Pata Honda’s Sylvain Guintoli has admitted he will be playing catch up at this weekend’s Motorland Aragon World Superbike round as his physical condition continues to improve.

Injuries form reigning champion’s crash at Jerez in pre-season testing caused him problems in the first two rounds so the amount of bike development work done wasn’t as much as he would have hoped.

“Aragon is about playing catch-up really, because it’s clear that we haven’t been fulfilling our potential in the first races of the season. My physical condition is still improving and I’m feeling better than I was in Thailand, so that’s all going in the right direction, but we need to improve our overall performance so that we can fight at the front,” said the England-based Frenchman.

“We’re all working hard to realize the potential of the package, especially in the areas of engine brake and power delivery. Testing conditions were not very good when we were at Aragon in January but the weather should be better this weekend. I’m looking forward to getting back there on the CBR, though; it’s a good track and I’m happy they’ve taken out the hairpin at the end of the lap, which kind of broke the flow.”