Aleix Espargaro & Maverick Viñales start testing with Suzuki at Valencia

Team Suzuki MotoGP made a positive first-day test at Valencia in Spain today with new riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales aboard their 2015 GSX-RR MotoGP machines.

Twenty five-year-old Espargaro set a lap-time of 1:32.315 on his 35th of 40 laps around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo; and in his first laps aboard the machine was within 1.34-seconds away from fastest rider Jorge Lorenzo. Teenager Vinales (19) took his first-laps on the GSX-RR and set a best-time of 1:33.268 on his penultimate lap of 64.

Aleix Espargaro:
“It was really fantastic. I feel the riding-position is much better compared to the one that I rode this year, and it turns very well so that braking and turning into the corners is really comfortable for me.
“We are still missing some top-end power but I was previously informed this by the Suzuki engineers and I believe that they are working on-it, but the electronic control is not too bad, obviously.
“The machine feels quite compact for me as I am quite tall, but I really enjoyed riding it and had a very positive start: I’m so exciting to continue riding it tomorrow.

Maverick Vinales:
“It was an amazing experience and I really enjoyed today. It wasn’t easy to get used to the power and speed for me in the beginning, so I paid a lot of attention and concentrated at the start of the session and tried to adapt little-by-little.
“The chassis is quite compact – and that fitted me very well – and I could brake as hard as in Moto2, but I’ve only opened ‘full-gas’ in the middle of the straight-straight so far. I’m also not using the electronic control either, apart from the traction control, so there is still a lot to do. The bike leans and corners easily, even though I’ve not had to change my riding-style so much; I’m really feel comfortable without modifying anything.
“I hope the power-delivery will be improved-more for me as we continue our testing, but I also need to learn lots more myself and improve my riding as well.”

Source: Suzuki