Suzuki has wrapped up their 2013 MotoGP track testing with a two-day test at Mugello.
Randy DePuniet put in two days at the track on the new machine this week, testing tweaks to the engine and fairing, chassis and electronics. He seemed positive about the results; the engine changes and fairing re-design allowed for a higher top speed, he said, and the chassis and electronics updates meant he had better traction control, engine braking and corner entry.
DePuniet did 67 laps on Tuesday on the bike, and 53 laps yesterday. His best time was 1’49.260 on the 5.245 km circuit. Nobuatsu Aoki also tested the bike for Suzuki, but did not complete as many laps.
“”In these two long days we’ve worked a lot on the electronic-mapping in different situations. We also understand that we need to work more on rear grip. We expected Mugello being a difficult track and from this test we gave a lot of information to the engineers, which they can now work on,” DePuniet said after the test. “”I’m a little sad that this was the last test for this season, as I’ve enjoyed riding this bike and working with the Suzuki Factory Team. I hope I will have more opportunities to ride again in the future and to continue improving this bike.”
Satoru Terada, the man in charge of Suzuki’s MotoGP project, said “We concluded today’s European testing for this year where we visited several circuits finding the weak points of our bike. A fast rider like Randy helped us on understanding better the level of our machine right now and so we can go back to Japan to look for the solutions.”
