Despite the wind that hampered much of the first day of testing at MotorLand Aragon, lap times achieved on Day 2 by Pedercini riders Sylvain Barrier and Saeed Al Sulaiti have left the team in high spirits ahead of the next and final pre-season test in Phillip Island ahead of Round 1. Only Kawasaki riders were out on track and the riders found themselves able to take advantage of such a rare opportunity.

Sylvain Barrier said: “It was great to share the track with the other Ninja riders, all the riders on the track had the same bike and this is good for having the ideal reference for the setting and the lap times...even the Stock bikes are now very fast and it’s good to see them on the track together with Superbikes. I managed to set a satisfactory number of laps and this gave me confidence that the settings found in Jerez de la Frontera last week are the most appropriate ones for my riding style and for the next tests.”

Saeed Al Sulaiti is satisfied with his WorldSBK debut so far: “Last year I used to ride a Stock bike, and now everything is completely different. It seems literally to fly,” explained the Qatari rider. “It’s a radical change in riding style and working method. I was delighted and from the work of my mechanics, all my requests were turned into electronic data and made available by simply pressing a button, which is simply amazing. Today is my first real day of testing because in Jerez I had electronics issues, and here in Aragon yesterday it was impossible to ride due to the strong winds. The most important thing is that today I was able to improve my personal feeling with the bike from lap to lap. I'm living a wonderful experience, grateful both to the entire team and QMMF that supports me in this adventure. We are going ahead and so far everything is fine."

Optimistic about the coming season, the team will leave for Australia soon ahead of the final test, which will be the last time all riders are out on track before the racing begins in earnest.