Motourage

Guy Martin had his first taste of Relentless Suzuki by TAS machinery at the Almeria Circuit in Spain when he tested the team’s GSX-R1000 Superbike this past weekend.  The newly signed Kirmington, England rider also took time out to ride the all-new GSX-R600 during Suzuki’s official launch at the same circuit and was suitably impressed.

Martin completed more than 80 laps of the Almeria circuit in near perfect conditions and was immediately blown away by the performance of the GSX-R1000 Superbike. The bike was run with the same specification that had been used at this year’s Ulster Grand Prix, as team manager Philip Neill wanted Martin to use it as a starting point.

Two different engine specifications and a number of new parts were taken to the test, and although the team opted to run the bike with limited electronic aids – to give Guy a feel for the engine – he still reported it was the best Superbike he’d ever ridden.

Philip Neill- Team Manager:
“This is a great start to our relationship with Guy and to be one step ahead of the rest with an early test in December demonstrates our commitment to the job in hand. He’s also the first rider to test the new 600, even though it was in road trim. We still have a lot of updates for the Superbike, which he will now try in February; things like a full Magneti Marelli package that will make the bike even better for him, so we are pretty excited at his feedback and already looking forward to getting started in 2011.”

Guy Martin:
“It’s mega to get out before Christmas with no pressure and no stop watches and just try different things – I mean who else is out there testing before Christmas? The last time I rode a GSX-R1000 was for a magazine test last year and I gave it a good write up, but the Relentless Superbike was just mega. I was more than impressed with it and the way the boys worked with me was equally as impressive. They knew exactly what I wanted and in less than a day the bike felt like it was mine – I would have been quite happy to race it. They tailored all the little things I like to suit me and the feel I got from the engine, suspension and chassis was fantastic.

“I also got the chance to ride the new little 600. The GSX-R600 was never a bad bike, but having lost a bit of weight and added more grunt, it’s not going be on the back foot now is it? I’m looking forward to running it in race trim in the New Year.”

FTR MOTO ended the 2009 testing and development program of its Moto2 World Championship prototype with a two-day test at the Almeria Circuit in Spain this week that finished with Czech Republic Grand Prix rider Karel Abraham confirming the machine’s potential.

Abraham improved from a best lap of 1m 40.5s on Monday to a 1m 39.0s best on Tuesday, leaving the promising 19-year-old excited at the prospect of racing the FTR M210 challenger in next year’s inaugural Moto2 Grand Prix championship.

The FTR Moto2 machine has shown some promising potential throughout 09 testing

The Almeria test was attended by a total of five prospective Moto2 chassis suppliers and FTR director Steve Bones believes the two months since the M209 first took to the track at Catalunya have been crucial in developing the 2010 racer into a series contender.

“From the Joe Darcey Team and Graeme Gowland’s exceptional performances in the final two Spanish Championship rounds to the superb feedback from GP riders like Talmasci, Simon and Abraham in recent tests we have improved the machine and learned so much for 2010.” said Bones.

He continued: “Karel was impressive at Almeria. His best lap on Tuesday came after a lot of hard work by him and his chief technician and he ended up being the fastest rider by more than one second. We’ll now get to work on the final 2010 plans and conclude the on-going negotiations with teams interested in racing the M210 in the World and Spanish Championships and other events that we’ve received inquiries about.”

FTR is currently in negotiations with a total of six Grand Prix teams and five Spanish Championship teams with a view to FTR Moto being the chosen constructor for those teams.

Today’s Motourage Video of the Day is an ass-cam ride-along with Russian racer Vladimir Leonov as he tests the Suter Racing Moto2 machine at Almeria.

In his second season in the MotoGP support class, Leonov will make the move to Suter Racing for the first season of the new Moto2 series following a 24^th-place season last year with Viessmann Kiefer Racing Aprilia in the 250 class.