Yamaha Motor France's Abe was surprised by the level of competition and closeness of the whole field's times, obviously something he is not used to in the
MotoGP championship.
“The level here is very tough,” he commented. “For me this was the first time to ride together with most of the other riders. Everybody is so close and it is not just the top riders who can go fast. This was a surprise. When I made a little improvement my position would go up, but when I was not able to make a good lap time I went down a lot! It was all so close in the top 15.”
Meanwhile in World Supersport, Sebastien Charpentier with his new Ten Kate Honda team has dominated testing, showing his clear plans for this season.
Fabien Foret also looks strong, setting the second quickest time in the test, on his Megabike Honda. Kevin Curtain was the fastest Yamaha completing significantly less laps than his competitors with the top five being completed by the Hondas of Michael Fabrizio and Katsuaki Fujiwara.
World Superbike and Supersport fans will not have long to wait to see who will come out of the box fastest with the first race of the season only days away.
The first round of the season takes place at the Losail circuit in Qatar, on Saturday 26th February.
