DiSalvo Tests Suzuki

Paul Carruthers | December 22, 2008
The following is from Team M4 EMGO Suzuki…

Team M4 EMGO Suzuki and Jason DiSalvo tested at Jennings GP in Jennings, Florida on Sunday. Testing was limited to 30 laps because of rain in the afternoon, but DiSalvo felt the session was productive.

“My initial impressions were that the bike was great and handled really well,” said DiSalvo. “We were working on setting up the suspension and tires and it was really positive. I dropped a second from our previous best lap time on the lap where it started raining and we made some good headway. I thought the bike was fantastic and it was everything I thought it would be. I’m looking forward to getting back on it tomorrow and collecting some more data for the team. For sure, I think this bike could win races this year.”

DiSalvo, currently unsigned for the 2009 season, and the team chose work together at this Jennings test for mutual benefit. The team has switched to the series Dunlop control tire for this season and is looking to improve their setup on these tires at a more conventional racetrack after previously testing at Daytona earlier this month.

“So far, so good on the first day of the test,” said M4 EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry. “We wanted to get more of a feel for the standard Dunlops, since the Daytona tires are so unique. We needed some time on them and it was a nice coincidence that this opportunity arose. Jason had a lot of experience on the Dunlops and he’s familiar with what they have produced in the past. We had a weather interruption but we were able to get some work in and we still have another day to go.”

For his part, DiSalvo wanted to get more track time in the offseason as well as try out the new Dunlop spec tires.

“I wish we could have gotten more laps. It’s been a while since I rode the 600 but I got my cornerspeed up pretty quickly,” said Jason. “I had ridden at this track once before but it was seven or eight years ago and I really had to re-learn the track. It will be good to get out again tomorrow and see what we can do.”

The test will conclude on Monday.

 

Paul Carruthers | Editor

Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.