport man lapped comfortably under the 1'45 mark, ending up with an excellent time of 1'44.7.


Present in the pit garage, as team guest, was Randy Mamola, who said he was impressed by the ease with which Leonov was able to lap at a good pace on this track, not one of the world's easiest.


"We had a lot of work to do in these three days," declared Leonov, "and I am pleased with the progress I made with all the different suspension and engine set-ups we tested. Depending on our choice of set-up, I have to slightly change my riding style, but we are happy to find that everything works well. I would have liked to beat the track record, but we preferred to work on set-up details rather than go for a quick time. Let's hope we can conclude the testing work in the best possible way at Almeria".



Source: World Superbike

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Kawasaki Racing