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TESTING COMPLETE. NEXT IT’S THE OULTON PARK TRIPLE HEADER FOR ROUND 1!

The third and final official pre-season test took place at Oulton Park and marked the last opportunity for DAO Racing to prepare themselves for the 2025 season.

The opening day of the Oulton Park test would carry on the progress made previously at Donington and Navarra. Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson would close out the day one inside the top ten on combined times, with Brookes going as high as second in the first morning session.

Day two provided further opportunities to gather valuable data and track time. Brookes and Jackson were never too far from the top ten and ended the day within striking distance of the test’s top runners.

The Oulton Park test brought a positive end to the 2025 pre-season programme and showcased both the rider’s and the team’s potential for the season opener.

With pre-season testing now finished, Josh Brookes and Lee Jackson will be back in action at Oulton Park from the 3rd to the 5th of May for round one of the 2025 British Superbike season.

Barry Stanley, Crew Chief #14:

‘We’re quite happy, of coure we always want to be faster than you are, but there’s really not much between the Honda’s. I feel like we are making really good progress and trying to nail down the areas that we’re really going to benefit from. We’ve learnt quite a lot from this test, I’d say this is the best test we’ve had up to now. Everytime we’re going out, we’re defintiely improving.’

Terry Rymer, Rider Liaison:

‘Lee’s been working hard again, again we’ve been trying different set ups’ on the bike with Barry his Crew Chief. We haven’t gone round in circles, but we’ve kind of fallen out of that sweet spot with the bike at the moment. But the guys will go back, run through the data, compare, get that bike on the Dyno and we’ll come back to Oulton Park in a even stronger place.’

Lee Jackson, Superbike Rider #14:

‘It’s been a productive two day test, probably the best we’ve had so far. I’ve not quite made the progress today that I’d have liked, like anything you’d like to put yourself higher up the time sheet. Yesterday we made good progress and felt like we’d got the bike in a window that we know worked well. We tried something this morning which we perservered with through to the second session, but went back to what had worked in the first session, so then that final session felt a little disjointed. Overall it’s been a good test, we’ve definitely improved and got ourselves in a better window. It’s a shame I didn’t improve today on my laptimes from yesterday, but I know where I can improve in preparation for next week. The team’s working well and step by step we’re getting closer, there are no red flags, we are working our way through the process and hopefully next week come race weekend we’ll be at the front.’

Ben Stafford, Crew Chief #25:

‘Good steps have definitely been made, the lap times didn’t show the great progression we’ve made. It’s all about building blocks and ticking the right boxes. Like the previous tests, we’re still finding our feet, what works for the bike what doesn’t. Overall, the time and position didn’t show how strong the progression that was made behind the scenes.’

Terry Rymer, Rider Liaison:

‘We systematically went through various different set-ups during the Oulton Park test and we were quick out there in certain times. Then we stalled a little bit when testing and trying to get the bike dialled in. But, we’ve got to go through this process at the moment, and we continue to keep learning more and more about the Honda. If you look at where we finished up, we’re 3 tenths away from the top 5, and not far off the fastest Honda. Josh has even been the fastest Honda at times. So when you look at it, there’s lots of potential and I’m really proud of where the riders are.’

Josh Brookes, Superbike Rider #25:

‘Up to this point I’ve been fairly relaxed, working through settings and I’ve felt like we’ve got time and the feeling will come. I feel a little bit more pressure now as we have a bit more work to do, to get the bike to competively where it needs to be. There’s been some good improvements from the bike this weekend, but not enough for finishing at the top of the time sheets.

Another area is the tyre wear. At the minute it’s sunny and the track tempersture is up, so we could do race distance on a tyre without any problems right now. But, if the race weekend is a bit cooler and the track temperature is down and there is a cool wind. It could be a problem with tyre wear, which might fade towards the end of the race. Which can be a problem for everybody, as this new tyre has a character of cold tear, so that’s a focus now. We’ve made good progress and made the best of the track opportunity we’ve had. We’ve just fallen a little bit short of the target of where we’d like to be at this point. But, it’s a long season, so I’m certainly not going to get disheartened just yet.’

Article collaboration: DAO Racing + https://motomindfulness.home.blog/