Moto Rapido Ducati’s Jakub Smrz is using the Pro-test in Cartagena to work on a problem that he had during the MCE British Superbike Championship last year. The Czech Republic rider experienced issues with bike balance when going into turns and corners, and his team have been working hard to combat the problem.
The former World Superbike rider has come away from the test so far with some positive results. He has been consistent using used tyres, which is something he wanted to work on in Spain, and started the sessions using the exact same settings from Brands Hatch last year.
Bike geometry is key for Smrz and he is also looking to improve the shock settings during the remaining sessions at the circuit. He does feel that he is starting to improve and is getting used to riding again after the long winter break.
”All is good. Everything is going well so far and I am happy with the job we have done. We are testing a lot of different things - we are playing with the bike geometry and the shock setting. We started on last year’s setting and now we are just trying to improve,” said Smrz, speaking to bikesportnews.com from the track.
“We are just working on current problems and the bike is improving which is important and we have some good ideas for things to work on, so everything is positive. Lap times are not the aim and we have no targets.
"The biggest problem is what we had all season last year, which is the balance of the bike coming out of the turns - so that is what we are working on, but things are looking positive. We have been using used tyres at the moment and we already doing a good pace on them, so that’s good too.”
