HRC riders Haslam and Bautista complete valuable testing in Jerez

Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam complete two-day test for the Honda Racing Corporation team at Jerez, as preparations for the 2021 WorldSBK season intensify. 

Riders and teams will have the opportunity to test themselves against their competition at the end of the month, with the first and only WorldSBK Official test in Barcelona before the new season begins in May. 

One of the teams to get valuable track time before then has been HRC, who completed the second of two days testing at the Circuito of Jerez de la Frontera today.

Testing opportunities have severely been hampered in January and February due to less than ideal weather, but bright sunshine in Spain was a good chance for the team to evaluate their 2021 bike, as they look to make another step towards being title challengers. 

Speaking at the conclusion of the test, Bautista said: "We have done a lot of work over the last two days, taking advantage of two sunny days with no sign of any fog or rain, which unfortunately prevented us from doing any real work on the bike back in January.

"It was important to complete the entire testing programme, which concentrated on bike set-up in general and specifics such as braking and electronics, areas in which we concentrated a little more.

"The session was very useful in providing the information that the engineers need to continue working on the bike back in Japan.

"I'm very happy with work we have done and I think we now have a clearer idea as to where to focus during the next test." 

The 2019 championship runner-up was also joined by Haslam as they go into their second season as team-mates, under the new leadership of former long-time Honda rider Leon Camier. 

Haslam added: "It’s been a very positive test, especially because last time out we were only able to make about ten laps with the 2021 bike due to the bad weather.

"So having this day and a half has been very important. We had a long list of things to try, and we’ve been able to get through almost all of it. We’ve found some more consistency and I’m feeling a lot more confident.

"Now we head to Barcelona with everyone else, where we will be better able to understand where we are and how the bike is working. We only did a half day today as we need to be careful considering the limited test days we have available."