Brookesy feeling strong and confident after Phillip Island test
Back on track again after the New Year and Christmas holidays, Team Stiggy Motorsport Honda took part in the official SBK/SSP tests in Australia at the Philip Island racetrack this week. Both Joshua Brookes and Robbin Harms managed to put in a large number of laps over the three day test, at the 5,380km seaside circuit, in very hot conditions.
Returning after a successful shoulder injury, Robbin Harms had his first opportunity trying out the “new” 2008 machinery and completed as many laps as possible over the three days. He tried many different development parts as worked at finding a good bike set-up. Robbin managed to find a good overall setting for his bike and improved every session – both in lap times and his feeling with the bike.
Joshua had already tested twice, in Spain last December, and was comfortable straightaway from the start of the test. The Aussie put in many laps at his home race track and managed to give lots of feedback during the three day test, as well as setting a good lap time.
Joshua: (1.35.7)
Testing here at Philip Island is just awesome. It’s my home racetrack and definitively my favourite. I have great knowledge and have had fantastic results here at this track; it gives me a good feeling riding here. During the three days we have been working on many different areas such as clutch configurations, suspension settings, machine set-up, riding positions and much more. We managed to find a really comfortable and good setting on bike for this track. I feel strong and very confident with the machinery I have. Today I rode over 100 laps and completed the day with a race simulation, which worked out just how we planned. Due to the heat in the afternoon, it was hard improving lap times, but nevertheless I’m happy with our progress and can’t wait to get back here for the race in just a couple of weeks.
Robbin: (1.36.4)
Getting on the “new” bike was not such a big difference from last year’s bike. It was myself getting back into the rhythm again that took some time. During the three test days, it’s been really hot, especially today as it got up to 41 degrees at one point! We mainly concentrated on improving the chassis-set up in combination with the right tyres. I tried to ride as many laps as possible and although we didn’t have access to the development tyres, like some of the other teams, I think we managed to do pretty well in terms of lap times. On the last day I rode approx 80-85 laps and did a race simulation towards the end of the session. Everything felt good and we definitely managed to improve the bike a lot during these days.
Johan Stigefelt (Team Manager)
All the new stuff we had to try for this test seems to have worked out really well. We got good feedback from both riders and I’m very satisfied with these tests overall. We had incredibly hot temperatures and that took a while getting used to – especially for us coming from the snow in Scandinavia to 40 degrees in just a few hours! Both riders managed a large number of laps in the three days, and constantly improved their bike settings as well as their lap times. Both managed to stay on their wheels throughout the test, which is very comforting. This was definitely a successful test for us.
SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – TIMES COMBINED
1. Parkes (AUS-Yamaha) 1’34”6
2. Rea (GBR-Honda) 1’35”0
3. Pitt (AUS-Honda) 1’35”0
4. Foret (FRA-Yamaha) 1’35”2
5. Fujiwara (JPN-Kawasaki) 1’35”6
6. Walker (GBR-Kawasaki) 1’35”7
7. Joshua Brookes (AUS-Honda) 1’35”7
8. McCoy (AUS-Triumph) 1’35”9
9. Robbin Harms (DEN-Honda) 1’36”4
