fall without consequence Joan Mira, at turn 1, and fifth place at the end of the second day of testing in Mandalika (Indonesia) for MotoGP, 0.297 behind the lead held by Luca Marini.
-Balance of the second day?
-It’s been a busy day. I struggled a bit with the electronics and I couldn’t do too many laps because we needed more time to fix the problems. I’ve also had a crash and this has made life a little more difficult for the team. It’s been a tough day, but overall I feel strong on the bike. I have worked a lot with the medium tire and when I have put the soft I have noticed a great improvement in terms of grip and I have been able to be fast. I’m happy and I think we still have some room to be faster.
-Have you made a full-fledged ‘time-attack’ at the end?
We haven’t done much work in that area. I think that when I have to take a tempo, I more or less take it for now. That’s fine, because having that security is important. But today, above all, we have worked on adapting the bike’s electronics to this track. It is something that today has cost a lot and more than normal, because normally between starts you are ten minutes in the box and you come out again, but there have been times when we have had to spend a long time in the box. I have not focused particularly on the time-attack. I think that everyone has also done several time-attacks today and this has made today’s times start to be fast.
-Do you feel that you have taken a step and that Suzuki is giving you what you need to be able to take it?
-It’s early to talk. You have to trust the tests a little, but they have nothing to do with it. There are times that we have had good preseasons and then we have suffered more. I don’t trust too much that some bikes seem to be suffering and really aren’t, and other bikes that seem to be doing well but then still don’t do so well. The tests are very indicative, but it is true that we have improved. At top speed we began to always be with one of the two bikes in the top ten and this is important, also with so many Ducati on the track… I am happy with the step that has been taken in the engine. But as I say, this is also making it difficult to adapt the electronics a bit, because we arrived at this track without information. It is new, it is only the second day and it is already going fast and the electronics have to be adapted very quickly. But I am happy with the steps forward we are taking and I think we will arrive in Qatar prepared.