‘BMW felt good straight off, nice to be in the top five’ - Hickman

British weather got the best of BSB testing at Snetterton this week with teams electing not to ride on days one and three. 

However, the second day saw a break in the wet and blustery conditions which led to another good day for the new BMW team, as five-time Isle of Man TT winner Peter Hickman was fifth quickest. 

Former WorldSBK rider Xavi Fores was quickest of the pair a week ago at Silverstone with a best finish of fourth on day-one, and with two completely different circuit layouts tested at, the results and consistency shown has so far been impressive on the new M 1000 RR package. 

Speaking after a limited, but productive test nonetheless, Hickman said: "The Snetterton test has been quite positive for us and although we didn’t get in as much riding as we would have liked, with two sessions yesterday, but the news is the BMW felt good straight off. If you look at the times it was pretty evident from all of the BMW teams. 

"Again, it is still very early days still for us and I am happy that I feel comfortable on it at another different track, so that is a big positive after some changes we made at Silverstone. 

"Yesterday I didn’t feel like I was pushing that hard and we didn’t go for a fast lap and so it was nice to be in the top five. 

"We had made some changes to test today to hopefully try and improve the pace again, but unfortunately that didn’t happen, so we can move on to Oulton Park where hopefully we can get some more track time in."

For Hickman’s Spanish team-mate Fores, this year sees a return to BSB following his one and only season in 2019 so far, as 2020 saw a return to WorldSBK with Kawasaki. 

It was a difficult return to World Superbike for Fores though as he could only manage five top ten finishes - eighth his best on four occasions - but pre-season testing with the new BMW M 1000 RR has been a good one for the 35 year-old with Oulton Park up next. 

Speaking after Thursday’s washout, Fores added: "It was a short test here at Snetterton because of the weather. We didn’t spin as many laps as we would have liked to, but it was good for me to refresh myself with the layout of the track at Snetterton before the race later in the year. 

"I was still able to get an understanding for how the BMW reacts at this circuit and it was a shame as we had made some good changes after the last test that we wanted to try here. 

"We will now look ahead to Oulton Park to test those changes there. I am pleased though that we have been able to get on track, I stayed in the top eight and that is good for my confidence being back in this championship. 

"I am quite happy overall and now I can look forward to the next test and learning more there with the new BMW M 1000 RR."