Suzuki British Superbike rider Bradley Ray got his first taste of a MotoGP™ machine on Sunday at the Sepang Shakedown Test after Team Suzuki Ecstar allowed the youngster to have two 15-minute stints on Sylvain Guintoli’s GSX-RR.
Ray has been impressive since his Superbike debut in the UK and has also impressed overseas at the Suzuka 8 Hour for Yoshimura Suzuki, but jumping onto a prototype bike for the first time was something very new to the 21-year-old Briton – something he explains to Crash.net after his outing.
You've ridden some big and powerful bikes, but this must be something else?
“Yeah completely, I mean I arrived here on Friday and Yoshimura let me have a go on the Superbike yesterday just to spin some laps and see where the track went. It was still completely different on the MotoGP bike, to try and find the lines and learn the circuit, but it was an unbelievable experience and something that I've always dreamed of as a kid, to throw a leg over one of these bikes. Now Suzuki have given me that chance.”
What impressed you most?
“Everything! The carbon brakes are a big difference and just the speed of the engine. Unbelievable. And then the seamless gearbox. It just wants to pull in every single gear from first to sixth. That was a massive difference. The whole bike was just a completely different animal to anything I've ridden. It was amazing.”
Despite the massive power and torque, some people say that they are surprised by how smooth a MotoGP bike is, due to the electronics?
“It was. I jumped on it and it was a nice bike to ride. Everything was smooth and the bike felt really nice. Obviously, the power was a big thing, but the electronics – like you said – is a good thing there. At the end of the day you are just jumping on a bike and riding it, so you just have to try and forget what bike it is and ride as you normally would. But I was a bit star-struck and obviously didn’t want to push too hard and launch it down the road! It was just amazing to get some laps.”
Did Sylvain [Guintoli] give you any advice?
“Suzuki went through all the controls and buttons, then Sylvain went through the gears to use in each corner, what to watch out for on the track and be careful of with the bike. He told me quite a bit, even just before I went out, so that really helped. I'm still just gobsmacked now!”
Head over to Crash.net to read the full interview with Ray.