Following the latest testing for the Suzuki MotoGP team in Barcelona, Randy de Puniet has pinpointed electronics as the area in which most improvements are still required.
Having first returned to MotoGP testing with a Mitsubishi electronics system, at Sepang earlier this year Suzuki used a Magneti Marelli ECU for the first time. This week, the company - with both de Puniet and Takuya Tsuda at the helm - concentrated on a new specification engine and chassis revisions, as well as their latest work on the electronics side of things.
"It was not such an easy period as we had a lot of bad luck after Sepang, with many rainy days at other tests," said de Puniet, who over the three days completed 200 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. "But it was important to be here with all the other MotoGP riders to see our potential; we still have to continue to work on the electronics side to improve our performances.
"We tested many different things with electronic maps, on engine-specifications and also with the chassis. I had a better feeling with some of the solutions and we found some good direction here. We still have many days of testing remaining this year and we have time to make further developments."
Suzuki will now continue with the development of its electronics package back at base in Japan, with team manager Davide Brivio stating:
"In three days of testing you expect to do a lot but in the end it is never enough, especially for us who are at a development stage. Randy wanted to try everything together and see the real performance but we had no chance, although we went through many different things, finding very good information for our next steps forward. We also asked the additional support of Takuya Tsuda this time to run more testing on the electronics side.
"Overall, our engineers were happy with the information we gathered, which indicates a good direction for our next electronics, chassis and engine developments. It was important to get this information now, as we now have time to work on it in time for the next tests. So we are looking forward to continuing our job."
De Puniet added that he was particularly pleased to have enjoyed good weather conditions in Catalunya, with some earlier tests having been affected by rain.
