After the official test in March, and a further test at Aragon the week after, I knew the competition was going to be tough but I felt that we wouldn’t be that far off - it was just a case off show up and see where I ended up!
FP - P20
In practice we were still trying some things with the setting, which wasn’t very good and I was having some major issues with the rear locking. Despite that, I felt I was riding well, just losing out on the brakes. It was tough looking at the time sheets afterwards but I knew there was more to come in qualifying as the data confirmed my thoughts of where we were losing time.
QP - P24
We made some improvement with the bike in qualifying, but some early games with cruising as well as some of the faster groups holding back in pit lane meant that we weren’t in the best group and I was unable to do what I wanted with the slipstream. After a mistake I was left without a slipstream, and with all the fast riders having done their laps, there was no group for us to go into! I tried my best to do some laps on my own but it wasn’t enough and we qualified at the back of the grid, a tough pill to swallow but I knew I’d come through the field many times before!
On Friday night, after looking at the data along with the Yamaha technicians, we were advised to make a radical change to the rear shock in order to be more aligned with the other riders’ setup. We decided to do it as we had nothing to lose, being 4.4 seconds off.
RACE 1 - P20
Considering it was my first start since Barcelona last year, it was very good, making up a couple of positions on the run into turn 1. I was patient initially, but not aggressive enough on the first lap to get stuck into the group, meaning I got caught up with another rider in the early laps. I saw that we were catching another rider so lead the group and pushed really hard to close up, catching them as we got onto the back straight on the final lap! I times the slipstream brilliantly, and was really aggressive into the last corner, but the rider stuck to the outside, meaning I had to hold the rear brake to avoid contact. Inevitably, we eventually touched, and I got knocked into a false neutral! I stamped it back into gear but it went into 6th, ruining my drive and losing me two positions. I was furious with myself as soon as I got to turn 1, knowing I should have let go of the brake as it was my corner, and there was no way I would come out worse.
Looking at the data, I had done exactly what I needed to do, braking at the same point as the winner, and carrying the same if not more corner speed! It was slightly frustrating as we had 3.4 seconds to find and we couldn’t see where to get it from the data.
RACE 2 - P17
I didn’t make as good a start to race 2, and still wasn’t as aggressive as I needed to be in the first few braking zones, meaning I couldn’t get into the middle of the pack. I quickly found out that with a new tailwind down the back straight, our gearing had become far too short and I couldn’t maximise the slipstream as I would hit the limiter as soon as I pulled out! I tried my best to make some moves but was unable, and started to slowly drop off the group after a couple of mistakes pushing. On the last few laps, I managed to catch a rider, and managed to get past down the back straight on the last lap, holding them off to keep P17, with a lap time 1.4 seconds quicker than race 1 - which would have put me P2 in qualifying!
Overall it wasn’t the weekend I wanted, but we made a massive step with the bike and I now know where the competition is at. Next up is Assen, where we made a big step last season and a it’s a track I enjoy, so I’ll be looking to get in the points!
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