World Supersport: Chris Walker gets dialled in at Jerez

Despite mixed weather conditions, Chris Walker made the most of his three day test in Jerez last week onboard the Gil Motorsport Kawasaki ZX-6R.  

Chris Walker who spent the last decade riding Superbikes had his first test four weeks ago in Calafat and as a result at least knew what to expect from the 600cc Supersport machine and continued to adapt his all action style to the smaller machine.

Speaking to MCN, Chris Walker said: “The conditions haven’t been perfect but we’ve done a lot of hard graft in the three days.

“The Jerez circuit was a good track to test at because it’s got some really fast corners, which gives me the practice of holding a lot of corner speed.

“Throughout the test I definitely improved but what I’m still finding is that although I’m getting into the corners fast I’m trailing the brakes and scrubbing off a little bit too much speed, which is hard to make up on a 600 because you haven’t got the power of a Superbike.

“I’ve also made a lot of chassis changes to understand how the bike reacts. There’s not loads to change so we’ve just experimented with the height of the bike and the wheelbase.”

With two tests complete Chris Walker will get to test alongside his main championship rivals when he joins the official Pirelli test at Phillip Island on January 8 to 10, 2008.

Walker said: “The two tests we’ve done have been pretty low pressure which has been nice to be a bit out of the way when I’m learning a new bike.

“In Phillip Island I’ll get to ride with all the other guys so by the end of that test I’ll know what level the bike is and I know what level I’m at.

“To be honest I’m not expecting to be one of the fastest in Australia as I still fell I’ve got a long way to go.”