The final test session of the 2013 pre-season got under way at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain today, where where heavy rain showers restricted the work of Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini riders Alvaro Bautista and Bryan Staring. The Spaniard and the Australian were limited to just a few laps as they established a feeling for their bikes in the wet conditions, with their main testing programme postponed until tomorrow.
Alvaro Bautista
1’51.277 — 31 laps
“ Today has been a very strange day and we have hardly been able to get any work done. The rain was heavy at times and at other times not so much and it didn’t help because the track conditions were not consistent. We tried some thing with the aim of improving our feeling in the wet but it wasn’t easy and the tyre performance dropped off quite quickly. We just have to wait now and hope that the conditions are better tomorrow so that we can complete the programme we have for this test.”
Bryan Staring
1’ 56.119 – 37 laps
“ The conditions weren’t the best today but I am happy because the bike didn’t feel too different to the dry. With every lap I was able to improve my braking and my overall feeling, so it has been a positive day for us because I have already said a few times we need laps on the bike in any condition. Obviously there are some things we need to test in dry conditions so hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow.”
Fausto Gresini
“It has been an unusual day and difficult for us to make the most of. We just did a few laps to check things over without testing anything. The tyre performance dropped off quite alarmingly, which didn’t help, so we just have to hope we get better conditions tomorrow so that we can test all the things we have planned.”
