YOSHIMURA SUZUKI GOES 1-2 IN FINAL MOTOAMERICA PRESEASON TEST - Roger Hayden Leads the Way On Re-Designed 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000
March 30, 2017
Chino, CA (March 30, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing turned in an excellent performance in the final MotoAmerica/Dunlop pre-season test at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Tuesday and Wednesday. Team riders Roger Hayden and Toni Elias completed the two-day test first and second on the timing charts aboard their new 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbikes.
Hayden and Elias spent much of the final day of the Dunlop Preseason Test at COTA swapping positions atop the charts, but it was the Kentuckian clicking off a 2:08.305 late in the last session on Wednesday to take the top spot. Hayden was .127 of a second better than his teammate Elias, the Spaniard having logged the best Superbike class time in Tuesday’s sessions.
In addition, Elias’ Suzuki GSX-R1000 clocked the fastest speed-trap time of the test at 183.262 mph.
The solid early performances of the potent and innovative 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 has left the entire Yoshimura Suzuki squad eager to see the racing season get underway.
“That felt good that last session,” Hayden said. “Not just the qualifier, but with the softer race tire I did a bunch of 2:09s there so I was really excited about that. I was actually going to try to keep trying to go and see how many low 9s I could do, but the boys wanted me to come in and try the qualifiers. That’s always fun, the qualifiers, having so much grip and going for it one lap. Overall, I’m really happy. We got through a lot of stuff and being fast from the get-go helps a lot. I’m ready to get this season going.”
Elias was equally optimistic heading into the season-opener in a couple of weeks.
“We still have some work to do for me to get the feeling of the new bike that I like, but to be as fast as we are this early in the development is very positive,” Elias explained. “We have some new parts coming from Japan that should make the handling even better, so we look ahead and know that the motorcycle will improve even more as we gain knowledge.”
Several entities within the Suzuki family came together to assist on developing the new GSX-R1000 Superbike as rapidly as possible.
“It was a great opportunity to continue development and testing with the new GSX-R1000 Superbike,” said Don Sakakura, Senior Vice President of Yoshimura R&D of America. “We’re making great strides in understanding the motorcycle and the riders are getting very comfortable on the bike already. It’s very encouraging as we head into the start of the 2017 season. It was nice to have the Suzuki engineering group here supporting us as well as the Suzuki Motor of America group. So it was a big team of engineers and technicians on hand here at COTA.”
The 2017 MotoAmerica season kicks off at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on April 20-23, 2017.
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