Augusto Fernandez reveals “one of the biggest challenges” in WorldSBK switch

Former full-time MotoGP racer Augusto Fernandez has identified what he felt was among the most challenging things to adapt to in his maiden test on a World Superbike machine.

Fernandez, who is replacing the injured Jonathan Rea at the upcoming WorldSBK Portuguese Round, was 13th-fastest on the second day of the test at which both days were affected by rain.

The Spaniard said he was “happy with how everything went,” at a test that was more about learning the bike and the team than it was about making lap times.

“We didn’t have the best of luck with the weather, so we’ve not had a lot of track time but overall I can say I am happy with how everything went,” Fernandez said at the end of the test.

“For me, the test was about getting to know the bike and the team and we made good progress, improving the lap time in the final hour.”

Fernandez added that the change to Pirelli tyres from MotoGP’s Michelin rubber was among the most significant challenges.

“One of the biggest challenges is getting used to the Pirelli tyres, they’re very different to what I’m used to,” he said.

“But then of course the Superbike is also completely different to the MotoGP bike so there is a lot to learn.

“With the limited track time, we cannot say we are 100% ready for the race but we have the free practice sessions to further improve and hopefully we can be competitive as racing gets underway.

“I want to thank the whole team for their hard work, it has not been an easy two days but we have learned a lot and I am looking forward to coming back for the race.”

Andrea Locatelli concurred with Fernandez that the weather had complicated the test, but he too was positive in his assessment of the two days in Portugal.

“It has not been the simplest of tests with the weather conditions limiting the time on track both days,” he said.

“It has been busy, we tried many different things and it has been hard work deciding which options to choose, but honestly I am pretty happy with the direction.

“We now have some days to analyse the data ahead of the race weekend so we can keep working in this direction in free practice as we look to improve further for the races.

“While we did not get a lot of laps, we had enough to understand the feeling, we did not push for a lap time as we focused on completing our test programme but in general I am happy with the test and looking forward to the race weekend.”