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2023/01/25 - FIM Superbike World Championship 2023: Jerez test - Day one

Impressive start to the new season

In his first opportunity as a World Superbike rider in dry conditions, Dominique Aegerter impressed with his quick adaptability, which has become to a trademark to him.

In contrast to the rain-soaked December test five weeks at the same venue, the first test in 2023 began got underway under bright skies and, at the latest in the afternoon, also in pleasant temperatures, after it was still very cool until shortly before noon on Wednesday. The outlook for Thursday should be even better. In almost optimal conditions, WorldSBK rookie Dominique Aegerter did not take long to develop a good feeling for the new for him Yamaha R1.

Aegerter, two-time Supersport champion and overall winner of last year's MotoE™ World Cup, and his crew from the Italian GRT Yamaha team began the two-day test at the Circuito de Jerez with a clear idea. The primary goal is to make the switch to the heavier and more powerful superbike as quickly as possible. The 32-year-old eventually completed a flawless day one in southern Spain, and the longer the session went on, the more convincing his adaptability became, as by the afternoon he was already posting lap times under the 1:40 barrier, just like the top of the highly competitive category at that point. Aegerter finished Wednesday in the top ten with a remarkable personal best of 1´39.934.

The first test for 2023 continues Thursday with the second and final day before preparations resume in a few days in Portimao, Portugal.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)
1´39.934 (69/89)

"Certainly, it was a good start to the pre-season. But it was only the first day in the dry. Of course, it was helpful that I already knew my crew a bit from our test in December here. That is why we were able to make some progress with the electronics and chassis settings, but we also worked on better ergonomics, having not bothered with that more than finding a reasonably suitable seating position five weeks ago. At that time, it was enough for the track’s conditions. But today we worked on a basic setup for the first time, and we also tried two different rear tyres. The almost 90 laps we reeled off today were very productive in every respect. But the most important thing is above all the adaptation to the superbike. The first thing I had to do was memorize new reference points on the track."

"In my long career so far, I almost have had always the same braking points. But with the stronger and somewhat heavier superbike, this part change because I arrive there at a higher speed. So, I cannot longer brake as late as I was used to. That was the first thing I had to understand and adapt to. After that, the focus was on power delivery, because we started with a setting that I think Toprak Razgatlioglu raced with in 2021 here. I wanted to use this, of course, but we quickly realized that we had to reduce some power on corner exit because the bike was just too much wheelieing. That also took a lot of strength and physical effort for me to adjust to, and it also took me a while to realize that I needed to use the rear brake more. Those were the main points of today. Still, I had to push hard to get decent lap times although, in the end, I am happy with what we achieved today."

Timesheet WorldSBK Test Jerez - Day one:
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´38.597
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´38.851 +0.255
3 Michael Ruben RINALDI / ITA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´39.240 +0.643
9 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´39.934 +1.337