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Despite unfavourable conditions Dominique Aegerter draws a positive balance of his first test with the Yamaha Superbike.

December and January are notoriously rainy months in southern Spain. But on Dominique Aegerter's first step into his new environment as a World Superbike rider, of all things, the weather did not want to play along at all during the past two days. While there was continuous rain for most of the time on Tuesday, the current situation was somewhat better on Wednesday until the early afternoon.

However, constantly changing track conditions did not help to further the process of getting used to the Yamaha YZF R1, which was completely new for the 32-year-old Swiss rider. Aegerter and his technical crew from the GRT Yamaha team were not discouraged, however, and turned their attention to other things with an eye on the future.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)

"Unfortunately, we were not lucky with the weather today either. The track conditions were very mixed, most of the time it was more wet than dry. And as we have often seen here, it started raining again when the track was almost dry. But before that, two or three riders had taken the opportunity to do a few fast laps with slick tyres. But as I said, then came the next rain shower. So, we only used half a day, like yesterday. In the Superbike World Championship, testing days are limited to ten, three of which can only be used as a half day. For this reason, we did not go out on the track in the late afternoon. The track conditions would not have allowed any reasonable testing either. Nevertheless, we put in 32 very productive laps. We found a few helpful electronics settings. But in such conditions, the condition of the track changes constantly, sometimes there is more and sometimes less water on the asphalt. Therefore, it would have been almost impossible to get comparative values. That is why we focused primarily on next year."

"Nevertheless, a big thank you to the whole team, who did a fantastic job on both days, and we have also made another step in terms of interaction and acclimatization. Everyone is working very professionally, and I already feel at home in GRT Yamaha. That is a very important detail to have 100 percent confidence. As things stand now, our test is over. But there is still a mini chance for tomorrow, but only if the sun shines and the track is completely dry. So, let's hope for the best. Apart from that, the last few weeks have been very exhausting for me. Now I am looking forward to the Christmas holidays to relax a bit. But this break will not last long, because I want to be back at full throttle very soon in terms of physical preparation, because the Superbike requires a lot more physical effort. Besides, this winter break will be very short for me, because in five weeks we will return to Jerez for the first test of the new year. Hopefully the sun will also be shining then, as we are used to in Spain."