17/03/2010 - Brands Hatch test

The Jentin Racing BMW made its track debut at Brands Hatch  (Wednesday 17th March) with Steve Brogan and Richard Cooper and getting their first opportunity to test the race-spec S1000RR.

Brogan and Cooper, who will be fighting for the BSB Evo and Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship titles respectively, got their shakedown test underway on the Indy circuit in preparation for the Easter Bank Holiday season-opener.

Brogan said: "It has been a shakedown test for me on the BMW Superstock bike as the Evo specification Superbike is not quite ready yet. The BMW feels awesome in every way; it feels so different to ride fast compared to what I have been used to with the Honda so it took me a few laps this morning to adapt.

"The BMW has all its power at the top of the rev range, whilst the Honda's power is low down on the revs. It was good to be back on a bike again after what seems like a long winter. The Jentin team have been working flat out with BMW to get everything ready as the deal came together so late. For me today has been awesome and I need to thank all the team at Jentin and BMW for doing such a fantastic job already."

Cooper said: "So far it is all smiles in our garage after what has been a long winter; I remember getting the date for the shakedown and it felt like an eternity to come round but it was definitely worth the wait. The BMW is so far every bit as good as I thought it would be and we already faster than we expected at this early stage. I do feel like there was a bit of a target on my back today as we are an unknown quantity but that gives me more motivation.

"My experiences riding BMWs previously has definitely helped me already as the engine characteristics are different compared to some of the other manufacturers. Myself and Steve have really worked together today to start to get the best from ourselves and the bikes. We have made a few tweaks here and there but the main priority has been getting the laps on the new bikes and we have done just that. The confidence is already there for round one and we can't wait to get started now at Brands Hatch."

Richard completed 200 laps on the same fron tyre (!) and still felt he had good levels of grip left from the new Metzeler Racetec Interact control tyres. Also, being the current Superstock lap record holder at Brands (47.644s, 90.56mph), Richard felt comfortable enough to consistently lap below his best time of 2009 and come away from the test confident and looking forward to the opening round over the Easter Bank Holiday.  

Team Manager Bernie Toleman concluded: "The main objective for the day has been to get some good laps in as until today we hadn't turned a wheel on the new BMW. It has been our priority to get both riders working well with the team and their new respective crew chiefs and that is what we have achieved today. We have had no issues so for everyone who has been involved in the project it has been an enjoyable and productive day. We are extremely pleased with the progress and now we are ready to come back in two weeks' time for the opening round."