SUZUKI ALSTARE:

The first day of the Portimao tests saw new signings Sylvain and Leon Haslam together in Suzuki Alstare colours for the very first time. Sylvain had raced the bike during the recent World Superbike race here last weekend and continued to get more familiar with the GSX-R1000 K9.  Despite a sore left elbow and ankle, caused by the crash last Sunday in the warm-up, Leon soon got on the pace and started to understand his new bike.

Sylvain
We had a really good morning and then we spent the afternoon trying many different things, so we didn’t try and chase any lap times. Every time out on the bike, I learn more and more and the team have helped me a lot.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow and getting to know the bike and the team even better, but already I feel at home here.

Leon
I enjoyed myself a lot today and all I can say is that my feeling is great at the moment. Everything is working well and the team are just fantastic to work with. I am learning about the bike and also how the whole team fits together, but I am really happy today and am looking forward to more time on the bike tomorrow.