WorldSBK – Syahrin and Granado complete important testing in Barcelona

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has today concluded an important two-day test session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, alongside many other WorldSBK riders. For riders Hafizh Syahrin and Eric Granado, this was a useful opportunity to test certain components and setups, having had no time to do so during the first two championship rounds in Australia and Indonesia.

On track on both Thursday 30 and Friday 31 March, the team was able to complete the long list of tasks that it had set itself for this test. Work on the riders’ CBR1000RR-R machines involved testing in preparation for the Catalunya round, which will take place in May, and more general refinement of the setup and electronics ahead of the next championship round at Assen (21-23 April).

The team’s work was facilitated by almost ideal conditions on both days, Syahrin and Granado thus able to make the most of the track time and improve their feeling aboard their respective bikes. The team’s technicians will now continue to prepare for the Assen round, while riders Syahrin and Granado will focus on their physical and mental training so as to be in the best possible shape for next month’s races.

Hafizh Syahrin

“We’ve had two very useful days, completing almost 140 laps. On day two, we tried a few new things, some of which worked better than others. We continued to try and understand the bike but although I feel we’ve improved a little here, we’re not yet where we want to be. Overall, these tests have been very constructive anyway, and I hope we can give a little more already during the next round at Assen.”

Eric Granado

“We’ve had two good days and have been able to really make the most of the track time, completing many laps. This is basically the first time I’ve been able to ride so much and that’s really helped me to better understand the bike. We’ve made changes to the geometry and electronics and my feeling with the bike has improved. Of course we still have areas in which to work but we’ve taken a step with the braking and have a better base setup overall. So it’s been positive and now we’ll see what we can at Assen.”