Anvil Hire Yamaha trio unleashed with race-spec R1

James Rispoli, Billy McConnell and Shaun Winfield are set to head out to Spain for two days of testing and a first run on the race-specification R1

21 Mar 2016

Anvil Hire Yamaha trio of James Rispoli, Billy McConnell and Shaun Winfield are set to head out to Spain for two days of testing and a first run on the race-specification R1.

The test marks the team's first return to action as a full accompaniment since running on stock machines at Almeria two months ago. With two days of track running at Calafat the riders will dial in the R1s working on set-up and a series of upgrades before heading back to the UK for a final tests ahead of the 2016 MCE British Superbike championship season opener at Silverstone on 8-10 April.

Rispoli, along with Winfield and BSB rivals Peter Hickman and James Ellison, has spent a week getting race ready in Texas at Colin Edwards' Boot Camp and is thrilled to be unleashed on the full superbike-spec Yamaha R1.

"I am pumped, my stoke levels are through the roof." Rispoli said. "I cannot wait to get on the superbike, we have a ton of work to accomplish in little time. My pre-season training has been great and I am prepared to do as many laps as my crew chief will let me. I have been dreaming about the superbike for nearly 100 days now. It's time to get to work."

McConnell added: "I'm really looking forward to this test, this is where the real work starts. The last two were on stock bikes so we treated them as shakedowns and team bonding exercises, which worked really well for everyone.

"We have a lot of work to do this week on the superbike as it is our first real test on it as well, so we have different things we want to try and work through such as engine braking, rider positioning and lots of other stuff, which will help us when we get to Silverstone for the first round, so I just can't wait."

"I'm so excited for these next two days in Spain, I had a very successful shakedown at Cadwell Park and I have now an understanding of which direction I want to go in with the bike, and what I want to work on at Calafat," Winfield added. "The bike was out of this world at Cadwell, but I just couldn't find clear air to really get up to speed, plus it was cold so the track temperature didn't help."