All eyes were pointed on the Suter–BMW Moto1 bike during the three day test, as it got it’s first shakedown at Jerez with Damian Cudlin and Carmelo Morales.
Despite rain disrupting two out of the three days, the test riders were able to complete more than 100 laps in both weather conditions and strangely enough though the test team used Michelin wet tires instead of Bridgestones (which gives the rumor that the French tire manufacturer wants back in MotoGP in 2012, a little more credibility).
Unfortunately for Scott Redding, who had hopes of testing the bike, but between his Thursday crash which sent him for a overnight precautionary stay in the hospital and the rain, warranted a postponement of his evaluation of the Suter Moto1 bike.
The Suter Moto1 project has been designed for the new 2012 MotoGP rules, when the current 800cc prototypes will be replaced by 1000cc and take advantage of the CRT rules that will permit machines based around a production engine in a prototype chassis.
“Not many people get to ride a MotoGP bike, especially a prototype bike for 2012 like this one; it’s pretty cool and it’s been heaps of fun! We’ve learnt a whole lot about the bike and, while there’s still a lot more to learn, the potential is definitely there,” said Damian Cudlin.
“The weight, or lack of it, is impressive and the handling has been pretty much spot on from the start of the test; it feels a bit like a more powerful Moto2 machine in a lot of ways.
This week we’ve taken the first small steps on what will be a fairly long journey, I’m excited to be a part of it and I’m looking forward to seeing how the bike turns out at the end of the journey.
I’ve got the easy job really, riding the bike, it’s all the clever people around me who will be taking on responsibility for development, but they’ve certainly done an impressive job so far.
”Michael Bartholemy Marc VDS Team Manager:“For a first rollout of the new bike the test has been very successful.
The weather has been a problem, restricting us to just one day of dry testing, but we still managed to complete over 100 laps on the bike with no issues at all.
The bike definitely has potential; we’ve seen that here in Jerez this week.
Now we need to sit down with Eskil Suter and his technical team to agree a development plan that will unlock this potential, starting at the next test in January.
This is an exciting project and we are a part of it only because of the support of our President, Marc van der Straten, to whom I’d like to say a big thank you on behalf of the team.
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