Staying with the Tech3 team of Hervé Poncharal for the 2019 season, means that Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin will need to face a difficult challenge, since the French team has changed bike supplier and instead of the Yamaha bikes they’ve been running for the last 20 years, the team will compete using the KTM RC16 prototype.
The last two days of testing in Jerez, last week, meant that Syahrin had a lot of work ahead of him, and although he improved on his lap times, the fact that the satellite KTM machines (even if they’re the same spec as the factory ones) ended both days in the last spots of the time sheets, means the talented young Malaysian will need to face what will probably be his biggest challenge yet: getting the KTM RC16 to the Top 10.
Syahrin, after the Jerez test, was a happy man, but not so happy with the problems he faced riding his new Austrian bike
“For me it has not been too easy. To be honest, we expected to improve our lap time a bit more, but we still need more rear grip to find decent traction. At the moment, I feel very good with the front tyre, which is really stable, but at the same time the rear is spinning. We tried many things, but didn’t find the ideal solution yet. Now we need to think about it to find something for the next test. Overall, the two days of testing were very positive, but we are a bit far from the top. Anyway, we work hard and try to improve step by step in 2019”.
In 2019 Hafizh Syahrin will partner with Portuguese rising star Miguel Oliveira.
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Tech 3 ride 2018 specs...This important point to highlight. Factory had one 2018 and one 2019.. and Espargaro best time on 2019 version