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The first day of testing in Jerez saw the Bimota finish in ninth position more than 3 seconds from the top. Riding the BK998 was Florian Marino, i.e., the test rider, who was called to conduct a day of running-in so that everything was in place on the new bike.
On Wednesday, the ball will be passed to Lowes and Bassani, thus having a clearer idea of the situation, as Marino did not focus on the stopwatch, but rather about the sensations in the saddle of the most awaited bike of the coming season.
Drawing a quick balance of what has been done was Guim Roda, team manager of the team.
"This is a Bimota project, which follows the philosophy of the Italian manufacturer," he began, "the intention is to strengthen the brand and then take it to the market. Today we officially started this path, and the whole group has been good at kicking off a project in such a short time."
Guim, we saw that Marino was lapping over three seconds behind Bulega.
"True; however, today we checked that everything was going according to plan, without any hiccups. That was our priority. Instead, Bassani and Lowes will test the bike on Wednesday, continuing the development of the bike."
Bautista won on his debut with the Panigale V4 after Zanetti tested it for about a year.
"Zanetti tested the bike for a year, and compared to us it's a year's work away. It would be crazy if we were already at the level of the Ducati, but instead we have to move one step at a time, as we have very few test days to date."
What do you expect between now and the start of the season?
"The expectation is to already be competitive in Australia, but we know that there is so much work ahead of us. So let's see what the road ahead looks like between now and the next few months."
One aspect that much impressed is the compound chassis....
"It goes back to what is the philosophy of the manufacturer. We know the character of the engine well, and in the end you need to find that compromise so that everything works. So we will see what time will tell us."
