Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati’s Jakub Smrz went to the two-day Snetterton British Superbike test in order to work on tyre life over race distance and it is mission accomplished according to team boss Steve Moore.

Smrz found a setting that enabled him to do 26 laps on the softer SC0 Pirelli and still keep in the 1’48s even when the rear dropped off at the Norfolk circuit, which experienced track temperatures of almost 40°C yesterday. The Czech Republic rider was also fourth quickest on the overall timesheet, lapping only a tenth behind reigning champion Shane Byrne.

“It was a test, not a race so we are pretty happy all round. We had some clutch parts to try and also some geometry elements with head angles. Some worked and some didn’t but that is the point of testing. There is no such thing as a failed experiment,” said Moore, speaking to bikesportnews.com at the track

“The bike was fast, and that’s the main thing. Jakub is comfortable with it. At one stage we got 26 laps out of an SC0 over two runs and three heat cycles so that was good and we were still under the 1’49s so that is pleasing.”