From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

FPR’s testing gain in Spain

Foggy PETRONAS Racing today completed a valuable one day test in the sunshine of Valencia in Spain.

Efforts were focused on mapping the engines that will be used for next weekend’s fourth round of the Superbike World Championship at Monza, which are expected to provide more consistency and reliability.

A further engine development stage is planned to be in use for the Laguna Seca round in July, when an increased power output is predicted.

The team worked through a comprehensive engine development testing schedule, but also achieved further progress with the PETRONAS FP1’s temperature management and rear suspension settings.

Chief Engineer, Steve Thompson, said: “We’ve achieved a very good amount in just one day of testing and are happy with the progress we’re making with the engine development and mapping. This has resulted in better drivability and improved cooling and, we’re pleased with the consistency from one engine to another.”

Former World Superbike Champion and bike development expert, Troy Corser, commented: “We’ve made a lot of changes to the mapping settings throughout the day and certainly made improvements all round, but particularly with the initial throttle opening. We’ve also been trying different variations with the rear suspension compression and rebound in order to increase grip and try to get better wear from the rear tyre, which is the same tyre as we used here for the race at the start of the season. It’s made a bit of difference but the tyre still isn’t lasting as long as we would like it to.”

And Chris Walker said: “This is the first time I’ve ridden the bike with the new engine developments and it looks promising. I’ve spent most of the day doing a few laps and then coming back into the garage to make some setting changes, but every time I’ve gone back out there has been an improvement with the bike. We came here to test different mapping settings and gain further data for the engine and cooling system, which we have done successfully, so it’s been a good day.”