Reitwagen BMW has continued its intense testing schedule this week, taking part in a day at Jerez in Spain on the eve of this weekend’s second round of the Superbike World Championship at Portimao in Portugal.

The team tested with regular star Andrew Pitt, the Australian further developing the satellite S 1000 RR, while deputising teammate Makoto Tamada made his debut in place of the injured Roland Resch.

“The tests have been valuable because, at this stage, every lap is important and the more laps we do helps us understand the bike better,” Pitt explained. “Jerez is a good track for testing because it has a bit of everything and the surface is quite smooth, so that meant we could concentrate on trying different things without the bike being upset by bumps.

“It was our first test without any pressure and we were able to work at our own speed and that meant that we learnt a lot over the two days. I feel we’re getting more competitive and now we’ll have to see how much progress we have made when we come up against the other teams in first practice in Portimao.”

The test marked Japanese rider Tamada’s first outing on the German machine, enjoying the challenge and looking forward to his race debut come Sunday.

“I am very happy to have received this opportunity and my first impressions of the bike were that the engine power was very good and the power delivery was smooth,” Tamada commented. “The bike felt heavy at first, but once I got used to it then it felt fine. I had not ridden a bike for almost six months, so there was a lot for me to do and at the end of each day I felt a bit tired.

“But I really enjoyed the bike and when the team made changes to it, I could feel the changes straightaway and those are good feelings to have. I spent the first day getting comfortable with the bike and didn’t push hard at all and on the second day we did a lot of work on the suspension and finding a good set-up. We found a good balance to the bike and now that I understand it I am looking forward to racing it in Portimao.”

No lap times were released from the test, however the series doesn’t visit Jerez so the big test is still to come at the undulating Portimao circuit this weekend.