With the 2013 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy now less than 80 days away, the Honda TT Legends team has completed a week of pre-season testing.
The week began with a two-day shakedown at the Dunlop-owned Mireval circuit in France before moving on to the official Dunlop tyre test at Circuito Albacete in Spain.
John McGuinness, the 19-times TT winner, and Simon Andrews, his teammate for the FIM Endurance World Championship, were joined by new signings Michael Rutter and Michael Dunlop. Rutter, however, was forced to miss the Albacete trip having sustained a broken leg following a crash on the second day at Mireval.
The remaining Honda TT Legends riders went on to spend a a further four days on track.
Although wet and windy weather hindered progress, the team was able to complete four different tyre tests with Dunlop and carry out crucial development work on the EWC-spec CBR1000RR Fireblade.
Meanwhile, Michael Dunlop took the opportunity to get to grips with his road racing machine for the first time.
The team will return to the UK for just over a week, before heading to the the official Bol d'Or test at Magny Cours on March 20 and 21.
McGuinness said:
"We had a great first two days testing in Mireval with the team introducing a couple of new riders to the line-up. We did tons of laps and some EWC full-length rotas, which was really encouraging. It's a real shame about Rutter though and I hope he gets well soon."
"The Albacete leg of the test has been a bit frustrating because of the weather, but we did manage some good wet tyre testing for Dunlop and we’ve done some development work with the bike electronics."
"It’s been great to have the whole team together again and just get back on the bike to blow the winter cobwebs away."
Dunlop added:
"This has been my first time out on the bike and it feels good. We came here expecting dry weather but it’s rained a lot so that’s hindered progress, but at the end of day it’s just good to be here with my mechanics Adrian and Graeme and get a feel for the bike."
"The set-up is good so far and we’ve been able to get a few dry laps in. I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike at Castle Combe so we can finish what we’ve started here."
Team Manager Neil Tuxworth concluded:
"The main thing we’ve achieved is some time on the bikes for the lads after the winter break, but the biggest problem we’ve had is the weather in Albacete. Mireval was very good, we had an excellent two-day test there aside from Rutter injuring himself, of course. We wish him all the best in getting better."
"We’ve had four days at Albacete, but in reality we’ve only had about a day and a half of track time. We’ve learned a lot though and we’ve made some good preparations for the Bol d’Or test in a couple of weeks."
"In summary, it’s been worthwhile, but it would have been much better with good weather."