Buildbase Suzuki's Gino Rea spent much of the Silverstone Bennetts British Superbike test on development duty, evaluating a raft of new parts.
Rea had a dedicated schedule to follow over the course of the two days, evaluating a new engine spec from Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan as well as electronics settings, with a focus on power delivery and engine braking, plus a new swingarm from Suter.
Despite a clear focus on development, he still set the sixth fastest time of the two days.
“This test has been really good, and it was just nice to be back with the team and back on the Superbike after a long winter off. We had a lot to test and a lot to get through, and day one was pretty much dedicated to working on the electronics and we didn’t do much to the chassis," said the Londoner.
"Today we focussed on that a bit more, and the biggest change there for me is the new Suter swingarm, so we spent time getting that dialled in.
“With a lot to get through it’s really hard not to look at the times and see what people are doing, but we kept our focus on the job, and it’s actually been really nice for me to have a test – I missed this test last year – to put the laps in and work on the bike and not worry about the times so much.
"But today we did push on a bit, nothing crazy, but to see what the package was capable of. We didn’t chuck the super soft tyre in that some people used, but considering we were doing a lot of testing I think we were competitive and consistent, and the two days couldn’t really have gone much better.
“The test at Snetterton, I think will be similar; we still have some areas to work on with the electronics, so that’s still my focus, but then we’ll go from there.”