Eugene Laverty says he is having fun spinning the rear of the Drive M7 Production Honda during his MotoGP debut at Valencia today but said he needs to find more feel from the front Bridgestone to make a step in laptimes.
After spending the first half of the day getting comfortable on the RCV1000R, Laverty started to experiment with rear spin and pushing the soft-compound front under braking, which he says he has already got nailed as the bike suits his cornering style.
“We did 45 laps getting a feel for the bike. The first 25 or so we changed something every exit just to get a good feeling with the footrest, levers. It’s such a different bike to what I am used to, there is no big fuel tank in the middle, it’s a much smaller bike and then I started to enjoy it for the last 20 laps,” said Laverty, speaking at Valencia.
“There is no real mystery with the carbon brakes, they just stop better but the big difference is the tyre, as we know. It’s a different end of the scale to what I am used to. The front suits my style, I like to squeeze the brake on corner entry and already my braking matches what we see on this bike from this weekend.
“The rear is definitely different, it spins so easily but you can control it with your right hand and you can turn the bike with it. The Honda seems to like being ridden like that, it’s a lot of fun. It’s controllable, you can spin it early on, I like that riding style.
“The issue at the moment is the front. My brake pressure is already there and the tyre is moving a lot underneath me. I need to get the front to stop moving and figure out why it is doing that. That is holding me back, I’m pushing and it’s not giving me the feel.
“I was on the soft and is doesn’t feel like it is moving because it is too soft but I don’t know these tyres yet, we will try some more tomorrow. We have a fair idea of what we have to do to make the step in laptimes.”
