For the first part of our test we ran on the standard fitment Dunlop Sportmax radial tyres with a little suspension tweaking by the Yamaha technicians. The tyres worked well to a point, but a nasty slide before lunch reminded me they had seen action during an earlier road launch and to take it easy.

The bike was phenomenally easy to ride, allowing faultless gear changes, handling way beyond my capabilities and even stronger brakes than last year’s model: Nothing surprising here!

After lunch the bikes were all wearing Dunlop D208GP-JLB race tyres. Immediately upon hitting the track I found my groove, but the capable handling R6 had disappeared to be replaced with a machine that felt hinged in the middle and decidedly unstable through the fast turns. Removing a few clicks of pre-load on the rear shock took some emphasis off the more triangulated front tyre and harmony was restored at the controls. Although by this time the famous Willow Springs wind was coming at us hard through the long turn eight which made for an interesting ride.

No such problems back in turn one through five which are out of the wind, the race compound tyres sticking to the track tighter than one of Donald Trump’s apprentices to his derrière. This allowed me to push harder and brake later than with the street tyres and the R6 was completely in control, not one ruffled feather from my meager riding abilities.