Suzuki MotoGP new boy Aleix Espargaro made his debut with the team on the first day of testing at Valencia and is more than happy with the GSX-RR as he managed to lap only 1.3s slower than Jorge Lorenzo on a bike he knows is a long way down on power.
The Spaniard ended the day on a 1’32.315, just under a second off his qualfying time on Saturday, and he reckons that doing that laptime on such a low engine bodes very well for the future as the frame allows him to be much more aggressive than the Open class Yamaha.
“The bike was better than maybe I expect, the frame is fantastic, the most different thing is the position, which is really different from my last year bike. I felt strange at the beginning but after three laps I felt really, really good. We were competitive and the speed was low so this means the frame is really good - we were nine-tenths from my qualifying lap,” said Espargaro, speaking at Valencia.
“The front is turning a lot, the bike is a lot smaller and the weight, I think is 10kg less so is easy to move and change direction. It wasn’t easy to fit on the bike, we have to change a lot of things - my foot is touching the exhaust, the lever is too short and I have a lot of movement with my head.
“This is normal as Randy (De Puniet, test rider) is not very tall, Maverick I think fit really good on the bike but for me we need to change a couple of things but this is why we are testing. I think we maybe need to change the fairing or try a different screen.
“I have talk with Randy and agree we need to work on the traction control and the power delivery. The feeling is similar to him. I felt I can more, put my body outside of the bike and be more aggressive going in. We can do a lot more corner speed as the engine brake today was not the best so we have work to do.
“We need to improve the top speed, but they know this before I arrive. With the power we have we were really competitive, only 1.3s off on the first day. I am sure we will improve this.”
