Silverstone BSB test: ‘I don’t feel like the bike is mine yet’ - Iddon

Buildbase Suzuki’s Christian Iddon left the Silverstone Bennetts British Superbike test only three-tenths off the pace on a bike he doesn’t yet feel completely at home.

The Stockport man, who switched to the GSX-R1000 over winter, says pre-season testing has been tricky with Donington basically cancelled and the final two days being subject to low temperatures and rain.

“It’s not been ideal. The first day at Snetterton was really good but it was my first time on the Suzuki superbike so it was all about seat time and getting used to the bike,” said Iddon.

“It wasn’t until the second and third day we started to change anything meaningful. Obviously it was a shame to lose the Donington test and this one’s been challenging.

“I don’t feel like the bike is mine yet, I’ve not reached the right level of gel. I’m still trying to find the balance of the bike, and we’ve made some changes, some that improved things, some that didn’t, but it’s all valuable data.

“And testing is different to racing; it’s not that I don’t try during testing but it is different and I feel more comfortable in a race scenario.

“It’s a bit of a double-edged sword that Silverstone is round one. On one hand we know the bike goes well there so that should help us next weekend, but at the same time I want to come here with a sorted bike and maximise the potential.

“But we’re still more or less where I expect us to be and we’re not alone in this boat. I’m not overly fussed with time sheets: they’re not irrelevant, but they don’t tell the whole story.

“But that said, not many riders dipped into the 53s and next weekend the race will be a lot quicker. We’ll just keep working next weekend, and hopefully we can have three good races.”

Team-mate Danny Kent missed