JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam is no stranger to the Cartagena track and has been using his time at the Pro-Test wisely. He has not been solely focusing on putting down one super fast lap time, but instead has been testing out the SC0 Pirelli tyre today.
The Pocket Rocket, as he is more affectionally known, managed to improve his pace on the softer tyre compound, compared to the harder option that he was using on Friday - and was third quickest on day three of the test in the unofficial times.
On the opening day of testing at the Spanish track the former World Superbike rider switched to the 2016-spec Kawasaki ZX-10R, and it is a case of so far so good for the Derby racer, and he is definitely feeling more confident onboard his machine.
“We have got a lot of components to test here and what is quite difficult here with the 20 minute four sessions so for us we have been planning that structure out so we get through it all, and I feel at the moment like we are getting through it all,” said Haslam.
“We have a lot to test and it being back-to-back we have been doing a lot of it on the harder Pirelli rear tyre and this morning was the first time we used the softer tyre and straight away we found that half a second quite easily.
“I think so far everyone who has been doing faster times has been doing it in two laps and then dropping like a second a lap, where I feel that we are in a better position than that and the lap times are quite good.
“It is unknown as we don’t know the pace of the other guys when it comes to distance is concerned but with my lap times we are pretty happy even though we haven’t even pushed for that one off lap time yet.
“I feel like I have good experience but for me it is about being smart with the testing and development in so far as not worrying too much about lap times but at the same time you need to be somewhere close for the testing to be relevant.
“You still have to push as hard as you ever do but don’t worry about throwing tyres at it and really look for the perfect lap. We want to be consistent and getting positive feedback and I feel that we are doing that and in a positive way.”
