Relentless Suzuki create impression in Spain

Relentless by TAS Suzuki pair Alastair Seeley and Michael Laverty showed their potential with some impressive laps times at the Cartagena BSB test, despite having about half the track time of their rivals.

MCN asked them about their test:

Michael Laverty:

Did the test live up to your expectations?
Yeah, I’m really happy. The bike does everything it should do and felt good. I think the base setting of this bike is spot on – the team did some good work last year.

No mater what options we tried during the test, we always went back to the ’09 set-up because it was the best.

You’ve always wanted a bike where you can use a lot of corner speed – and to crack the throttle early which has sometimes been difficult to do with the set-up you’ve had. Does the set-up of this bike allow you to exploit that riding style?
That’s how I rode the 2008 bike. But this bike is different and wants you to wait longer before you crack the gas open and, to be honest, it’s easier to ride like that.

It feels good off the throttle so that’s how I’m riding it. 

Alastair Seeley

Did the test live up to your expectations?
Yes, because I’ve never been here before and we’ve done some reasonable times. I learned the track on the first day and then just chipped away.

We’ve tried different settings and I’m learning new stuff all the time. The biggest thing for me is the electronics.

I’ve never worked with it before and it’s a lot to get your head around.

Did it hurt not doing the full four days like some of your rivals?
I’m not sure it did. I think there’s so much to work through and so much for me to learn that it would have been easy to get a little lost.

At least I had a chance to sit down and think about the direction we want to be going in with the set-up.

I started off using very little of the track. By the end I was using every bit of it.