Leon Camier put in an impressive performance on his test debut for the Red Bull Honda team at Jerez, as he got his hands on the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machine.
The 31-year-old ended the test with a best time of 1:39.333, after lapping the 4.423km fast-flowing circuit 217 times over the course of the three day test.
Speaking about his first experience on the Honda, a delighted Camier said:
“I’m really, really happy with this three-day test. I managed to get up to speed quite quickly, and yesterday I was able to set decent lap-times on race tyres. Today it was more about understanding how the bike reacts to different changes – what works for me and what doesn’t. By the end of the day we had just about figured out how the bike needs to be set up, and we also tried some new components.
“Overall I think we found a really good base from which to develop, but obviously we need to see how it will work on different tracks and over race distances. But it’s been a great start, nonetheless, and I’m delighted.”
Camier started the test using the specification used in Qatar for the 2017 season finale, in order for him to understand the character of the bike and to make some small adjustments to improve riding position and comfort.
Day two saw Camier and the team make more changes to the set-up of the bike, with the 2009 British Superbike Champion managing to break into the 1:40s for the first time.
On the third and final day Camier tried out a new swingarm and a differently reinforced chassis, both of which had been developed for the 2018 season.
Team manager, Kervin Bos, was happy with what he saw during Camier’s first outing for the team. He commented:
“We are more than happy with this first experience with Leon here at Jerez. It didn’t take him too long for him to get used to the Fireblade – which was exactly as it was when it left Qatar earlier this month – and step by step he was able to build a feel for it. He was pleased with what he found and pinpointed some really strong areas of the bike, something we were quite glad to hear.
“On the second day we made some bigger changes to the set-up by cross-referencing his feedback with the data we had, and his times improved a lot – along with the mood of the team! Today we worked on some new solutions for 2018, which again brought some positives.
“The main goal for the test was to make sure Leon could get comfortable with the bike and the team, but also to find a direction for the development of the package during the testing ban, which is going to be an extremely busy one for us!”
The Red Bull Honda team will now head back to their base in the Netherlands, before returning to action on January 23, 2018, for a private two-day test at Jerez.
