PETRONAS Sprinta Racing riders continue to make set-up improvements ahead of 2019 Moto3 challenge.
Ayumu Sasaki and John McPhee leave Malaysia tonight in good spirits after three days testing their Honda machines at the Sepang International Circuit.
The Japanese rider and his team have taken big steps forward with the set-up of the bike here, whilst the Scotsman has been getting more and more comfortable with the Honda after riding different machinery last season.
Sasaki and his technical crew have carried out an exhaustive programme of tests, whilst also setting some fast lap times as he gathered crucial kilometres at the Sepang International Circuit.
The Japanese rider is particularly satisfied with the set-up they found here and he is looking forward to using it as a base for the next test at Jerez next week.
McPhee, meanwhile, is getting more and more comfortable with the Honda, and by the end of the three days here he was happy that he has found a competitive base setting himself.
The Scotsman also managed to improve his rhythm and his lap time, two key areas ahead of the new season.
Next stop for the PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Team will be Jerez, the venue for three more days of preseason testing on 20th, 21st and 22nd February.
Johan Stigefelt – PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team, Team Director
“Ayumu [Sasaki], was pretty fast from the start. Over the three days we have tried some things with his bike and he has been consistent and fast, so we are really happy with the job he has done. We have also found that the chemistry with his crew chief is really good. His teammate John [McPhee] is adapting to the Honda and even though that is not an easy task he has had three very useful days here to find a good package, which we can continue working on in the next test at Jerez. We understand the bike more now and at Jerez we will have an interesting three days, where we will look to take everything we have learnt here.”
#71 Ayumu Sasaki
“These three days have been fantastic. We have improved a lot with the bike and also with my riding style. On the second day we already found a really good set-up, difficult to improve on, but on the third day we tried some new things and completely changed the setting to see if the changes worked and we found some positives. I think we have taken a big step forward over race distance, which was my weak point last year. We have improved a lot in this area and the lap time was really good, so I am happy and looking forward to Jerez, which is my favourite circuit, to see if the new settings work there too.”
#17 John McPhee
“I am really happy with the last three days here. The first two allowed us to take some steps forward and today I am feeling very satisfied because I feel like we have established a good base to work from at Jerez. In general, we are improving our feeling on the bike, the race pace is very good and we have also improved the lap time. Overall we have had three fruitful days and the main thing is that the bike is working well and the team are doing a great job, so I am very happy.”
