RAF Reserves BMW’s Peter Hickman experienced his new bike for the very first time during the final MCE British Superbike testing session at Donington Park yesterday. He had not even sat on the S1000RR until Thursday so he used the day to really get to grips with the BMW.

His first impressions were positive, but after putting down eighteen laps he did find some “gremlins” which included some electronic issues. Even after doing only a few turns on the Leicestershire track he does feel confident that the package he has can be competitive this year.

“Finally I got some laps in on the bike. First impressions are really strong engine wise and chassis wise, and it feels really good as we guessed where we need to be but it does feel good,” said Hickman, speaking to bikesportnews.com at the track.

As yesterday was the first time that Hickman actually sat on his new machine he hopes that he will get a chance to do some extra testing before the opening BSB round next week, if not then it looks like the first free practice sessions will become a bit of a testing outing for him and his team.

Hickman said: “I need a lot more time on the bike as I only did eighteen laps. The good thing is that first impressions are good and that is a big confidence boost for me. Hopefully we can have a wobble round somewhere else before next week, if not we will be doing testing in front of everyone’s eyes next week.”

“I hope we get to test next week as we definitely need it as there are a couple of gremlins that we need to iron out. We have some electronic issues here and there - and we need to make the bike a little bit more user friendly.”