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The Swan Honda team has been boosted by the progress made at their first major pre-season test at the Spanish circuit of Cartagena this week with both James Ellison and Stuart Easton lapping just outside the unofficial lap record.

The four-day test got underway earlier this week with both riders initially using the track time as a shakedown for the Swan Honda before turning their attention to finding a strong base setting before the team move on to Guadix on Tuesday.

Ellison (1m:34.5s) said: “It has been a great few days for me and it has been awesome getting back out on track on the Swan Honda. We had a long list of settings we wanted to try before we arrived and I am pleased to say that we have managed to cover everything. On the final day we have made some changes to the rear links and some minor tweaks to the electronics, but it is only fine tuning as we have managed to make some really good progress. I did my fastest lap of the test in the final session so that just shows the improvements are paying off.”

Easton (1m:34.8s) said: “I am leaving this test happy with what we have been able to achieve and the progress we have made with the Swan Honda. We didn’t have ideal conditions on the final day with some light rain in the morning, but other than that it has been a really positive few days for us. We now feel that we have the engine braking control working how we need it to, which was one of our main areas to focus on, so we are pleased with that development. I am now just eager to get back out on track next week so myself and PJ (Pete Jennings) can maintain our level of progress.”

Team Manager Shaun Muir concluded: “We have had a mountain of work to get through and we are exactly where we need to be with respect to the development of the electronics. We've purposely not chased times and whatever the boys have done has come easily. All in all we are in good shape going to Guadix.”