BMW Motorrad's Leon Haslam reckons he is in a much stronger position heading into the first official World Superbike test at Phillip Island in a month's time after spending the last two days pinging around Valencia to firm up engine and electronic settings.
Much has been made about the team's apparent switch from their own electronics software to another manufacturer, believed to be PI Research, and Haslam feels he is much further ahead, in development terms at least, than he was this time last year.
"It was a long winter back home and I am definitely happy to be back on the bike. We were lucky with the conditions. It was a bit cold in the morning, but we were able to get most out of the two days. We got through everything that we needed to go through, so I am very positive," said Haslam.
"These two days were important. We have a lot of new things for this year and it was good to test before we go to Phillip Island. In addition, it was good to get a few laps under our belts and get up to speed again. We definitely made big steps and are much further ahead compared to last year. It really is a stronger package and we still have five more days to test in Australia to dial it all in."
