Kagayama tops times in Cartegena
Added on Monday, March 8th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Kagayama tops times in Cartegena
Yukio Kagayama left Cartegena at the top of the time sheets as Worx Crescent Suzuki dominated the first BSB test of 2010.
The Japanese rider, with the Suzuki team as part of a swap deal with the Alstare Suzuki WSB team for Sylvain Guintoli, posted an unofficial time of 1:33.51, just two one hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Tommy Hill and well ahead of the chasing pack.
Both Kagayama and Hill were a full second ahead of the unofficial time set by the next fastest rider, 1:34.5 set Swan Honda’s James Ellison and by Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha rider Dan Linfoot.
And unsurprisingly, team manager Jack Valentine was delighted with the showing.
“We’re very, very pleased with today’s outcome,” he said. “We had only planned for three days’ testing here but considering the high workload and the teething issues we’ve experienced we felt the extra day would help prepare the team better for the next test at Guadix, starting Tuesday.
“Yukio’s had his work cut out these last few days, but today he was able to put in 42 laps - nearly equal to what he did over the entire three previous days. This brought him up to Tommy’s pace and it was a real pleasure to see the pair of them all-but sharing the best lap time. But just as importantly those lap times weren’t one-offs for either of them, they were able to lap consistently at this very fast pace.
“So we’re really happy with the progress made. We’ve come here with a team that’s much bigger than we had last year and we’ve come with new kit in the form of the Öhlins suspension and Motec engine management. The bikes, the riders and the team are really starting to gel - we’ve achieved everything we set out to do.”
