Positive trend on second test day
A German saying is that you gain strength through patience and so it was to keep being patient for Markus Reiterberger, who tested the BMW S1000RR on the “Circuito de Jerez de la Frontera”, in Spain this Wednesday and Thursday.
The first day in a new school always is difficult. But that was the same for all the riders, who were testing their new work tool for the 2019 season these past two days. Additionally the conditions of the track were far from ideal. A very dirty track was the reason for a lot of problems, such as the lack of grip, that wasn’t really helping to get a good feeling with the bike.
The second test day went a lot better though. A variety of tests, such as a new rear swing, several suspension elements, electronics, the brakes and the chassis – to name just a few of them, were done on the BMW S1000RR and gave the 24-years-old from Obing in Bavaria/Germany, after optimizing the position of handlebar and seat, a much better feeling with his new Superbike.
The lap times were positioned in the low 1:41-times, but the gap to the leading riders is still too big and more tests will be necessary to build on the improvements that were done during the two recent test days. The progress was definitely noticeable and the entire BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team gave it everything to support Markus Reiterberger with his familiarisation. At the end it was possible to find another 1.2 seconds and a better feeling for the Youngster.
Hopefully this positive trend of the second test day can be carried along by Reiterberger and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team to the next test, that will take place on 27thand 28thof January in Portimao, Portugal.
Markus Reiterberger #28:“It was a difficult first test. I did not have a good feeling with the bike, also because of the really bad grip on track. We constantly needed new tyres. Nevertheless we were able to test a lot of things and the second day went much better than day one. My teammate Tom Sykes is really fast already and I will have to try to catch up to him. However I should not put my expectations to high and try not to tense up too much. What was on our testing list has been done and the results were quite positive at the end. Everything else will need some more time. Moreover we also had a change inside the team. Pete Benson* is my new crew chief and I also got another new mechanic who is now working with my known main mechanic Wolfgang Kampe. We will be sitting together again to analyse this test before we are going to Portimao, where there will be also the team presentation on 28thof January.”
*Pete Benson comes from the MotoGP world championship and last worked for the Marc VDS team. He also worked by the side of Nicky Hayden, when he became MotoGP world champion in 2006.