Testing done ✅ It's time to go racing!

Hi everyone,

Well, after two big events of testing in both Malaysia and Qatar, I can finally say that it’s time to let it rip and go racing!

The team and I put our KTM RC16 through its paces in Qatar, with myself logging 112 laps around the Losail circuit to validate the conceptual changes that we took away from Malaysia a couple of weeks back. 

Although the conditions were a lot different here - being in the desert there’s a lot of grit and sand on the asphalt - once we cleaned that up after a few runs on Monday we got comfortable on the motorcycle.

It’s just one of those necessary evils around here, and the conditions were the same for everyone - the graining on the front tyres after the first five laps was huge, but all you can do is just get out there and clean it. The track came around after a while which was good, although any small mistake and you were on the dirty stuff again which would ruin your lap.

One thing I was really pleased with was how well the aero worked here in those tricky conditions with the wind - we’re pretty exposed around here, so to have that ticked off the list is a huge positive. 

These testing events are a ballpark thing and I’m confident we’re in the right spot, now the mission becomes achieving those little tweaks to dial in the setup and get everything where we need it to be, come the opening round.

All-in-all, the pre-season has been really good to us, and the team has done a fantastic job throughout the winter with the improvements that have been made, and I think we have a really competitive bike on our hands to enter into the 2024 season.

With testing done, we’re now just over two weeks away from getting back here and doing it for real. The passion for racing runs deep in my blood, so for me, I’m always ready to go by the time the lights go out.

Catch you guys in Qatar!

Cheers,

Jack