The Honda WorldSBK Team enters the winter break in confident mood after completing a two-day test at ‘Circuito de Jerez’ in southern Spain. With Nicky Hayden out of action following an injury sustained last Friday during a flat-track training session, it was up to the sole rider Stefan Bradl to carry out the testing duties at the fast-flowing Andalusian venue.

With weather conditions not as kind as during the previous two-day test at MotorLand Aragón, Bradl and the team spent the first day trying to find a good setup for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine for wet-track conditions as well as for flag-to-flag races. The young German rider completed 35 laps while also evaluating some modifications to the electronics with regard to engine braking.

The second day of action got underway with the 4.423km of the track still soaked by rain. Around midday, the sun came out briefly but the lack of wind slowed down the drying process. Despite never getting back to fully dry conditions, later in the day the asphalt was grippy enough for Stefan to be out on slicks. He tried two sets of tyres and, with the second one, he set his fastest lap of the test in 1’42.5.

Stefan Bradl 6

It surely wasn’t the perfect weather to go testing. Yesterday we did 35 laps in wet conditions, just to get a feeling with the bike and with the Pirelli tyres in the wet; it was a quite positive day and we made the best of it. Even today was affected by poor weather because it rained until noon, and it took a very long time for the track to dry. We did 20 laps with slick tyres but the there were still a few damp patches about, so I did not stay out for too long and we didn’t make any modifications to the bike, because I was not fast enough to get a feeling for it. At least we managed to do a couple of laps in mostly dry conditions and the feeling was very similar to Aragón, so I can say that it’s been a good first experience overall with Honda in World Superbike. Now it’s time to relax, recharge the batteries and be ready to jump on the new Fireblade.

Pieter Breddels - Technical Manager

So, that’s it for the first two tests of the off-season, which were both quite interesting for Stefan; he was quick to adapt to the new bike and Pirelli tyres, and it took him very little time to get up to speed, which is really encouraging. Lap times came for him without pushing too much so, all in all, the initial transition has gone well. Obviously, we are eager and excited to see what he will be able to do with the new bike. It was a pity not to have Nicky on our side here and we look forward to having him back with us in January. Honestly, there wasn’t a lot to do for him at this test, so he hasn’t lost too much.