ALSTARE SUZUKI:

Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli made a positive start to the 2010 season at the three-day official World Superbike Championship test in Portimao, Portugal in second and 10th places respectively aboard their Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000s.

Haslam led the first day and was second in day two’s damp conditions before finishing just behind fellow countryman Jonathan Rea (Honda) today. His continuing good form was all the more impressive considering that he had arrived at the tests suffering with the Flu virus, but once he was on his Suzuki, he was able to overcome it and stay in the top-two all weekend.

Team mate Guintoli also performed well during the test and says he now is ready to race the bike.

Leon Haslam – 2nd, 147 laps, 1:42.557:

“On the first day of the test, the track was in good condition and my lap times came easy, so I was looking forward to more of the same. But Day Two started wet and although that put-paid to some of our plans, it did allow us to work on finding a good wet set-up and that’s what we did. Today, the track felt a bit slippery – probably because of yesterday’s rain – and then the wind picked up in the afternoon so I couldn’t really make any big improvement on my lap times. Also, I got baulked on my hot lap and lost some time and, if it had not have been for that, I may have just sneaked ahead of Jonathan.
But the important thing is that I am happy and the team are happy. We got through a lot of things and achieved everything we set out to do.

“The good work started the first time I rode bike, back in October, and since then we’ve just kept on improving and now I feel we are ready to race. This track is an excellent track for testing because it has got a bit of everything and it is also very demanding. I think if you can get a good set-up here – which we have done – it will be a good base for all the other tracks on the calendar. I am really happy with the whole team and I think we’ve got a great all-round package to challenge for the title.”

Sylvain Guintoli – 10th, 191 laps, 1:43.508:

“We started these tests with a lot of work to look forward to and I am happy because we have done a lot of good work and we are now already a stage where I feel I can race this bike. In dry conditions, we found the best setting for the bike that suits me and one that makes me happy and comfortable. The wet was good because, once again, we found a good set-up and I was again able to feel comfortable and ride the bike easily. Today the track was not in such good condition and it also was quite windy in the afternoon. I didn’t feel it had as much grip as the first day, but in the end it didn’t matter so much because we achieved what we wanted to do and ended with very good feelings. I am very happy with the bike and the team and now all I want to do is start racing!”