Work going well on Moto2 bike for Karel Abraham

The first test of the Honda engine at the first official Moto2 test of the year at Valencia this week has left Karel Abraham with a “very good impression”, as he prepares to continue work at Jerez this weekend.

The Czech rider was more than pleased with how Monday and Tuesday went at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia with the official Honda engine, and also completed some very productive work on other aspects of his RSV chassis.

“My impression is very good because I like the bike. We had a lot of work to do, which we knew after the private Barcelona test. We had to repair the fairings, and set the bike up with a lot of new mapping and different suspension set-ups. We had a lot of work to do during these two days but I think we did a lot, so we are happy with that,” explained Abraham in the attached motogp.com video.

“The first and second days were both good. I’m also very happy that we did a lot of laps which were constantly around the same lap time – this is definitely good for us. I think (the new engine) is good; I had my own engine before for the official test and this one is a bit more powerful. It’s not 2-stroke, it’s so much different so I have to get used to it.”

Abraham now heads to Jerez for the second test, scheduled to run from March 6-8, before a return to Jerez from March 27-29 for the final official test before the season starts in Qatar on April 11th.

“We will be improving for the season, we have to try to do our best to set up the bike as well as we can at every track. I have to give the best feedback possible to my mechanics so they can make it perfect,” said Abraham.

He added: “I think it’s too early to set a goal for me for the season because I don’t know how the other riders will be, how fast they will be. The season will definitely be very difficult but I don’t know how hard it will be for me, so we have to wait until after two or three races and then I can say what my real goal is.”