Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) in Motorland Aragon – the experienced Englishman missed the podium by just one place in the last local race of last year. Due to his experience with a lot of different bikes, he is a very important man for Honda and that he is fast, he proved on several occasions in 2020.

The voices of the Honda riders before the season opener

Leon Haslam: “The first day was a little tricky as we worked a lot in the garage and didn’t do a lot of laps during the day, whereas we did a lot of laps this afternoon which was great. Although we lost some time yesterday, we could definitely make up for it today. We were very busy, but I think we made very good steps with all the items that we had to test here. Our consistency has improved and that was a priority for us. The lap times were good considering the high temperatures, so I’m pretty happy with them and as I said, the consistency was better. We still have a few areas to explore, but what we’ve done here has all been very positive. Although we didn’t have as much testing time as other teams on this track, I think we’re close. Now all we have to do is change our mindset and switch to race mode rather than test mode. I’m looking forward to the first races.“

Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) at the Aragon test in turn 9 – the Spaniard is still slightly handicapped, but in two weeks he should probably be completely fit and fight for the podium.

Alvaro Bautista: “We tried to make the most of these two days of testing, two half days to be precise, as we still have some spare time to test on the new tracks that are on the calendar this year. All in all, I am absolutely satisfied with the feedback I received from the bike over these two days. Even though it was very hot we managed to do a good job doing a lot of testing and gathering a lot of information to help us improve. I felt a lot better physically compared to the Barcelona Test. After an intense first afternoon at work, we weren’t 100 percent competitive today. Today we did the most important tasks and then decided to finish a little earlier so as not to affect my recovery process given the races ahead. I’m happy with what we’ve done and with the feeling I have with the Honda and the team. Now I’m looking forward to the start of the season with confidence and a positive feeling. ” (The editors: Until the end of the season, the test days are limited to 10 and can be used as half days per driver. Alvaro had an easy but painful training session in April Chest injury, hence the mention regarding his physical condition)

The fast Spaniard in the pits in conversation with his crew member Giulio Nava – it is definitely an advantage for Bautista if he can recover from his injury sustained in motocross training for another 2 weeks.

For details on the season opener in Aragon, see our preliminary report on this page.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© HRC Honda).