Warwick Nowland

My week started off with a small glitch as my gear bag was left behind at Gatwick airport on Tuesday morning. It finally arrived on Thursday morning. This meant Wednesday was more like a race school for me, no riding just helping my team mates Damian Cudlin and Christer Minin with bike set up.

Several things were holding the team back from using our new bikes so the test was carried out aboard our 2005 bikes. We also used a standard engine as the new engines are still being prepared at the team’s headquarters. The mechanics told me the engine was from a Motorcycle Wreckers in Bristol and had about 20,000 miles on it! I don’t know what to think but it did feel like a 600!

No matter what, it was fantastic to be back on the bike and back with the team. During Thursday and Friday, we managed to get through a lot of work with Dunlop, SBS Brakes and our new 2D Data logging system. The first thing I noticed about the bike was the swing-arm. Yamaha have supplied us with the same swing-arm that Noriyuki Haga uses in World Superbike. The drive out of corners was not perfect but a big improvement on last year and this is exactly where the Factory Suzuki team had an advantage. I tried many things and completed many laps and at the end of Thursday, my best time was 1.34.6. During last year’s race, my best lap time was 1.34.8.

Friday’s forecast was for rain but instead it remained dry and cool. I did feel like I had come to a halt on Thursday with the rear suspension and we all started looking for answers. The bike is not far away from winning but there are just a few annoying things holding me back. In the middle of a corner, on maximum lean, the rear tyre and suspension are too sensitive and you have to be so smooth with the throttle and with your body weight. If the bike hits a small bump or the circuit has a slight rise or drop, the rear tyre looses traction too easily. This also makes it hard to increase throttle opening as you roll around the corner. Gregorio Lavilla, on the GSE Ducati, was behind me on one occasion and had trouble getting past. Our bike is great getting into corners and hitting the apex but once I open the throttle, we loose time on the others. He eventually passed me and when we both got into the next corner, he opened the throttle so early and accelerated around the corner whilst I could only use part throttle until I could lift the bike up. It’s ok though, we know what we need to do.

Steve Male from Dunlop gave me a great race tyre that I could be consistent on but we still need to find a bit more. Steve was not worried, he said, “We knew we didn’t have a race tyre here this week but now we now what to build before we come back”. Having their support is great, Steve is Dunlop’s Motorsport Manager and was a big help to me. Having him and his experience beside us this year is a great head start.

At the end of Friday both my team mates and my self had managed to improve. Our fastest lap times were;

Christer – 1.35.3
Damian – 1.34.8
Warwick – 1.33.8

Christer was happy as he improved every day whilst learning the Yamaha but Damian was not 100% comfortable on the bike.

I wanted to go faster as well but we still have work to do. I did achieve my goal though and that was to do 1.33’s. That’s the fastest I have lapped the Albacete circuit and I know there is more to come. It was a great start to the year.

The team will spend the next 2 weeks at the workshop finalising everything for our next test at LeMans on the 4th and 5th of April where we will use our 2006 bikes.

Damian Cudlin

Damian Cudlin completed the first 3 day test session of the year for the Phase One Yamaha team in Albacete, Spain recently.

The test which was held under fine conditions was primarily used as a season shake down test for the team and a chance for Cudlin to climb back aboard a race bike after a 4 month break since Italy last year.

After completing a lot of laps and race distance simulations, the team left in a positive frame of mind towards the season ahead.

"It was great to be back on the Phase One Yamaha again, although it did take a long time to get the bike to feel the same as it did last year for me." Cudlin said.

"We did get through a lot of work with Dunlop and SBS brakes during the 3 days, work that I think will be critical to our championship campaign."

"All in all I think we are in a pretty good position right now to have a crack this championship, and when I get back to full confidence on the bike I'm going to be right there."

Cudlin's team mates Warwick Nowland and Christer Minnin also completed a successful test and are also excited about the year ahead.

Damian said "Our rider line up seems really strong this year, both Christer and Warwick were fast at the test. I think if we can get a bike set up that suits all of us, our chances of winning races this year are pretty good."

The team are now preparing for the next 2 day test at LeMans in France on the 4/5th of April before the season opener at Assen on the 17th of April.